A Construction of Critical Thinking Test Based on Sternberg’s Theory of Intelligence for Prathomsuksa 3 Students under Kalasin Primary Education Office Area 1

Abstract

Critical thinking tests are regarded as essential measures to foster the
development of the teaching and learning that are able to encourage practices in
critical thinking as crucial behaviors for knowledge seeking and critical thinking tests
have been constructed under a number of interesting theories. This research was
aimed to construct the critical thinking test based on Sternberg’s Theory of Intelligence
and to create normal criteria for Prathomsuksa 3 students. The sample consisted of
716 Prathomsuksa 3 students of the academic year 2010 and the schools under Kalasin
Primary Education Office Area 1, which were used for three trials, namely, 103 students
for the first trial, 143 students for the second trial, and 470 students for the third trail
respectively. They were selected through multi-stage random sampling. Research
instruments included the 4-multiple-choice-test which was divided into 4 sections: 1)
language analysis; 2) quantity analysis; 3) picture analysis; and 4) solution analysis. To
verify its quality, on the first trial, the test with 59 items was used with 103 students in
order to see the item difficulty and discrimination powers and 45 items were selected
as they met the criteria. On the second trial, in a similar manner, the test was used
with 143 students and 40 items were selected as they met the criteria for item
difficulty and discrimination powers. On the third trial, 470 students sat the test and
the item difficulty and discrimination powers were verified. Also, the total reliability, Tscore, and expansion of normal criteria through a predictive equation were calculated.
The results were as follows:
1. On the first trial, according to the critical thinking test based on
Sternberg’s Theory of Intelligence, in Sections 1, 3 and 4 each of which included 15
items and 14 items in Section 2, totally 59 items, it was found that 45 items were
found to reach the criteria and have the item difficulty power ranging from .38 to .80
and the item discrimination power ranging from .22 to .67.
2. On the second trial, according to the critical thinking test based on
Sternberg’s Theory of Intelligence, in Sections 1, 2, and 4 each of which included 11
items and 12 items in Section 3, totally 45 items, it was found that 41 items met the
criteria and then 40 items were chosen as needed. They had the item difficulty power
ranging from .48 to .80 and the item discrimination power ranging from .22 to .67.
3. On the third trail, according to the critical thinking test based on Sternberg’s
Theory of Intelligence, there were 4 sections each of which included 10 items having
the item difficulty power ranging from .36 to .80 and the item discrimination power
ranging from .22 to .96. The total reliability was .81.
4. The normal criteria for Prathomsuksa 3 students of the schools under
Kalasin Primary Education Office Area 1 were found to be between Τ21 and Τ74 .
In conclusion, the constructed critical thinking test based on Sternberg’s
Theory of Intelligence for Prathomsuksa 3 students has the quality as the established
criteria require. The test would be used to test Prathomsuksa 3 students’ critical
thinking ability.