Strategic Thinking Strategy toward Higher Critical Analysis of Students in the Graduate Program

Although there are initiatives in place to help students in the Graduate program improve their news literacy and critical thinking skills, it is still vital to help students develop strategies for understanding what they read with a deeper sense of analysis. This study used a descriptive-experimental research method to see if the strategic thinking strategy may help students in a State University Master's degree achieve higher levels of critical analysis. The study included 24 Graduate Studies and Applied Research students, the majority of them were under 30 years old, single, and had worked as Teacher I for 1-10 years. Instruments included an adapted questionnaire to describe the strategy and a critical analysis test with rubric assessment. Based on the results, students used the sys thinking strategy to a great extent, reframing to a moderate extent, and reflecting to a great extent in studying the cases in the teacher's activities. It was also shown that after being exposed to strategic thinking strategies, students were able to achieve proficient to advanced levels of critical analysis. Finally, a significant positive relationship was found between the use of the reflecting strategic thinking strategy and the level of critical analysis, implying that when students reflect extensively on the issues presented in a case, they will be better able to understand the problem and obtain an advanced level of critical analysis.