Effectiveness of developing critical thinking at humanities electives in higher educational institutions

Abstract

The aim of the article is to prove the effectiveness of pedagogical conditions of humanities electives in the development of students’ critical thinking. Methods. The Astin’s I-E-O Model is used for the peer-review method. The coefficient of determination was used for multiple regression. Results. Students who studied the humanities electives had a deeper understanding of their own critical thinking. The results of regression analysis show that the level of development of critical thinking changes without controlling teaching methods and student characteristics. Correlations between active teaching style and professional competencies are positive and statistically significant. The correlation between teaching styles and professional competencies is negative and statistically significant. The coefficient of determination of the proposed model is 0.2. Conclusions. The obtained results of the study gave ground for drawing an unequivocal conclusion about the effectiveness of the pedagogical conditions of electives in the development of critical thinking of students of higher education institutions (HEIs). Prospects. Further research should be aimed at finding optimal conditions for the development of critical thinking in higher educational institutions.