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VOL. 11, ISSUE 2 (2026)
Development and validation of critical thinking scale for postgraduate students
Authors
Nkechi Patricia-Mary Esomonu, Izuka Udoka
Abstract
The aim of this study was
to develop, validate and standardize critical thinking scale for postgraduate
students in universities in southeast. The study employed an instrumentation
design in which a four point scale were developed and standardized. An initial
draft of 70 item instrument was developed. After experts review a 30 item
instrument emerged and was administered to 300 secondary school students. The
data collected were subjected to factor analysis. The result from factor
analysis showed that 30 items loaded well on five factors with minimum loading
of 0.54. The 30 items were administered to 234 students to establish norms. The
norm for the entire instrument was 76.56, the norms of male and female students
were 76.38 and 76.74 respectively. Cronbach alpha statistics was used to
establish the reliability of the instrument, its result shows an internal
consistency of 0.88 for the 30 items. Hypothesis was tested using t-test
statistics; the result shows that there is a significant difference between the
norms of male and female postgraduate students. The manual of the PSCTS shows
the administration and scoring procedure of the scale and its psychometric
properties. The instrument PSCTS was recommended therefore for assessing
postgraduate students’ critical thinking.
Pages:1-8
How to cite this article:
Nkechi Patricia-Mary Esomonu, Izuka Udoka "Development and validation of critical thinking scale for postgraduate students". International Journal of Advanced Educational Research, Vol 11, Issue 2, 2026, Pages 1-8
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