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Abstract
One main problem in Indonesia such as low educational achievement of school students was thought to be due to a general lack of thinking skills. As an attempt in addressing this problem, the present study aims to develop a thinking skill training with digital technology. The training covers materials on critical thinking principles, Socrates reasoning method, experiential learning, and experimental method. This is a quasi-experimental study with pretest and posttest and a passive control group. The outcome measures were verbal intelligence and non-verbal intelligence tests. The data were analyzed with analysis of covariance. There were forty participants in this study. The participants' age ranged from 13 to 19 years old with an average of 14.5 years old (SD=1.34). A significant difference was found between the experimental and control group for the verbal intelligence test, but not for the non-verbal intelligence tests. Thinking skills training with digital technology successfully improved the thinking skills of the participants as indicated by the significant improvement of verbal intelligence. Although the results seem promising, further investigation with randomized controlled trial, different measurements, and more training sessions are required before drawing any definitive conclusions.
Keywords: critical thinking; thinking skill training; verbal intelligence; non-verbal intelligence; digital technology
Introduction
Thinking skills are often regarded as key skills to be successful in higher education (Kuh, Kinzie, Schuh, & Whitt, 2010) and career (Heimler, Rosenberg, & Morote, 2012; Parham, Noland, & Kelly, 2011). An employer and employee survey conducted in Indonesia indicates that employees with thinking skills are rare and in great demand (Gropello, Kruse, & Tandon, 2011). Similar state of demand exists in the Indonesian education system. According to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS), Indonesian education is considered to be below par. Indonesian education experts understood the report as a warning sign, and they understandably called for more attention on thinking skills training in Indonesian education (Napitupulu, 2013). The lack of thinking skills among Indonesians has been considered to have influenced the society at large, which is portrayed in some aspects such as citizens' lack of concern on traffic safety (despite full understanding of the risks involved) and rash decisions made by government officials (Wahyudi, 2013). Many Indonesian academicians are...