Investigation of Critical Thinking Assessment Instruments: A Literature Review

Abstract

Nowadays, students frequently need to make informed decisions regarding science and technology, which are rapidly evolving. This makes the mobilization of critical thinking (CT) skills essential in their education, as well as the development of assessment instruments that provide teachers with tools to support this mobilization. Therefore, the aim of this article is to investigate existing CT assessment instruments in the literature, with a focus on the evaluation of teaching materials. To achieve this, a literature review was conducted using databases such as Google Scholar, Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), and the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD), covering the period from 2004 to 2024. The descriptors used as keywords were: “instrument,” “assessment,” and “critical thinking.” Content analysis (CA) was used to identify four emerging categories that characterize the type of production developed regarding assessment possibilities: “Logical and Interpretive Critical Development,” “Situational Critical Development,” “Rhetorical and Argumentative Critical Development,” and “Attitudinal Critical Development.” Based on this analysis, several studies aligned with CT assessment instruments were found. However, there was a noticeable scarcity of studies focused on the evaluation of teaching materials, with a predominance of instruments designed to assess students’ abilities. This highlights the need to develop new instruments specifically aimed at evaluating teaching materials.