Date
4-29-2026
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)
Chair
Treg Hopkins
Keywords
critical thinking, STEM education, community college, university, transfer students
Disciplines
Education | Higher Education
Recommended Citation
Tucker, Jason H., "A Causal-Comparative Study of Critical Thinking Skills in Community College and University STEM Students" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 8180.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/8180
Abstract
The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to examine the relationship between STEM students’ classification (freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior) and their overall critical thinking scores among community colleges and universities in north central Ohio. This study is important because critical thinking has been shown to improve success in collegiate STEM programs and the future careers of their students. In addition, there has been growing interest in examining potential critical thinking differences between STEM students enrolled in two-year community colleges and four-year universities. The sample is composed of 231 community college and university students enrolled in STEM programs. Data were collected using the Cornell Critical Thinking Test via an electronic survey platform. The results of the two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicate that there is no significant difference in overall critical thinking skills between community college and university students. It is recommended that further research examine critical thinking skills among urban versus rural college students, part-time versus full-time students, and the ongoing impact of artificial intelligence on critical thinking in higher education.
