Validation of Yoon's Critical Thinking Disposition Instrument

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Psychometrics
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Evaluating critical thinking (CT) in Korean nursing students is hindered by a lack of validated tools.
• Yoon's Critical Thinking Disposition (YCTD) instrument was developed for this population but requires further validation.
• Assessing measurement invariance is crucial for ensuring instrument reliability across different groups and time points.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the Yoon's Critical Thinking Disposition (YCTD) instrument for Korean nursing students.
• To assess the cross-sectional and longitudinal measurement invariance of the YCTD.
• To confirm the YCTD's suitability for evaluating critical thinking in undergraduate nursing programs.

Main Methods:

• A validation study involving 345 nursing students from three universities in Seoul, Korea.
• Cross-sectional and longitudinal survey design, administering the YCTD before and after a pediatric nursing practicum.
• Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA) was employed to test for measurement invariance.

Main Results:

• The seven-factor model of the YCTD exhibited good construct validity.
• MCFA indicated strong measurement invariance across groups (configural, factor loading, intercept).
• Weak invariance was observed within a group (configural, factor loading).

Conclusions:

• Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis using cross-sectional and longitudinal data validated the YCTD.
• The YCTD is a reliable and valid instrument for evaluating the critical thinking abilities of Korean nursing students.
• This validated instrument can support effective instruction and assessment in nursing education programs.