Iranian Journal of Medical Education

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Introduction: Improving students' critical thinking skills is clearly important in the context of growing human knowledge. The main goal of this research was to measure the contribution of critical thinking attitudes and learning cognitive styles in predicting the students’ academic achievement variance in Isfahan medical university. Methods: In this descriptive correlation study, population consisted of university students in the 2010-2011 academic years. A randomly stratified (according to sex and school) sample of 180 students was selected. Data collected using California questionnaire on Critical Thinking attitudes and Kolb’s Learning Styles inventory. Also students’ Grand Point Averages (GPA) were reported. Results: Critical thinking scores (beta coefficient=.132) and the reflective observation (beta coefficient=.136) could predict 5% of the variance of academic achievement (GPA). There was also a positive correlation between academic achievement and active experimentation. The mean scores of academic achievement as well as mean scores of critical thinking attitudes were significantly different according to the learning styles convergers had the highest GPA and the highest critical thinking attitudes. Critical thinking attitude and reflective observation had a negative correlation (P<.01), while abstract conceptualization showed a positive correlation with critical thinking attitudes (P<.01). Conclusion: The role of critical thinking attitudes and cognitive learning styles in the academic achievement is inevitable. Faculty members are recommended to apply new approaches and procedures to respect different ways of learning and cognitive needs of the students and cultivate their critical thinking skills.

Keywords: Attitude of critical thinking - style of learning - cognitive learning styles - academic achievement – students.

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