The development of critical thinking abilities in university students by means of problem-based learning

Abstract

Competency-based education seeks to develop cognitive skills that allow the students to generate cri- tical thinking, that can be understood as the student’s ability to solve problems within and outside theclassroom. The purpose of this study was to find out to what extend the problem-based learning systemcould be useful for developing the generic competences of critical thinking. The authors used a mixedmethod with embedded and trans-sectional design applied in a group of 27 students enrolled in the first four-month period of the subject Introduction to Nutrition and Dietetics (Introducción a la Nutrición yDietética), part of the study program of the degree in Nutrition at a private university of Iguala, Guerre- ro. The study is based on individual generic competences questionnaire, section of adapted critical thin- king (Olivares et al., 2013: 9) and the observation framework for the critical thinking abilities (Facione, 1990: 15). The results show that the mentioned technique has a positive effect for the abilities related to judgment in a specific situation, with objective and subjective data.