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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to identify the quality of high-school student critical thinking based on six aspects, including 1) the provision of simple explanations, 2) the process of establishing bases for decision making, 3) conclusion drawing, 4) the presentation of advanced delineation, 5) the process of making assumptions and integration, and 6) the management of strategies and tactics. A survey was conducted to 175 tenth graders who were registered in the academic year of 2017/2018. The participants came from five different public senior high schools (SMAN) in Bengkulu, Indonesia, namely SMAN 1, SMAN 2, SMAN 4, SMAN 5, and SMAN 6. An essay test was the instrument used to measure critical thinking skills.The results showed that the student average scores on providing simple explanations, presenting advanced delineation, and making assumptions and integration were in low category (48.15, 49.46, 50.25, respectively). On the other hand, the participants obtained medium scores on decision making (68.04) and conclusion drawing (65.24), whereas the average score on the management of strategies and tactics was in good category (70.00). It can be concluded that the overall score of student critical thinking was poor, and therefore requires appropriate handling.

a high-school student, critical thinking skills