The relationship between critical thinking and how time is structured in the clinical setting for students in a...

This experimental study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between critical thinking and how time is structured in the clinical setting. A total of 93 respondents completed the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (CTA) Form: 35 in the comparison group, 29 in the 2-hour/8-hour clinical groups, and 29 in the 5-hour/5-hour clinical groups. Results of the ANOVA test shows that, at Time 1, students in the comparison group had the lowest mean score (9.23) and the 2-hour/8-hour clinical groups had the highest mean score (10.94), suggesting that the three groups were not equal at Time 1 in terms of their critical thinking ability. Nevertheless, the within subjects effects shows that while all three groups indicate positive Time 1-Time 2 changes, only the 5-hour/5-hour groups show a substantial degree of improvement (10.04 to 10.75), i.e., the study groups x time interaction effect is significant (p < .001). This pattern of significance between subjects effects and differential changes in CTA scores over time, with the 5-hour/5-hour groups showing the largest degree of change is consistent among the fine sub-component of the Watson-Glaser Scale. Students in the 5-hour/5-hour groups showed the most improvement in their scores in the area of Interpretation and Evaluation of arguments which was 9.55 at Time 1 and 10.52 at Time 2.