The challenge of improving critical thinking in online education demands creative approaches. Meditation positively influences critical thinking skills, and might provide an effective strategy to improve critical thinking for online students. This study examines the relationship of gender, ethnicity, age, and education to the influence of meditation on critical thinking.
Introduction and Problem
Critically reflective education offers students a chance to evaluate learning, apply that learning to personal experience, and consider the effect of critical thinking on future learning. Incorporating ways to improve critical thinking in an online environment is a challenge (Bruning, 2005). Education is transitioning toward active, student-centric learning for developing critical thinking skills. Effective learning requires a creative approach toward informing and inspiring students (Bradshaw, 2014). Meditation positively influences critical thinking skills (Colzato, Oturk, & Hommel, 2012), and because meditation is a solitary activity it might provide an effective strategy leading to improved critical thinking for online students.
Limited research exists on the relationship of gender to using meditation to strengthen critical thinking. Studies on gender based critical thinking curriculum activities such as reading comprehension exist (Tous, Tahriri, & Haghighi, 2015). Additional research on gender based critical thinking curriculum related to learning styles, environmental settings, diversity, writing, and computing technology also exist (AÇIŞLI, 2015; Jeong, 2007; Leggette et al, 2015; Lewine, Sommers, Waford, & Robertson, 2015; Padurano, 2011; Sabri, Ilyas, & Amjad, 2015).
Regarding the more specific question of relationships among, ethnicity, meditation, and critical thinking, the linkages are not so well understood. In neuropsychological research, the majority of studies related to mindfulness meditation have focused on whites rather than on Blacks or non-white Hispanics. A research gap exists for studies that look at meditation based interventions among diverse populations with divergent socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, and cultural profiles (Amaro, 2014).
Research Questions
The research questions for this study are:
R1: What will be the significant statistical difference based on the effect of age on improvement of critical thinking skills because of using meditation.
R2: What will be the significant statistical difference based on the effect of ethnicity on improvement of critical thinking skills because of using meditation.
R3: What will be the significant statistical difference based on the effect of gender on improvement of critical thinking skills because of using meditation.
R4: What will be the significant statistical difference based on the effect of education on improvement of critical thinking skills because of using meditation.
Purpose and Method
The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental study is to investigate the effects of age, ethnicity, gender, and education on improvement of critical thinking skills because of using meditation. The independent variable is meditation. The dependent variables are age, ethnicity, gender, and education. Data will be collected from holistic healthcare school students enrolled in a beginning meditation class in which the students are working on breathing techniques, mindfulness, and meditation. Purposive sampling will be used. Administrators from the participating college will provide final approval for using the institution as the test site and determine the population from which the sample will be drawn. At that time, a g-power analysis will be conducted to determine the final sample size required. Wilson, Voorhis, and Morgan (2007) recommended a minimum of 30 participants per cell is necessary for about 80% power. Because this study uses four variables, age, ethnicity, gender, and education, the minimum sample size is 120. There will be four groups.
Participants will be invited to participate via email. For students who accept, the critical thinking (CT) assessment tool, the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST), will be administered to measure the effects of individual characteristics of age, ethnicity, gender, and education on improvement of critical thinking skills as a result of using meditation Participants will take a pre-test CCTST and a retest after completion of the meditation class.
The CT assessment tool is the online California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST-N) that employs scales aligned with the APA definition of CT. The instrument yields eight individual scale scores for analysis, interpretation, inference, evaluation, explanation, induction, deduction, and numeracy, and an overall CT score.
Content validity is indicated by the close alignment between the scales on the instrument and the elements of CT detailed by the APA Delphi study (Insight Assessment, 2016). Construct validity was tested by comparing CCTST-N scores to scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE); high correlations were found (GRE Total Score: Pearson r = .719, p<.001; GRE Analytic r = .708, p<.001; GRE Verbal r = .716, p<.001; GRE Quantitative, r = .582, p<.001).
The Kuder-Richardson statistic was used to measure the internal consistency of the CCTST. The overall scale score was at least .70 in validation studies and subsequent large population samples. Individual item factor loadings ranged from .300 to .770. KR statistics for the eight individual scales were not reported. Test-retest reliability scores meet or exceed .80 when the retest occurred two weeks after the pretest. Some reliability studies reported the .80 score when the retest occurred long after two weeks.
After the data are collected, paired t testing will be used for analysis.
Significance of Study
The significance of this study will be the creation of a new model for examining critical thinking relationships. This model may influence how higher education leaders, particularly those in online environments, view and use critical thinking approaches in the classroom. The effects of individual characteristics, such as age, ethnicity, gender, and education on the improvement of critical thinking skills because of using meditation may be a key factor that is missing in how instructors view and integrate critical thinking. The importance of this study will be the investigation of a new lens through which to view meditation and critical thinking.
a. The specific, identifiable learning outcomes.
The audience will learn about the major factors affecting critical thinking skills, which lead them to better recognize and support learners with various demographics. Additionally, the audience will gain an understanding of how meditation influences improved critical thinking skills with regard to demographics, leading them to recognize and support learners of different demographics with regard to critical thinking skill improvement.
b. How the audience would be interactive.
The audience will have the opportunity to ask questions and share their perspectives at the end of the presentation.
c. The institution type and target audience.
The institution is higher education and the target audience is educators, instructors, and instructional designers in online education.
Results
Our study will be completed prior to November and ready for presentation. Based on our literature review, it is expected to find age and ethnicity play an insignificant role in improving critical thinking skills while using meditation. However, educational background and gender would most likely play a significant role in improving critical thinking skills for the participants using meditation.
Discussion
The potential results can be useful to educators and instructional designers by adding new methods for improving students’ critical thinking skills. As Colzato, Oturk, and Hommel (2012) have shown, meditation positively influences critical thinking skills. Because meditation is a solitary activity, it might support a student-centric strategy leading to improved critical thinking skills for online students. Higher education leaders may use this study as a springboard for examining meditation as a new critical thinking approach that further influences student success in the classroom.
References
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