摘要：Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillsfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. Most formal definitions of critical thinking characterize critical thinking as the intentional application of rational, higher order thinking skills, such as analysis, synthesis, problem recognition and problem solving, inference, and evaluation. Critical thinking and problem solving have long been important terminologies in the context of education, but within the framework of the 21st century classroom, they take on very specific definitions. Critical thinking employs higher level analytical skills to understand a problem and to work toward a means by which it can be solved, that word implies an answer. This study investigated the effect of using problem situations on the critical thinking of graduate students in solving problems. The study utilized the experimental design participated by a group of graduate students enrolled in Educational Statistics. Four problem situations were utilized that aimed to develop critical thinking of students in problem solving. Students’ critical thinking was measured before and after giving th em the problem situations. Results revealed that students’ critical thinking in problem solving significantly improved after using problem situations. The students also expressed positive attitude and sentiments towards the used of these problem situations. It is recommended that these problems situations be used in other topics and areas in mathematics.
关键词：Problem Situation; Critical Thinking; Problem Solving; Graduate Students; Positive Attitude and Sentiments
