Date of Award

6-1-1970

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Education, Health & Behavior Studies

Abstract

Problem: The major purpose of this study was to determine if the teacher training program of the New School of Behavioral Studies in Education had been successful in preparing elementary teachers capable of creating a classroom environment more conducive to the development of critical thinking in the area of social studies.

In addition the study investigated the reliability of the Social Studies Inference Test and also determined what relationships existed between the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, the SRA Test, and the various sections of the Social Studies Inference Test.

Procedure: The research population consisted of 643 students enrolled in 29 sixth grade classrooms in 18 different cities in the state of North Dakota. Two hundred and twenty-four of these students, comprising the experimental group, had been enrolled in classrooms having New School teachers during the I968-I969 school year. The remaining 419 students had not previously been enrolled in classrooms having New School teachers and these students made up the control group. The primary statistical procedure used in this study consisted of analysis of variance and correlation.

Results and Conclusions: The findings of this study support the following general conclusions:

1. The Social Studies Inference Test is a reliable test to measure the critical thinking ability of elementary school children.

2. There were no significant differences in the critical thinking ability of New School students as compared to Non New School students as measured by the Inference, Caution, or Over-generalization sections of the Social Studies Inference Test. There was a significant difference which favors the Non New School students over the New School students on the measure of Discrimination.

3. There was no significant differences in the critical thinking ability of boys as compared to girls.

4. The New School students who read the test independently generally scored higher than the New School students who had the test read to them. However, the Non New School students who read the test independently generally scored lower than the Non New School students who had the test read to them.

5. The New School students scored significantly higher on the "Work Study Skills" section of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills than the Non New School students.

6. There was a significant positive correlation between the scores the students received on the "Work Study Skills" section of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the scores they received on the Inference and Discrimination sections of the Social Studies Inference Test.

7. There was a significant positive relationship between the scores the students received on the Inference and Discrimination sections of the Social Studies Inference Test and the composite scores they received on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the Science Re- search Associates Achievement Series.

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