Career-Oriented Performance Tasks in Chemistry: Effects on Students' Critical Thinking Skills

The study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of career-oriented performance task (COPT) approach against the traditional teaching approach (TTA) in enhancing students’ critical thinking skills. Specifically, it sought to find out if students exposed to COPT have higher critical thinking skills than those students exposed to the traditional teaching approach (TTA). COPT approach aims to integrate career-oriented examples and inquiry-based activities in general inorganic chemistry. The study used the quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design. The sample of the study consisted of two (2) intact sections of first-year students in a private higher education institution in Manila who are enrolled in general inorganic chemistry during the second semester of school year 2011-2012. Thirty-nine (39) students are in the COPT class while thirty-eight (38) students are in the TTA class. The instrument used in the study is the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) to evaluate students’ critical thinking skills. The study found out that the mean posttest score in the WGCTA was not significantly higher for students exposed to COPT than for students exposed to TTA. The COPT approach in teaching chemistry was not effective in enhancing students’ critical thinking skills given the limited time of intervention. Longer exposure to intervention is necessary to enhance students’ critical thinking skills.