TEACHERS’ STRATEGIES AND CHALLENGES TO DEVELOP STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING AT ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH YOGYAKARTA

Teachers’ Strategies and Challenges to Develop Students’ Critical Thinking
at English Education Department of Universitas Muhammadiyah
Yogyakarta

A Skripsi
Submitted to the Faculty of Language Education in a Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan

Muhammad Catur Setiawan
20120540112

English Education Department
Faculty of Language Education
Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta
2016

Teachers’ Strategies and Challenges to Develop Students’ Critical Thinking
at English Education Department of Universitas Muhammadiyah
Yogyakarta

A Skripsi

Submitted to the Faculty of Language Education in a Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan

Muhammad Catur Setiawan
20120540112

English Education Department
Faculty of Language Education
Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta
2016

Statement of the Authenticity

I am a student with the following identity:
Name

: Muhammad Catur Setiawan

NIM

: 20120540112

Program Study

: English Education Department

Faculty

: Faculty of Language Education

University

: Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta

Certify that this thesis with the title of “Teachers’ Strategies and Challenges to
Develop Students’ Critical thinking at English Education Department of
Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta” is definitely my own work. I am
completely responsible for the content of this thesis. Others’ opinion or findings
included in this thesis are quoted in accordance with ethical standards.

Yogyakarta, December 28th 2016

Muhammad Catur Setiawan
NIM. 20120540112

Acknowledgement
First and foremost, I send all praise to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala
Almighty who gives blessing and mercy, so that I could finish this undergraduate
thesis. Secondly, Sholawat and Salam may always come to Prophet Muhammad
whom we’re waiting for His Syafaat.
I would like to express gratitude to my family who never gets bored
supporting all things I do. To my parents Sholihul Hadi, S.Pd. and Sri
Hartatiningsih, S.Pd. I’d like to express my deepest gratitude to both of them as
everything they have given to me. I hope they both always get healthy, and I do
always need their support and prayer to reach the success. To my brothers and
Muhammad Mindarko, Deni Ristiawan, and Tri Kurniawan you all are amazing
brothers. Maybe thousands of thanks are just not enough to express my gratitude
to my family. You all are priceless in my life, and without you all I’ll never run up
to this point.
I would like to express my grateful to all the lecturers and staffs at English

Education UMY who helped me finish my undergraduate thesis. A special thanks
always goes to Ms. Ika Wahyuni Lestari, for her support, patience and
encouragement throughout my undergraduate studies. Having her as my
undergraduate supervisor is a great experience because I learned a lot from her in
finishing my thesis. Also I would like to express my thankful to Ms Arifah, Ms
Indah Ms Darsi, Mr Jati Suryanto, Mr Gendroyono, Mr Suryanto, Mr Puthut, Ms
Jackie, Ms Fitria, Ms Mariska and Ms Maryam Ms Ari who have helped me
support my study progress at PBI UMY. One more thing, I would like to

apologize for all the mistakes as a student I have done to the department during
my study time at PBI UMY.
I would never forget the help, support, and motivation which come from
all my friend. To my friends, Dea, Alfi, Yusuf Ikhsan, Denta, Denis, Nacil,
Bermas, Haniv, Fahmi, Pees, Wahyu Tri, Temon, Fariz, Yusuf Khairul, Okta,
Wanda, Chandra, Gunawan, Upik, Una, Fabyan, Zali, Eko, Aris, Kenang,
Hanjaya, Fajar, Oscar, Tiar, Wahyu, Johan, Gepeng, Anja, Seroja, Hery, Rio,
Akbar, Fendy, Aji, Elsa, Umami, Nisa, Ardi, Fadil, Dwi, Winda, Uli, Anjar,
Venta, Windu, Firlingga and all my friends I can’t mention one by one, I send
thanks for the support, joke, and laugh we’ve been through during our time here.
I’ll never forget good things you all have done to me.

Muhammad Catur Setiawan

Table of Contents
Approval Page .................................................................................................... ii
Statement of Authenticity .................................................................................. iii
Acknowledgement ............................................................................................. iv
Abstract ............................................................................................................ vi
Table of Contents ............................................................................................. vii
Chapter One: Introduction .................................................................................. 1
Background of the study .................................................................................. 1
Identification and Limitation of the Problem ................................................... 4
Research Questions ......................................................................................... 5
Purpose of the Study........................................................................................ 5
The Significance of the Study .......................................................................... 5
Chapter Two: Literature Review .......................................................................... 7
Definition of Critical Thinking ........................................................................ 7
Characteristics of Critical Thinkers.................................................................. 8
Factors Influencing Critical Thinking ............................................................ 10
Advantages of being Critical Thinkers ........................................................... 12

Strategies to Develop Students’ Critical Thinking ......................................... 13
Challenges to Develop Students’ Critical Thinking ....................................... 15
Review of Related Studies ............................................................................. 18
Conceptual Framework ................................................................................. 20
Chapter Three: Methodology ............................................................................. 24
Research Design ............................................................................................ 24

Research Setting ............................................................................................ 25
Research Participants .................................................................................... 25
Data Collection Method................................................................................. 26
Data Analysis ................................................................................................ 27
Chapter Four: Finding and Discussion ............................................................... 28
Strategies in Developing Students’ Critical Thinking at the EED of UMY ..... 28
Questioning strategies ................................................................................... 28
Classroom debate and group discussion ......................................................... 29
Writing assignments ...................................................................................... 30
Problem based learning ................................................................................. 31
Reading Assignments .................................................................................... 32
Providing feedback ........................................................................................ 34
Challenges faced by the EED of UMY teachers in developing students’ critical

thinking ...... .................................................................................................. 34
Difficulty in incorporating aspects of critical thinking ................................... 35
Find the right of resources ............................................................................. 36
Students’ passive behaviors ........................................................................... 37
Time constraints ............................................................................................ 38
Difficulty in designing class activities ........................................................... 39
Chapter Five: Conclusion and Recommendation ................................................ 40
Conclusion .................................................................................................... 40
Recommendation........................................................................................... 43
References ......................................................................................................... 45

Appendices ........................................................................................................ 52

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vi

Abstract
Critical thinking has been regarded as an essential aspect of education. However,
it is not easy to develop students’ critical thinking. This study was conducted to

find out the teachers’ strategies and challenges to develop students’ critical
thinking at the English Education Department (EED) of Universitas
Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY). The method used in this research was
descriptive qualitative that the data were gathered through interviewing two
teachers of the EED of UMY selected by purposive sampling. Indeed, the
participants were chosen based on two criteria. First, they should have taught at
the EED of UMY for at least three years. Second, they should be teachers who
created learning activities in the class requiring their students to think critically.
The data collected from the interviews were analyzed into three steps of coding
which are open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. The first finding of this
study is about the strategies used by teachers in developing students’ critical
thinking at the EED of UMY. There were six strategies which were a questioning
strategy, classroom discussion, writing assignments, problem based learning,
reading assignments, and providing feedback. The second finding is about the
challenges faced by teachers of the EED of UMY in developing students’ critical
thinking. There were five challenges, namely difficulty in incorporating aspects of
critical thinking, finding the right resources, students’ passive behaviors, time
constraints, and difficulty in designing class activities.
Keywords: Critical thinking, strategies in developing critical thinking, challenges
in developing critical thinking.

1

Chapter One
Introduction
This introduction highlights the description of the study. In this chapter,
the researcher presents the background of the study, identification and limitation
of the problem, research questions. The researcher also explains the purposes of
the study and the significances of the study.
Background of the Study
In the 21st century, college students are expected to be independent
learners. Students are encouraged to be active in a class, engaged in a class
discussion or debate, to express their arguments, to write good analytical essays,
and to get involved in other class activities which require a high order of thinking.
The ability to think critically and to argue reasonably and rationally has been
regarded as an essential aspect of education. As stated by Case (2005), critical
thinking has been recognized as an important educational goal.
Critical thinking has been defined in many different ways. In brief, critical
thinking is individuals’ ability to think clearly as well as rationally and to make
correct decisions independently. Critical thinking is a process of making decisions

based on evidence rather than guessing in a scientific problem-solving process
(Nugent & Vitale, 2008). Moreover, Paul and Elder (2005) argued that critical
thinking is a process where students improve the quality of their thinking skills.
Hence, the knowledge that students received will be processed stage by stage in

2

accordance with their level of intelligent and issues which they will encounter in
real life to solve their problem.
Having good critical thinking skills gives many benefits, especially for
college students. The skills will enable students to improve their attention and
observation, reading concentration, ability to identify main ideas of a text instead
of becoming distracted by less important materials, ability to respond to the points
in a message (Cottrell, 2011). Besides, Ardington (2010) argued that students who
have good critical thinking will easily reach their own learning goals, achieve
better marks, and become less dependent on teachers and textbooks. A study of
Mahyuddin, Lope-Pihie, Elias, and Konting (2004) showed that language learners
with critical thinking ability are capable of thinking critically and creatively in
order to achieve the goals of the curriculum, making decisions, solving problems,
using their thinking skills, and understanding language or its contents. Moreover,

it is found that students with low thinking skills got difficulty in completing tasks
that require them to think independently outside of rote memorization and recall
(Zachary, 2011).
One of the ongoing debates in education research is whether students can
learn to think critically through their own exploration or they need to be formally
taught the skill as part of the curriculum. Snyder and Snyder (2008) mentioned
that students are not born with the ability to think critically. However, it is
possible for students to learn critical thinking skills. Cubukcu (2006) stated that
thinking is a disposition, can be taught, and should be taught. In addition, Black
(2005) found that students are able to improve their thinking skills if they are

3

taught how to think. Nickerson (1994) also noted that students need to be taught
how to think more effectively, critically, coherently and creatively. Students who
have not been taught how to think critically will be unable to make rational
decisions in their adult life because they fail to examine the consequences,
assumptions, and prejudices of issues around them (Paul, 1990). Therefore,
teachers play an important role in developing students’ critical thinking.
It is not easy for teachers to develop students’ critical thinking skills.
There are so many challenges in enhancing students’ critical thinking. In most
educational systems, according to Paul (1990), students gain lower order learning
which is associative and rote memorization resulting in misunderstanding,
prejudice, and discouragement in which students develop techniques for short
term memorization and performance. These techniques block the students'
thinking about what they learn. Paul (1990) revealed that most students are
accustomed to sitting back in class passively and listening to a lecture. Choy and
Chey (2009) stated that teaching critical thinking is challenging because teachers
have difficulty in engaging aspects of critical thinking in their lesson. Williams
(2005) wrote “critical thinking requires hard work; many students would prefer
that teachers just give them answer to complex questions” (p. 182).
Based on the researcher’s observation at English Education Department of
Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (EED of UMY), some teachers gave the
students many activities or assignments in order to develop students’ critical
thinking skills. However, the researcher noticed that there were some difficulties
or challenges when the teachers tried to develop students’ critical thinking. For

4

example, in a reflective writing activity, some students got difficulty in
accomplishing this activity. It can be seen when the teachers gave an assignment.
There were students who could finish their task and there were students who
could not finish their task. Therefore, there might be difficulties or challenges
when the teachers tried to develop students’ critical thinking. In this study, the
researcher attempted to find out the strategies and challenges in developing
students’ critical thinking at the EED of UMY in depth.
Identification and Limitation of the Problem
Critical thinking is an essential skill. In order to be considered as a critical
thinker, there are several characteristics such as individuals’ ability to think
rationally and make correct decisions independently. In addition, critical thinking
has many advantages. Students who have developed critical thinking skills are
capable of doing some activities of which other students may not be capable.
However, there are challenges of developing critical thinking. The challenges can
be from both teachers and students. Due to the researcher’s incapability to explore
all those mentioned problems, he limited this study to investigate the strategies
that the teachers applied and challenges that teachers faced to develop students’
critical thinking at the EED of UMY in apllying the strategies.
The limitation of this study is only to find out the strategies that the
teachers applied in developing students’ critical thinking and challenges which
teachers face when they created activities aiming at encouraging students’ to think
critically in order to improve students’ critical thinking.

5

Research Questions
Based on the background of the study, the researcher formulated two
research questions. The research questions are:
1. What are the EED of UMY teachers’ strategies in developing students’
critical thinking?
2. What are the challenges that teachers of the EED of UMY face to develop
students’ critical thinking in applying the strategies?
Purposes of the Study
Based on the research questions, the purposes of this study are:
1. To find out the strategies applied by teachers of the EED of UMY in
developing students’ critical thinking.
2. To investigate the challenges that teachers’ face to developing students’
critical thinking at the EED of UMY in applying the strategies.
Significance of the Study
This research aims at giving advantages specifically to the researcher,
lecturers, and students.
The researcher. As a prospective teacher, this research may give the
researcher more knowledge of the challenges that teachers confront when
developing students’ critical thinking. He will also be able to improve his critical

6

thinking teaching methods. Thus, it will be easier for him to design materials and
activities at class.
Teachers. By knowing the strategies and challenges in developing
students’ critical thinking, teachers can implement creative ways in learning
process to cope with the challenges.
Other researchers. This research is expected to enlighten the other
researchers who concern with teachers’ challenges and strategies to develop
students’ critical thinking. The finding of this research can be a reference for other
researchers who conduct a similar study

7

Chapter Two
Literature Review
This research talks about teachers’ challenges and strategies in developing
students’ critical thinking at the EED of UMY. In this chapter, the researcher
discusses and explores the definition of critical thinking, students’ critical
thinking, factors influencing critical thinking, and teachers’ challenge to develop
critical thinking. Then, previous related studies are added as the guideline for the
researcher to conduct this research. Conceptual framework is also presented in
this chapter to describe the highlight of this study.
Definition of Critical Thinking
Critical thinking has been defined in many different ways. Some scholars
have described critical thinking which is frequently correlated to analyses and
problem solving. Chance (1986) defined critical thinking as “the ability to analyze
facts, generate and organize ideas, defend opinion, make comparisons, draw
inferences, evaluate arguments and solve problems” (p. 6). In addition, instead of
the simple act of receiving information and then accepting it, critical thinking
involves an active process of thinking and analyzing what we receive (Fisher,
2001). It means that the purpose of critical thinking is to analyze what we receive,
to achieve understanding, to evaluate view-points, and to solve problems
effectively.
Critical thinking is a process where students improve their thinking quality
using an active and careful way considering something. Dewey (1909) as cited in

8

Fisher (2001) defined critical thinking as “active, persistent, careful consideration
of a belief or supposed form of knowledge in the lights of grounds which support
it and the further conclusions to which it tends” (p. 9). Furthermore, Fahim and
Pezeshki (2012) described critical thinking as a thinking process that requires
reasons as well as reflection, and rejects blind acceptance of others’ opinions. It
means that a critical thinker will not easily accept others’ ideas and will prefer to
use their knowledge to make reasons and deep consideration before making a
conclusion or judgment to solve a problem.
In higher education, critical thinking is a skill that should be mastered by
students so that they can make thoughtful life decisions, solve problems creatively
and rationally, understand and analyze knowledge in and across disciplines. Based
on the aforementioned definitions of critical thinking, it is clear that critical
thinking is a skill that helps students to solve problems and to make decisions
effectively.
Characteristics of Critical Thinkers
Critical thinking was first highlighted by Benjamin Bloom’s taxonomy a
few decades ago (Duron, Limbach, & Waugh, 2006). A higher level of cognitive
abilities involving critical thinking is a feature in the analysis, synthesis, and
evaluation levels while lower levels of cognitive abilities that are knowledge,
comprehension, and application only involve remembering, relating and applying
information respectively (Duron, Limbach, & Waugh, 2006). The lower levels of
critical thinking require less thinking skills while the higher levels require more

9

thinking skills. Duron, Limbach, and Waugh (2006) further described critical
thinkers as those who are able to analyze and evaluate information. They noted
that critical thinkers are those who are able to raise vital questions and problems,
formulate them clearly, gather and assess relevant information, use abstract ideas,
think open-mindedly, and communicate effectively with others.
In brief, critical thinking is individuals’ ability to think clearly, rationally
and make correct decisions independently. It means that a critical thinker will not
easily accept others’ ideas and will prefer to use their knowledge to make reasons
and complete consideration before making a conclusion to solve a problem.
Moreover, Kurland (2000) argued that critical thinkers are active, not passive.
They ask questions and analyze. Students considered as critical thinkers
consciously apply strategies to find the meaning or assure their understanding.
They are willing to have new ideas and know others’ perspectives. Kurland
(2000) further explained that students are considered as critical thinkers if they
meet the following requirements, namely rationality, self-awareness, openmindedness, discipline, and judgment. First, rationality refers to thinking skills
relying on reasons rather than emotions, supported by evidences, and focusing on
finding the best explanation. Second, self-awareness recognizes our own
assumptions, prejudices, biases, or points of view. Third, open-mindedness is a
situation when students consider a variety of possible perspectives or viewpoints,
accept a new explanation, model, or paradigm and do not reject unpopular views
easily. Fourth, discipline means students’ thought or idea must be precise, careful

10

and comprehensive. Last, judgment emphasizes the importance of recognizing the
relevance of alternative assumptions and perspectives.
Factors Influencing Critical Thinking
There are factors influencing students’ critical thinking in basic education
institution. The factors consist of personal factors followed by other factors.
Alfaro-LeFevre (2004) identified age as one of the personal factors that influences
critical thinking. The increasing of someone’s age influences a higher level of
critical thinking. The increasing of age makes someone have more opportunities
to practice in many different situations. It is because critical thinking skills
develop through experiences or education. According to Purvis (2009), another
aspect which enhances critical thinking is personal characteristics such as
curiosity, confidence, and perseverance.
Curriculum design is another key factor in promoting critical thinking.
Purvis (2009) stated that curriculum design has an impact on the development of
critical thinking skills. Besides, integrative learning activities are the other
influencing factor of critical thinking. Learning activities including tests, case
studies, and simulations help students to bring knowledge and experiences
together in their learning process to achieve understanding and consequently
improve their critical thinking skills. Meyers (1986) suggested that teaching
activities such as debates, presenting problems, and small group work lead to
higher critical thinking skill development. Bransford, Sherwood, and Sturdevant
(1987) stated that a key to develop students’ critical thinking skills is through

11

enhancing their ability to define problems precisely, and then to dissect problems
into manageable portions.
Students’ comfort level and learning environment are the other factors
influencing critical thinking skills. Shea and Bidjerano (2009) suggested that a
crucial factor in developing critical thinking depends on the students’ comfort
levels and instructors. Teachers should help the students to gain their comfort and
confidence during learning the activities which enable the students to develop
their critical thinking skills. People who are relaxed, comfortable, and positively
stimulated are known to be more creative and innovative. Therefore, the learning
environment can influence the development of critical thinking ability
(Mortellaro, 2015). The learning environment in the classroom plays an important
part in encouraging critical thinking among the students in order to provide a
conductive learning environment.
Indeed, different types of tests or assessments can promote critical
thinking abilities in various ways. Purvis (2009) interviewed students and findings
identified that testing or assessment methods influence the development of their
critical thinking skills. Other unique technologies such as gaming have also been
utilized as a teaching strategy in education and have been positively perceived by
the students. The teaching strategy also promotes active learning, and therefore
enhances the students’ critical thinking (Royse & Newton, 2013). This may be
another component of active learning that may influence the development of
critical thinking skills.

12

Advantages of Being Critical Thinkers
Developing the ability to think critically is an essential life skill. Many
studies have been done to determine the benefits of critical thinking. Mahyuddin,
Lope-Pihie, Elias, and Konting (2004) stated that language learners with critical
thinking skills are able to think critically and creatively, make decisions, and solve
problems, understand language or its contents, and treat thinking skills as lifelong
learning in order to achieve the goals of the curriculum. Therefore, students who
have developed critical thinking skills will have better understanding from what
they learn, and solve problems effectively.
Tishman (2008) wrote that there are many reasons why students must
learn to think skillfully so that they can make thoughtful life decisions, solve
problems creatively, and understand as well as analyze knowledge in and across
disciplines. To do any of these things well, students need to become adept at
thinking things. To be successful in the future, students need to possess abilities to
create and evaluate information, to solve problems, and to make effective
decisions.
Critical thinking is important for students to get better learning. It is
echoed by Elder and Paul (1994) saying that critical thinking is someone’s ability
of developing appropriate criteria to analyze their own thinking. They also stated
that the ability to raise vital questions, gather relevant information, determine
findings, and communicate effectively that a good critical thinker has will able to

13

solve a complex problem. Hence, it can be said that critical thinker can solve their
problems more effectively and efficiently.
Students will be able to gain in-depth understanding of subjects which
they are learning, and apply what they have learned in real life. If students are able
to think critically, they will be able to perform well at class. Critical thinking is a
type of higher order thinking which is not only memorization of materials but also
the use of learning materials in new situations (Pikkert & Foster, 1996). Ardington
(2010) stated that students having an ability to think critically will achieve better
marks and become less dependent on teachers and textbooks. Furthermore,
according Choy and Cheah (2009), students with higher levels of critical thinking
skills have better abilities of information processing, organizing, deduction,
inference, exploring, and openness to experience. Therefore, students who have
developed critical thinking skills are capable of doing some activities of which
other students may not be capable.
Strategies in Developing Critical Thinking
There are various strategies that teachers can use in order to develop
students’ critical thinking. According to Walker (2003), there are three strategies
that can be used in developing students’ critical thinking. The first strategy that
can be used is questioning. According to Groisser (1964), the purpose of the
questioning strategy is to stimulate students’ interests, test their progress, promote
understanding, develop new insights, and stimulate logic and critical thinking. For
example, the questioning strategy such as calling on students to answer questions

14

can enhance students’ critical thinking. When the students are asked by the
teacher, they may use various critical thinking skills such as interpretation,
analysis, and recognition of assumptions to make a conclusion. There is not any
right or wrong answer because the answer depends on the students understanding.
Therefore, the use of the questioning strategies in learning activities helps teachers
to evaluate students’ knowledge and understanding.
According to Walker (2003), the second strategy is classroom discussion
and debates. Discussion is the way to ask the students to get involved in a group
and talk about a certain case. Classroom discussion and debates can develop
students’ critical thinking. In classroom discussion and debates students must
analyze, synthesize and evaluate the knowledge they have acquired in order to
discuss and organize their points of view of an argument or topic then they are
able to discover new information and put knowledge into action. Hence, this
activity is believed as a component lifting students’ critical thinking.
The third strategy based on Walker (2013) is writing assignments. These
assignments can foster students to think and make conclusion into a written form
of their understanding. These activities promote critical thinking among students
because they should present their understanding and their conclusions into a
written form.
Another strategy that can be used is problem-based learning. Krulik and
Rudnick (1984) defined problem solving as the use of previously acquired
knowledge, skills, and understanding of an individual to encounter unfamiliar

15

situation. Furthermore, Bransford and Stein (1984) stated that problem-based
learning needs students to identify what they know and need to know, define
problems, generate solutions, and test as well as evaluate their solutions. There are
a number of benefits of this strategy in learning activities. Problem-based learning
increases students’ motivation, and promotes higher order thinking (Torp & Sage,
1998). Hence, using problem-based learning will encourage students to make
better decisions, and will also challenge their intuitive mind to process and
evaluate their decisions and thinking to solve their problems.
Challenges to Develop Students’ Critical Thinking
One of the ongoing debates in education research is whether students can
learn to think critically through their own exploration or they need to be formally
taught the skill as part of the curriculum. Sternberg and Williams (2002) noted
that critical thinking may not need to be taught as thinking is a natural process
carried by everyone. However, Black (2005) argued that students are able to
improve their thinking skills if they were taught how to think. It is a skill that can
be improved and boosted by practice (Wood, 2002). Therefore, although students
have a natural ability to think critically, it is important for teachers to guide them
in order to develop their skills.
Nevertheless, some teachers do not know steps to take in their learning
activity in order to improve their students’ critical thinking skills. For one reason,
the teachers may not have mastered critical thinking so that the students cannot
develop this form of thinking well. Paul (1987) argued that many teachers lack

16

clear concept of critical thinking. It will be challenging for teachers to develop
students’ critical thinking when they do not understand what critical thinking is.
Hence, teachers need to improve their understanding of the concept of critical
thinking to enable them to effectively teach student to think critically.
If the teachers do not have clear understanding of critical thinking, they
will find difficulty in incorporating aspects of critical thinking into their learning
activities. According to Choy and Cheah (2009) teaching critical thinking is
challenging because teachers have difficulty in engaging critical thinking aspects
in their lessons. Critical thinking is equated to higher order thinking skills of
Bloom’s Taxonomy: analysis, synthesis and evaluation, and teachers find
difficulty in incorporating these levels into their lessons (Choy & Cheah, 2009). It
is difficult to design learning activities that meets the needs of all learners, and to
seek out strategies to foster students’ ability to learn and process information.
Hence, students may not be able to think critically because their teachers are not
able to integrate critical thinking into their daily practice.
Lack of training or practices and lack of critical thinking resources are
other barriers which make teaching critical thinking is challenging. Lack of
training can impede the integration of critical thinking in education (Snyder &
Snyder, 2008). In addition, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
(1988) argued that little training especially in teacher training programs is devoted
specifically to how to teach thinking skills. Many experienced teachers are not
trained in critical thinking methodology so that they have difficulty in
incorporating critical thinking into their lesson. Thus, by having practices and

17

training in critical thinking methodology, the teachers can develop their skills in
critical thinking. Moreover, according to Mimbs (2005), many teachers lack
adequate resources. Only a few provide critical thinking resources (Scriven &
Paul, 2007). Teachers do not have a wide variety of learning activities due to lack
of existing resources. These various barriers of critical thinking explain why
lecturers and instructional strategies that emphasize information dissemination are
still the dominant style of teaching in today’s classroom (Choy & Cheah, 2009;
Snyder & Snyder, 2008; Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1988).
Another challenge faced by teachers to develop students’ critical thinking
is that students have passive behaviors in the classroom. Passive means that the
students expect the teachers to provide all of information instead of having to find
the information by them and also they keep quiet and do not participate in
classroom activity. The students are also lack of language mastery and confidence
to express their ideas, and many of them are also overly examination oriented.
According to Choy and Cheah (2009) students are very passive in learning
activities as they are not taught how to think critically since the early age.
Furthermore, Paul (1990) revealed that most students are accustomed to sitting
back in class passively, and listening to lectures because they are trained in
schools to memorize the information, and not to think critically. They expect that
that their teachers will provide all the pertinent information that students need
(Choy & Cheah, 2009). Paul (1990) also added that students are used to passing
classes and tests without thinking critically. They also rely on their teachers to
provide them information. Consequently, this habit stunts their ability to analyze.

18

Therefore, developing students’ critical thinking is challenging when teachers
meet students who have passive behaviors in the learning activities.
One of the biggest challenges to teach critical thinking is time constraints.
According to Mimbs (2005), the challenge of using critical thinking in learning
activities is that it takes time and efforts. Critical thinking is a learning process
that needs to be constantly practiced and incorporated into daily lessons. Pogrow
(1988) stated “it takes an extensive amount of time to produce results… at least 35
minutes a day, four days a week, for several months, for true thinking skills
development to occur” (p. 26). Furthermore, Way and Nitzke (1998) discussed an
infusion model for teaching critical thinking, and emphasized that critical thinking
skills take time to develop and are difficult to measure. Hence, teaching critical
thinking is challenging for teachers because it takes a lot of time, and patience. On
the contrary, students just want simple solutions that do not require much time and
many efforts.
Review of Related Studies
Several studies on critical thinking have been conducted. Firstly, Zachary
(2011) undertook research to find out if the implementation of critical thinking
would improve academic achievement. The method used in this action research is
qualitative and quantitative method approach. The participants of this study were
45 students. The finding of this research showed that teaching critical thinking
takes a lot of time, patience, reflection, and practice.

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Secondly, another study related to this research was carried out by Mimbs
(2005). This study was designed using qualitative and the research participants
were 25 teachers. The result showed that the challenges of using critical thinking
in the classroom were that the students were only interested in points, the strategy
took time and needed many efforts, and the teachers were lack of adequate
resources.
Another study was also presented by Aliakbari and Sadeghdaghighi
(2012). Their research was about the barriers to implementing critical thinking
skills in classes. It aimed at seeing factors which teachers perceive as barriers of
the use of critical thinking strategies in the classroom. This research involved 100
English educators as the participants. The method used on this research is
quantitative by distributing questionnaires. The findings revealed that students'
attitudes and expectations, self-efficacy constraint and lack of critical thinking
knowledge among teachers were reported as major obstacles in teachers' view.
Those three reviewed studies have correlation to this study which focuses
on challenges in developing critical thinking. However, this research also has
some differences from the related studies. Besides discussing the strategies in
developing students’ critical thinking, this research also attempts to find out the
challenges in apllying the strategies so that findings of this research can be a
reference for teachers when they teach their students.

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Conceptual Framework
This study aims at finding the strategies that teachers applied and
challenges that teachers face to develop students’ critical thinking at the EED of
UMY. Critical thinking was firstly highlighted by Benjamin Bloom’s taxonomy a
few decades ago (Duron, Limbach, & Waugh, 2006). It was perceived that a
higher level of cognitive abilities involving critical thinking was a feature in the
analysis, synthesis, and evaluation levels while lower levels of cognitive abilities
which are knowledge, comprehension, and application only involve remembering,
relating and applying information respectively (Duron et al., 2006). They
described that critical thinkers are those who are able to analyze and evaluate
information. Indeed, it is not easy for students to be a critical thinker, and teachers
should assist the students to develop students’ critical thinking.
There are various strategies that teachers can use in order to develop
students’ critical thinking. The first strategy that can be used is questioning. To
answer the question asked by teacher the student may use various critical thinking
skills such as interpretation, analysis, and recognition of assumptions to make a
conclusion based on their understanding. Therefore, the use of the questioning
strategy in learning activities helps teachers to evaluate students’ knowledge and
understanding of their thoughts and others.
The second strategy is classroom discussion and debates. Classroom
discussion and debates can develop students’ critical thinking. In classroom
discussion and debated students must analyze, synthesize and evaluate the

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knowledge they have acquired in order to discuss and organize their points of
view of an argument or topic then they are able to discover new information and
put knowledge into action. Hence, this activity is believed as a component lifting
students’ critical thinking.
The third strategy is writing assignments. These assignments can foster the
students to think and make conclusion into a written form of their understanding.
These activities promote critical thinking among students because they should
present their understanding and their conclusions into a written form.
Another strategy is problem-based learning. Krulik and Rudnick (1984)
defined problem solving as the use of previously acquired knowledge, skills, and
understanding by an individual to encounter unfamiliar situations. Hence, using
problem-based learning will encourage students to make better decisions, and will
challenge their intuitive mind to process and evaluate their decisions and thinking
to solve their problems.
Furthermore, the challenges that teachers face to develop students’ critical
thinking skills are varied. Paul (1987) argued that many teachers lack clear
concept of critical thinking. It will be challenging for teachers to develop
students’ critical thinking when they do not understand what critical thinking is.
Hence, when the teachers do not have a clear understanding of critical thinking,
they will get difficulty in incorporating aspects of critical thinking into their
learning activities. According to Choy and Cheah (2009), teaching critical
thinking is challenging because teachers have difficulty in engaging aspects of

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critical thinking in their lessons. In addition, lack of training can impede the
integration of critical thinking in education (Snyder & Snyder, 2008). Therefore,
by having practices and training in critical thinking methodology, teachers can
develop students’ critical thinking. Moreover, according to Mimbs (2005), many
teachers are lack of adequate resources. Teachers do not have a wide variety of
learning activities due to lack of existing resources. Another challenge to develop
students’ critical thinking is that students have passive behaviors in the classroom.
According to Choy and Cheah (2009), students are very passive in learning
activities as they are not taught how to think critically since the early young age.
Furthermore, Paul (1990) revealed that most students are accustomed to being
passive and listening to lectures. It is difficult to develop students’ critical
thinking when teachers meet passive students. Another challenge of teaching
critical thinking is time constraints. Using critical thinking in learning activities
takes much time and many efforts (Mimb, 2005: Pogrow, 1988; Way &Nitzke,
1998). Critical thinking is a learning process that needs to be constantly practiced
and incorporated into daily lessons. Hence, the researcher uses those expert
justifications as the bases to conduct this research.

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Figure 1. Conceptual Framework

Questioning

Strategies in
developing
critical thinking

Classroom discussion
and debates
Writing assignment

Problem-based learning

Critical thinking
development

Lack of a clear concept
of critical thinking
Difficulties in
incorporating aspects of
critical thinking
Challenges in
developing
critical thinking

Lack of training or
practice
Passive students

Time constraints

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Chapter Three
Research Methodology
This research discusses teachers’ strategies and challenges to develop
students’ critical thinking at the EED of UMY. In this chapter, the methodology
used in this study is presented. This chapter consists of research design, research
setting, research participants, data collection method, and data analysis.
Research Design
Qualitative research was used as this research design. It is because
qualitative research intends to explain or to reveal the participants’ personal
opinions, perspectives, experiences, and knowledge. Cohen, Manion, and
Morrison (2011) defined qualitative as “an in-depth, intricate, and detailed
understanding of meanings from the voices of participants”, which “probes issue
that lies beneath the surface of presenting behavior and actions” (p. 201). In
addition, Creswell (2012) mentioned that “qualitative approach does not restrict
the views of participants” (p. 205). It means that the quality research design can
be employed to explore the participants’ opinions. Therefore, qualitative research
was considered as the proper research design for this study because qualitative
research intends to explain or to reveal the participants’ personal opinions,
perspectives, experiences, and knowledge.
Specifically, to find the detail information of the challenges that the
teachers faced to develop students’ critical thinking at the EED of UMY, the
researcher used a descriptive qualitative method. This method is very useful

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when the researcher wants to know events, who are involved, what are involved,
and where things take place (Lambert & Lambert, 2012). Lambert and Lambert
(2012) added that the goal of qualitative descriptive studies is a comprehensive
summarization, in everyday terms, of specific events experienced by individuals
or groups of individuals.
Research Setting
This research was conducted at the English Education Department of
UMY. There are two reasons why the researcher selected the EED of UMY as the
setting of this study. First, at the EED of UMY there are learning activities which
apply critical thinking such as essay writing, reflective writing, and group
discussion. Hence, this eased the researcher to get the data of the challenges that
teachers’ face to develop students’ critical thinking at the EED of UMY. Second,
the EED of UMY is where the researcher is currently studying. Thus, the
researcher and the participants could easily arrange the schedule to interviews to
take the data. This research was started from September to October 2016.
Research Participants
The participants of this research were two lecturers of the EED of UMY.
Creswell (2012) stated that descriptive qualitative might use small sample size
that there is not the definite number of participants. The sampling technique used
in this study was purposive sampling. Creswell (2012) stated that in purposive
sampling “the researchers intentionally select individuals and sites to learn or
understand the central phenomenon” (p. 206). There were some criteria of

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selecting the two participants. First, the participants shall be the teachers whose
learning activities in their class require students to think critically. Second, the
participants also shall be the teachers who have taught for at least three years at
the EED of UMY. With all the experiences of both teachers who have taught for
at least three years at the EED of UMY in applying critical thinking in their
learning activities, they were expected to be able to give broad opinions from their
experiences.
Data Collection Method
In this study, the researcher used an interview method to collect the data.
He conducted the interview to the participants to find out their opinions and to
gain information of their experiences when teaching at the EED of UMY. Khan
(2014) stated that an interview provides an exclusive opportunity to uncover rich
and complex information from an individual. Thus, by having interviews as the
research instrument, the participants could express their opinions and tell their
experiences. Furthermore, the interviews used the Indonesian language in order to
make deeper understanding and comprehension when answering the interviews.
During the interviews, the researcher used an audio recorder to store all the data
when the participant answered all the interview questions.
The data collection procedures consisted of several steps. First, the
researcher made the interview guidelines before interviewing th