THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CRITICAL THINKING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

This paper aims to explore the role of the university as an educational institution to encourage young people to express critical thinking. Critical thinking should become part of the teaching process so that students engage more in analyzing social problems that exist in society. Often, we see young people in audiences who discuss, interpret different social problems and do so based on personal judgment or personal experience and not on the basis of facts or arguments. At this point, there is a need for students to develop critical thinking skills as a necessity to understand and identify phenomena occurring in social reality. The focus of the paper is on the question: How much does the European University of Tirana enable the student to think critically? What are some of the basic skills you need to teach students to develop critical thinking and how much is critical thinking part of the curriculum? What are some skills that one needs to teach students for developing critical thinking and how much is the space of expressing critical thinking part of the curriculum? If critical thinking were to become more integrated in the teaching process, this would help students engage more in understanding knowledge, identifying social problems, and problem-solving abilities. The document focuses on the university as the main institution that should foster the power of critical thinking in students.


Introduction
Facione argues that, teach people to make good decisions and you equip them to improve their own futures and become contributing members of society, rather than burdens to society.Becoming educated and practicing good judgment does not absolutely guarantee a life of happiness, virtue, or economic success, but it surely offers a better chance at those things.And it is clearly better than enduring the consequences of making bad decisions and better than burdening friends, family, and all the rest of us with the unwanted and avoidable consequences of those poor choices.(Facione, 2015, p. 2).
The study focuses on the effectiveness and the role of students with the development and expression of critical thinking as a necessary aspect to understanding our individual and social experiences.Critical thinking should become more part of the teaching process where students can engage in the identification, understanding and analysis of various social problems.But what are some of the basic skills that school should teach students to promote critical thinking?How much is part of curricula the space where students can express critical thinking?What are some of the methods used in teaching that stimulate critical thinking?
This paper focuses on the university as the basic educational institution that should promote the preparation of students with the ability to express and apply critical thinking to every link of their student, professional, or academic performance in the future.
The paper will first address some of the key definitions provided for critical thinking, ranging from thinkers and classical philosophers, such as Bacon, Glaser, Paul, Scriven, Siegel etc. and other contemporary authors such as Crebert, Gardner & Marzano, Facione, McKeachie etc. who through undergraduate studies have identified new ways of understanding and defining the critical thinking concept.
Second, we will argue some of the critical thinking skills that a student must learn to manifest them, not only in educational processes but also in everyday life practice.Some of the teaching strategies that promote critical thinking are case studies, focus groups, various discussions, problem-solving, reflections on a phenomenon in the form of essays, commentaries, reportages, etc.How does school promote these strategies or teaching methods to students?
On-line Journal Modelling the New Europe Issue no.26/2018 219 Third, the paper tries to answer the question, why does the development of critical thinking in students play an important role in their personal and social life?In this issue, the focus is on the impact and efficiency of critical thinking in students and the role it plays in society.Among other things, some teaching strategies or practices will be presented on how the concept of critical thinking in everyday academic life can be developed with students.

Classical definitions of 'Critical Thinking'
Critical thinking has been defined in many different ways.Very broad definitions include "thinking which has a purpose or reflective judgement".Basically, the term "critical" is related to the Greek word "criterion", or standard to judge.The term "critical" is essentially related to thinking, judgment and appreciation as forms of thinking.The main object of critical thinking is related to determining the quality and value of your beliefs.Thinking critically has nothing to do with what you think, but how you think."Critical thinking does not focus on the causes of your conviction, but on whether this conviction is worth it.A conviction is worth and should be kept if we have solid reasons to accept it.Critical thinking offers a whole set of compelling criteria in the techniques, attitudes, and principles that we use to evaluate beliefs and determine whether they are based on sustainable reasons."(Vaughn & MacDonald, 2010, p. 3). "Francis Bacon (1561-1626), founder of modern science, articulated the basic principles and methods of science and propagated their use in the prudent acquisition of accurate knowledge.He also warned of the risk of common mistakes in thinking, which could ruin all the efforts of science and lead to deformed perceptions and heavy mistakes".(Vaughn & MacDonald, 2010, p. 35).According to Bacon, 'scientific thinking' is based on 'facts or as we call it critical thinking' which is a very important tool in seeking truth."He called the 'icons of the mind' the mistakes, because according to him, people not only make mistakes, but also fetish them, just as we do fetish false gods" (Ibid.).
Eduard Glaser in 1941 argued that critical thinking is a human ability to create "a strong persistence in search of data that support any beliefs or assumptions we have."(Fisher, 2001, p. 3).Richard Paul in 1993 gives an interpretation other than Glaser's.According to him, critical thinking is the way of thinking about "any subject, context, problem, in which On-line Journal Modelling the New Europe Issue no.26/2018 220 the critical thinker in such cases proves his or her qualities of thinking and masterfully builds the natural structures of thinking and sets intellectual standards on them".(Fisher, 2001, p. 4).
Michael Scriven argued that "critical thinking is an academic competency akin to reading and writing.It defines it thus: critical thinking is skilled and active interpretation and evaluation of observations and communications, information and argumentation.He defines critical thinking as a 'skilled' activity for reasons similar to those mentioned above.To be critical, thinking has to meet certain standards -of clarity, relevance, reasonableness" (Ibid.) Siegel has defined critical thinking as an "education in knowledge of rationality," McPeck in 1981 described the term "skepticism or reflective doubt," Barnett in 1997 with the term "Critical Self Reflection", while Toulmin, Rieke and Janick in 1984 linked critical thinking to reasoning to use it later as "central activity in introducing reasons in support of a particular issue or argument".(Vyncke, 2012, pp. 9-10).According to Ennies in 1985, critical thinking is an "reflective and reasonable thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do".(Lai, 2011, p. 6).

Contemporary definitions of 'Critical Thinking'
Gardner and Marzano are two research scientists who, in the study they have made, have observed the role played by the creation of an interactive lesson for successful student learning.According to them, "studies show that learning in an active, organized and wellthought out learning is often far more complete and fruitful.Learning fruitfully means that you can think of what you learn.To apply it to life situations, to use it as a basis for further learning and continuing to learn independently " (Temple, Crawford, Saul, Mathews & Makinster, 2006, p. 1).
Other authors have seen critical thinking as a cognitive ability regarding rational judgment (Vyncke, 2012).Critical thinking is reasoning, reflection, responsiveness, and thinking ability that is focused on what to believe or do."We understand critical thinking to be purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based".(Facione, 2015)."The ideal critical thinker is habitually inquisitive, well-informed, trustful of reason, On-line Journal Modelling the New Europe Issue no.26/2018 221 open-minded, flexible, fair-minded in evaluation, honest in facing personal biases, prudent in making judgments, willing to reconsider, clear about issues, orderly in complex matters, diligent in seeking relevant information, reasonable in the selection of criteria, focused in inquiry, and persistent in seeking results which are as precise as the subject and the circumstances of inquiry permit".(Ibid).
Tara DeLecce, a psychologist who in one of the online lectures held on critical thinking, argued that "additionally, critical thinking can be divided into the following three core skills: Curiosity is the desire to learn more information and seek evidence as well as being open to new ideas.Skepticism involves having a healthy questioning attitude about new information that you are exposed to and not blindly believing everything everyone tells you.
Finally, humility is the ability to admit that your opinions and ideas are wrong when faced with new convincing evidence that states otherwise".(DeLecce, 2015).
Thinking is defined in different ways, some authors define it "as a psychic process, as a form of general reflection of reality on human consciousness through notions, judgments and reasoning".Authors call this "conscious thinking" because it is affected by pedagogical work of educators.(Jashari & Ballhysa, 2005, p. 23).Kec and Ara (2005), provide another kind of definition of critical thinking as follows: "Critical thinking is a process that brings a result.It is part of the thinking process, by which every person critically thinks, as a natural path of interaction with ideas and information; it is an active process that develops with a certain purpose or happens by chance, which permanently makes students control the information and meet the challenges; include; adapt or disseminate information.Critical thinking occurs when students begin to reflect on what they read, start asking questions, start linking knowledge that they know and learn new knowledge, select information, analyze behavior, actions and situations, argue and maintain attitudes assigned to them."(Gjokutaj,Shahini,Markja,Zisi & Muça,p. 38).
The concept of critical thinking in the age of modernity and in the history of philosophical thought of the 15 th to the 16 th centuries is mostly related to the concept of Philosophy science was born from reflexion on the essence.Descartes ( 1981) is known for the formula "I doubt, I think, so I am".Hence, he integrated into the history of philosophy the notion of "methodical suspicion".According to him, suspicion allows him to find the required security.Descartes required the analysis of all elements of thought to the simplest ones.Sort these simple elements in an increasingly complex order, so that complex terms can be clearly understood.(Hersh, 1981, p. 95).
The features of a 'critical thinker' according to Crebert (2011) are listed as follows: • Inquisitiveness about a wide range of issues; • Desire to become and remain well-informed; • Alertness to opportunities to use critical thinking; • Trust in the processes of reasoned inquiry; • Self-confidence in own abilities to reason; • Open-mindedness towards divergent world views; • Flexibility in considering alternatives and opinions; • Understanding of the opinions of other people; • Fair-mindedness in appraising reasoning; • Honesty in facing own biases, prejudices, stereotypes etc.; • Discretion in suspending, making or altering judgments; and

The basic skills of a critical thinker
Almost everyone who has worked in the critical thinking tradition has produced a list of thinking skills which they see as basic to critical thinking.For example, Edward Glaser (1941) listed the abilities: • To recognize problems; • To find workable means for meeting those problems; • To gather and marshal pertinent information; • To recognize unstated assumptions and values; • To comprehend and use language with accuracy, clarity, and discrimination; • To interpret data; • To appraise evidence and evaluate statements; • To recognise the existence of logical relationship between propositions; • To draw warranted conclusions and generalisations.(Fisher, 2001, p. 6) According to Willison & O'Reagan (2006), they argued these abilities: • determine the need for knowledge; • find and generate the information; • critically evaluate the information; • organise the information; • synthesise, analyse and apply the new knowledge; and • communicate the knowledge.(Crebert et al., 2011, p. 13)

Teaching methods that promote the development of critical thinking
There are several methods that encourage critical thinking among students.One of the first activities known as the three phases or PNP model (Prediction, Knowledge Building, and According to Crebert (2011), using concept maps in planning a curriculum or instruction on a specific topic helps to make the instruction conceptually transparent to students.Many students have difficulty identifying and constructing powerful concepts and propositional frameworks, leading them to see science learning as a blur of myriad facts or equations to be memorized.If concept maps are used in planning instruction and students are required to construct concept maps as they are learning, previously unsuccessful students can become successful in making sense out of science and acquiring a feeling of control over the subject matter.The benefits of concept maps are that they enable students to: • Establish connections between ideas they already have; • Connect new ideas to existing knowledge; and • Organise ideas in a logical, but not rigid, structure that can be updated.(Crebert et al., 2011, pp. 10-11).

Reading
Three important purposes of reading critically are: ♦ to provide evidence to back up or challenge a point of view; ♦ to evaluate the validity and importance of a text/ position; ♦ to develop reflective thought and a tolerance for ambiguity.

Strategies for reading critically
Ask questions about: For example Your purpose Why?
The context of the text Why written? Where? When? Who?
How relevant?
The structure of the text Is there a clear argument?Do the parts fit together logically?
The arguments Are they fair?Do they leave out perspectives of certain groups?
The evidence used Is evidence given to support the point of view from On-line Journal Modelling the New Europe Issue no.26/2018 226 an authority in this field?Is the evidence evaluated from different perspectives?
The language used Is the language coloured to present some things as more positive than others?Are claims attributed clearly?
If we want to generalize it, critical thinking has three parts: 1. First, critical thinking involves asking questions.

2.
Second, critical thinking involves trying to answer those questions by reasoning them out.

3.
Third, critical thinking involves believing the results of our reasoning.
Thinking critically about solving a problem, on the other hand, begins with asking questions about the problem and about ways to address it: 1. What is the purpose behind the problem?

2.
What is a good way to begin?

3.
Do I have all the information I need to start solving the problem?

4.
What are some alternative ways of solving the problem assigned?

Impact of expressing critical thinking in society
According to authors Lau and Chan, qualitative knowledge is the student's ability to express critical and creative thinking, intellectual flexibility, competence to analyse information and integrate various sources of knowledge in problem solving.According to them, critical thinking is the basis of "science" and "democracy".Science requires the use of So, a major part of learning how to think critically is learning to ask the questions-to pose the problems-yourself.That means noticing that there are questions that need to be addressed; admitting that there are problems.Often, this is the hardest part of critical thinking.This is true not just in school, but in daily life as well.People often do not ask themselves, "How can I best get along with my parents (my partner, my co-workers, my friends) in this situation?"Instead, they continue relating to them in habitual and unexamined ways.If your goal is to improve some aspect of your daily life, begin by asking yourself some questions: What are some concrete things I can do to get better grades?To meet new people?To read more effectively?To make the subject matter of this course meaningful in my life?To be effective, you need to really ask these questions.It is not enough just to say the words.('What is critical thinking', 2017, pp.5-6).

Data and Methods
The purpose of this study is to explore the role of the European University of Tirana, as an educational institution, in promoting the ability of young people to express critical thinking.Critical thinking should become part of the teaching process so that students engage more in analysing social problems that exist in society.Often, we see young people in audiences who discuss, interpret different social problems and do so, based on personal judgment or personal experience and not based on facts or arguments relying on them.At this On-line Journal Modelling the New Europe Issue no.26/2018 228 point, the need arises for students to develop this ability to think critically as a need to understand and identify phenomena occurring in social reality.
The objectives of this study are to: • Identify critical definitions of the critical thinking concept.
• Analyse some of the basic skills of being a critical thinker.

•
Introduce key methods that promote critical thinking in education.
• Analyse the importance of student learning with critical thinking in relation to life and society.
The research questions include the purpose and objectives of the study: Research question 1: How much does the European University of Tirana enable the student to think critically?
Research question 2: What are the skills and methods that pedagogues use in the classroom to encourage critical thinking in students?

This work will support two hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: The concept of thinking critically is not sufficiently cultivated at UET students.
Hypothesis 2: If critical thinking were to become more integrated in the teaching process, this would help students engage more in understanding knowledge, identifying social problems, and problem-solving skills.
In this study, a random sample was used.Sampling is (n = 200) students.
Questionnaires were distributed to Bachelor students at the European University of Tirana.The level of student clarification by the professors to be precise, for questioning, problematic or a particular subject during teaching is 32% with usually or very often, 26.5% with several times but not often, 19% rarely, 18% neutral, and 4.5% with never.
The level of understanding in the organized way of the key concepts of the topic results in 30% at several times but not often, 26% usually or very often, 20.5% rarely, 19% neutral, and 4.5% never.
The level of the student's ability to draw conclusions based on data or information collected, according to findings, is 34.5% rarely, 25% neutral, 18.5% usually or very often, 18% few times but not often, and 4% never.
The level of student training to make the differences in the assumptions, conclusions and consequences of a particular phenomenon, is 27% several times, but not often, 26% neutral, 21.5% usually or very often, 20% rarely, and 10.5% never.
The level of students' ability to think logically according to the findings is 31% several times, but not often, 26.5% usually or very often, 20.5% neutral, 18.5% rarely, and 3.5% never.
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The level of student training to maintain a personal attitude against the arguments that arise, results in 36% several times, but not often, 27% neutral, 16.5% rarely, 15.5% usually or very often, and 5% never.

Conclusions
This study was designed to investigate the perceptions of students about how the university as an educational institution encourages them to express critical thinking.But in this study we understand that critical thinking has difficulties in implementation in teaching and learning in students.
The difficulties in the implementation of critical thinking while teaching UET students are: 1.
The level related to the explanation of critical thinking concept to students by their professors results in the majority of 62% thinking that this process occurs several times but not often, 25% of students argue that this concept is rarely explained, 13% are neutral about the explanation of the concept.This indicates that the concept of critical thinking should be given in some definitions where students need to be taught how to use it.

2.
About giving definitions of critical thinking in teaching during course development, 58% of students said that definition of critical thinking was explained sometimes but not often, which can greatly affect the non-recognition of this concept.Only 22% said that this concept was developed usually or very often during teaching.

3.
Increasing the level of understanding in organized way is the key due the concepts of structured creative abilities such as: student's ability to draw conclusions based on data or information collected; student's ability to make the differences in the conclusions and consequences of a particular phenomenon; students' ability to think logically; student's ability to maintain a personal attitude against the arguments that arise;

4.
Encouraging critical thinking in the learning process according to the findings occurs 59% several times, but not often.And 40% are neutral.The data shows that encouragement is an indicator of the positive path of strengthening critical thinking in students, but more work is needed to keep the level of neutrality even smaller.
On-line Journal Modelling the New Europe Issue no.26/2018 reflecting critically.Critical reflection helps to stay active, in our individual and social experiences.Critical reflection enables us to reconsider our previous judgments and assessments, and to complement them on the basis of what new facts suggest."Critical On-line Journal Modelling the New Europe Issue no.26/2018 222 reflection makes each of us, at school or after its end, consistently, to remain an active student.By critically reflecting upon institutional organization, economic and cultural conditions, and on the problems of society, we reconsider our previous trials and assessments, adapt them, complement them, and enrich them on the basis of what the new facts we discover through our careful observations and through critical reflection on them" (Tarifa, 2014, p. 202).
Reinforcement) was created by authors Joseph Vaughn and Thomas Estes in 1986, and then the curriculum became more popular in pedagogical practices nowadays, like the ERR On-line Journal Modelling the New Europe Issue no.26/2018 224 structure (Evocation, Realization of Meaning and Reflection).(Temple, Crawford, Saul, Mathews & Makinster, 2006, p. 2).
. Ability to define topic, terms and premise.Stating what is to be proved, providing supporting evidence and examples.audience already knows/expects to hear on topic.Tailoring the content, pace and tone of a presentation to the audience.Presenting information in an engaging and entertaining style.

"
critical reasoning" in different experiments and theoretical confirmations.The function of liberal democracies requires citizens who think critically about social issues to inform their judgments about proper governance and overcome the various prejudices and disagreements that occur.(Lau & Chain, 2016).On-line Journal Modelling the New Europe Issue no.26/2018 227 Critical thinking should be more focused on university curricula.Yanklowitz (2013) said that the goal of an argument curriculum is to enhance the development of the responsible citizens and the pedagogical methodology consists of cultivating argument skills, epistemic development, and moral development.Also, Calfee and Chambliss (1987) argue that "students are unlikely to develop critical thinking skills naturally when their class reading assignments consist only of narrative and explanatory texts, as opposed to argumentative texts".If the transmission of the knowledge of a lecture, text, or information of any kind were to take place according to the dialogue-questioning process, the students would be more involved in the learning process and begin to develop their own arguments on the themes discussed by the subject lecturer.(Yanklowitz, 2013).