RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Critical-Thinking Ability in Respiratory Care Students and Its Correlation With Age, Educational Background, and Performance on National Board Examinations
JF Respiratory Care
FD American Association for Respiratory Care
SP 284
OP 289
DO 10.4187/respcare.00625
VO 56
IS 3
A1 Richard B Wettstein
A1 Robert L Wilkins
A1 Donna D Gardner
A1 Ruben D Restrepo
YR 2011
UL http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/56/3/284.abstract
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.