Critical Thinking Skills of Education Students in a State University: Insights and Implications for Curriculum Development
Carlito Asuncion, Olive Lorenzo, Jean Aguillon
Received: 18 April 2026; Revised: 25 May 2026; Accepted: 29 May 2026; Published: 30 May 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.66074/ECO99Q22W1
Abstract
This study assessed the critical thinking skills of education students in a state university and examined how the findings may inform curriculum development in teacher education. Framed by Bloom’s revised taxonomy and the national emphasis on 21st-century competencies, the study used a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design in which survey results were interpreted alongside students’ open-ended descriptions of instructional strategies. Respondents were predominantly aged 20-22 years (54.10%), female (77.60%), mostly in the third year (26.50%), and enrolled in BEEd (34.70%), BSEd English (32.70%), or BSEd Social Studies (32.70%). Quantitative results showed satisfactory critical thinking across creating (WM = 3.18, SD = 0.574), evaluating (WM = 3.27, SD = 0.531), and analyzing (WM = 3.18, SD = 0.745), with evaluating emerging as the strongest domain. No significant differences were found across gender and year level in the three domains. Age showed a significant difference only in creating (F = 3.356, p = 0.037), while specialization showed significant differences in creating (F = 13.519, p = 0.000) and analyzing (F = 8.729, p = 0.000). Qualitative findings showed that faculty commonly used questioning, problem-solving tasks, gamified activities, collaboration, authentic assessment, inquiry tasks, projects, discussion, and feedback. These strategies help explain students’ stronger evaluative confidence, while the comparatively modest results in creating and analyzing suggest that creativity and analytical depth require more deliberate, discipline-specific scaffolding. The study recommends curriculum interventions that intentionally strengthen the creation and analysis of content through specialization-based projects, inquiry tasks, authentic assessments, reflective feedback, and structured opportunities to engage with multiple perspectives.
Keywords: analyzing, creating, critical thinking, curriculum development, evaluating, teacher education
Corresponding Author Information: President Ramon Magsaysay State University, Zambales, Philippines; hadrienmathis@gmail.com
Volume 2, Issue 2, June 2026