Developing Students’ Critical Thinking Skills Through Problem-Based Learning Technologies: The Case of Chemistry Education

Abstract

The development of students’ critical thinking has become one of the major priorities of contemporary higher education, particularly in disciplines that require analytical reasoning, evidence-based decision-making, and the interpretation of complex phenomena. Chemistry education provides considerable opportunities for developing such competencies because the discipline is inherently associated with problem solving, hypothesis formulation, experimental investigation, interpretation of empirical evidence, and evaluation of alternative explanations. However, conventional teacher-centred approaches to chemistry instruction may limit students’ active cognitive engagement and reduce learning to the reproduction of theoretical information and algorithmic problem-solving procedures. This study examines the pedagogical potential of problem-based learning (PBL) technologies for developing university students’ critical thinking skills in chemistry education.