A comparison of critical thinking skills in standard and non-standard entry diploma students

Critical thinking is often seen as the hallmark of the educated professional.The conceptualization and measurement of critical thinking have been topics of much debate for over 70 years. This study reports a small scale comparative study of critical thi nking skills in standard and non-standard entry diploma students. A significantdifference in critical thinking skills between these groups at the point of entry was observed. There were no significant differences in critical thinking skills between the start of the course and the end of the common foundation course for both groups. This finding is consistent with many other studies investigating critical thinking in nurse education. The implications of these findings and the wider issue of the measur ement of critical thinking are discussed.