Translation, validation, and application of the California critical thinking instruments to assess factors related to critical thinking dispositions and skills of baccalaureate nursing students in Thailand

Abstract

Critical thinking (CT) is a necessary learning outcome of nursing education. Development and evaluation of CT are equally important. In Thailand there are no reliable and valid instruments to assess CT. It is significant to translate and evaluate instruments to measure CT dispositions and skills of Thai nursing students to determine educational program effectiveness. The study purposes included (1) to translate to Thai and validate two CT instruments, (2) to examine differences in CT dispositions and skills in Thai nursing students, and (3) to explore relationships between some personal variables/clinical experiences and CT dispositions as well as skills. Back-translation was used. A cross-sectional study was conducted in two phases at Chiang Mai University Faculty of Nursing in Thailand. Three instruments were used: Background Data Questionnaire, California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory Thai Translation (CCTDI-TT), and California Critical Thinking Skills Test Thai Translation (CCTST-TT). Thirty-one students participated in Phase One. Overall reliabilities of CCTDI-TT and CCTST-TT were .81 and .68 respectively. Two CT experts evaluated content validity of CCTDI-TT and CCTST-TT. Index of content validity of CCTDI-TT and CCTST-TT were .80 and 1.00 respectively. CCTDI-TT and CCTST-TT were judged to be sufficiently reliable and valid to be used in Phase Two. Phase Two participants included 546 students from four levels. The analysis of variance findings revealed no significant differences of CT dispositions and skills among four education groups. Multiple regression analyses showed that cumulative grade point average (GPA) was the significant predictor of CCTDI-TT and CCTST-TT (p ≤ .05); nursing GPA and sequence of clinical practice (Medical2/Gynecological/Surgical2/Pediatric) were the significant predictors of CCTDI-TT for juniors (p ≤ .01). The relationship between overall CCTDI-TT and CCTST-TT was significant (r = .107, p ≤ .05). Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to examine underlying dimensions of CCTDI-TT, and the result did not support the conceptualization of dispositions toward CT as consisting of seven components. The findings have implications for curriculum development and instructional approaches to foster nursing students' CT. Future study to further test the psychometric properties of CCTDI-TT and CCTST-TT is imperative. Longitudinal data collection is recommended for effectiveness evaluation of nursing program.