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Nafiaa Bouanani, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, MoroccoAbstract
The study investigates the impact of an instructional method based on reflective writing to improve students’ critical thinking skills. It explores the extent to which a reflective writing intervention impacts undergraduate engineering students’ performance in critical thinking skills. Critical thinking in this study is defined from a perspective that perceives the construct as a set of measurable skills. For that, definitions by Facione (2006) and the Delphi report (Facione, 1990) are used to operationalize the concept. Theory of critical thinking is explored from a cognitive perspective and the practical implications and applications of critical thinking and reflective writing in engineering education are also considered. The study adheres to a quasi-experimental design. Effect of reflective writing intervention is investigated and measured using ARC ([Assessment Rubric for Critical Thinking Skills through writing], Quality Enhancement Plan, 2009) adapted to the purposes of the study. Reflective Writing productions of 30 students (N = 30) through 8 weeks, in a course of composition for aerospace/automotive engineering program at UIR (Université International de Rabat, Morocco) were subject to assessment using the ARC for evidence of critical thinking skills progress. The one-way repeated measures analysis of variance ANOVA was used to determine if there was a significant progress in performance of critical thinking skills through (time)/ (assignment) as a result of the treatment. It was used to measure change in mean scores of participants in the CT skills. Post assessment results show that most critical thinking skills used and investigated in the study improved from the first to the last reflective writing assignment (p < 0, 01). Thus, it is concluded that reflective writing as an instructional method could be used to foster critical thinking skills of engineering undergraduates as it allows for more awareness of the skills essential to perform well in both critical thinking and reflective writing.
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Conference: PCE2025Stream: Mind
This paper is part of the PCE2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Bouanani N. (2025) Advancing Aerospace and Automotive Engineering Education: The Role of Reflective Writing in Developing Critical Thinking Skills ISSN: 2758-0962 The Paris Conference on Education 2025: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 295-308) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2758-0962.2025.23
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2758-0962.2025.23
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