The Development of Critical Thinking in Semi-presential High Education: A Perspective From Academic Staff

Abstract

Researching critical thinking is challenging since the term itself is subject to debate. The act of thinking encompasses everything from the reality that shapes human beings to their own imagination, while criticality is understood as a logical and complex structure supported by clear principles that alternate between doubt and reason. Thinking critically involves an action and application of knowledge aimed to generate logical and organized responses. In higher education, teaching-learning processes integrate methodologies with critical, analytical, and socio-constructivist approaches to facilitate learning, unlearning, and relearning. However, ensuring that students develop these skills poses a challenge for faculty members who conduct classes in a blended learning modality, a hybrid model that alternates and combines virtual and in-person educational spaces. This dynamic raises questions about the development of critical thinking among students, considering the alternation of methodologies, activities, and applied assessments. For this study, a descriptive-prospective methodology and a cross-sectional qualitative approach were applied in four private universities in western El Salvador that operated under this modality. The results indicate that faculty members primarily used questioning as a methodology and reading as the main activity to foster critical thinking, although more frequently in face-to-face settings. This is because, in virtual environments, students have yet to achieve an adequate level of autonomy and self-discipline, and faculty members assess the concretization of critical thinking solely through rubrics.