Abstract
As in the other countries, some changes have been made in the curriculum in our country since 2004 in order to improve the basic skills that students should have. One of the basic skills in the curriculum is the students’ ability to think critically. In this respect, critical thinking skill as one of the basic skills aimed in order for the student to gain has incorparated into the Primary School Religious Culture and Ethics Course Curriculum.
Not only is the quality of the program important in getting the students to gain critical thinking skills, but the qualifications of The Teachers of Religious Culture and Ethics who will put them into practice in their classes are very important as well. Because “teachers” play the most important role in the development of the individual's critical thinking skills, the teacher who is aware of the critical thinking skills and adopts an attitude towards developing these skills of the students will be able to develop these skills through their applications for critical thinking education. Therefore, it is important that the teachers of Religious Culture and Ethics Course conduct the process of measurement and evaluation using appropriate tools and methods as well as planning and arrangements of the teaching process, in addition to students’ reading comprehension, making interpretation, analysis and interrogation skills that can contribute to using their critical thinking skills. The ability of the Teachers of Religious Culture and Ethics to use measurement and evaluation techniques in a way that can contribute to critical thinking education depends on their having sufficient knowledge and skills. For this reason, the study aims to show how the Teachers of Religious Culture and Ethics Course use the measurement and evaluation techniques to contribute to critical thinking education.
This research is in the qualitative research model. In this research, the data obtained from the opinions and practices of the teachers involved in the research were explained and the results were reached by making analyses. The sample of the research consists of 12 Teachers of Religious Culture and Ethics Course who were selected in accordance with the maximum diversity sampling of the intended sampling methods. Gender, seniority, graduation, and post-graduate education were considered as the main factors in the teachers’ selection. In order to analyze the research findings and make a holistic assessment and more accurate comments about the data obtained in the interviews, the observations made in the lessons of the teachers and the data obtained from the documents used were benefitted from. A copy of these was requested from the teachers who had used the documents in the interview done with them during the research process or who were seen to have used the documents during the observation process.
It was studied how the documents such as worksheets, written questions, etc. relate to which dimension of the critical thinking. The data obtained from the examination of these documents were compared with those obtained through interview and observation, and the evaluations were attempted from a more holistic point of view.