Effects of Questioning Method in Management Science Course to Promote Critical Thinking Ability for First-year Students in Zhengzhou University of Science and Technology

Abstract

Background and Aims: This experimental research aimed to 1) Compare the students' critical thinking ability in management learning before and after learning through the Questioning Method; 2) Compare students’ critical thinking ability after learning through the Questioning Method with the criterion determined of 70 Percent of full score. 3) Assess the student’s satisfaction after learning through the Questioning Method. The sample for this study was 30 freshman students majoring in management science at a university in Henan Province, People's Republic of China. Which was derived from the questioning method. The research instruments were as follows: 1) Eight lesson plans using the questioning method. 2) A critical thinking ability test with reliability is 0.826. 3) Student satisfaction questionnaire with the reliability of student satisfaction is 0.964. After collecting and organizing experimental data, use software for data analysis. The statistics used for data analysis are the mean, standard deviation, and paired sample t-test of the sample.

Materials and Methods: The population of this study is 180 early childhood students (6 classrooms), who were enrolled in English courses. The sample of this study is 30 early childhood students (1 classroom) of JinshanXinyuan Preschool Zoucheng City in the academic year of 2023 which was selected by cluster random sampling method. Data was collected through listening rubrics and speaking rubrics and SPSS software was used to analyze the collected data, the data used for analysis were the mean value of samples, standard deviation, and single sample t-test.

Result: The results showed that 1) Critical thinking ability test scores of the students after learning through the questioning method (M= 22.60, S.D. =4.26) were higher than before Learning (M= 16.97, S.D. =4.12) at a statistically significant level of 0.01. 2) The critical thinking ability test scores of the students after learning through the questioning method were higher than the determined criterion of 70% at the 0.05 statistical significance level (M= 22.60, S.D. =4.26). 3) After learning through the questioning method, students’ satisfaction was at a high level (M=4.59, S.D. = 0.54). Knowledge gained from this research is that using a questioning method which consists of 3 stages and 3 steps of teaching, can effectively improve critical thinking ability test scores of the students, stimulate students' interest in learning, develop students' independent learning ability, and meet their personalized learning needs. It is a new trend in the future of education.

Conclusion: According to the research results, we can draw the following conclusions: The average score and standard deviation of the students of 1 major in university who adopted the questioning method were higher than the standard of 70% at the level of statistical significance of 0.05. The questioning method can enhance the students’ Critical Thinking Abilities.