PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Wettstein, Richard B
AU  - Wilkins, Robert L
AU  - Gardner, Donna D
AU  - Restrepo, Ruben D
TI  - Critical-Thinking Ability in Respiratory Care Students and Its Correlation With Age, Educational Background, and Performance on National Board Examinations
AID  - 10.4187/respcare.00625
DP  - 2011 Mar 01
TA  - Respiratory Care
PG  - 284--289
VI  - 56
IP  - 3
4099  - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/56/3/284.short
4100  - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/56/3/284.full
AB  - BACKGROUND: Critical thinking is an important characteristic to develop in respiratory care students. METHODS: We used the short-form Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal instrument to measure critical-thinking ability in 55 senior respiratory care students in a baccalaureate respiratory care program. We calculated the Pearson correlation coefficient to assess the relationships between critical-thinking score, age, and student performance on the clinical-simulation component of the national respiratory care boards examination. We used chi-square analysis to assess the association between critical-thinking score and educational background. RESULTS: There was no significant relationship between critical-thinking score and age, or between critical-thinking score and student performance on the clinical-simulation component. There was a significant (P = .04) positive association between a strong science-course background and critical-thinking score, which might be useful in predicting a student's ability to perform in areas where critical thinking is of paramount importance, such as clinical competencies, and to guide candidate-selection for respiratory care programs.