general studies critical thinking and citizenship studies

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General Studies A-Level: What Was it & What's Replaced it?

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When did General Studies A-Level finish?

What is general studies, what kinds of questions were on a general studies a-level past paper, is general studies a good a-level, what is taught in general studies, what replaced the general studies a-level, what are applied general qualifications.

The Department for Education and the exams regulator, Ofqual, decided to stop offering General Studies in 2017. As well as cancelling A-Level General Studies other subjects such as Citizenship Studies, Communication and Culture, Humanities, Leisure Studies, Pure Mathematics, Statistics, and World Development were also dropped . 

In 2010, 46,916 students sat the General Studies A-Level. By 2019 only 40 people were entered for the exam, a shocking decline of 99.9%! In 2020, the General Studies A-Level was no longer available. 🚫

Although General Studies was first introduced as an A-Level option way back in the 1950s, it was never really very well understood. In job interviews graduates with the qualification were often asked “So, what are General Studies A-Level?” or “What does General Studies mean?”. 

In a nutshell, A-Level General Studies was designed to give UK students a well-rounded education and a broad knowledge of how British society and politics worked. The idea was to produce better-informed citizens. Typical lessons involved debates and discussions about current events or other topics on the syllabus. Students were expected to learn critical thinking skills, develop arguments, analyse information and come up with conclusions.

The A-Level was made compulsory by some schools who wanted to boast that all their pupils did at least four A-Levels or as a way to fill in the timetable, adding extra unnecessary study to the already heavy workloads of their students. Other more sceptical schools saw the subject as fairly worthless and refused to offer it as an option. 🙅

It’s usually a hard task to predict what topics will be on any A-Level exam but with General Studies A-Level, it was almost impossible! You could get asked questions about road tax, GM crops, religious beliefs, or any number of other topics. One paper even started off by asking students to compare kitchens !

The important thing was that you had the thinking skills to analyse the given information and put forward good arguments. There were science and maths papers, but essay questions were the biggest part of most General Studies exams.

General Studies A-Level may have been meant to give students a broad education to prepare for life outside school, but unfortunately, many universities didn’t agree. They often didn’t see it as a worthwhile qualification. Either they only counted it as a fourth or fifth A-Level or refused to consider it worth any UCAS points at all like most of the 24 Russell group universities including Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh.

Universities weren’t the only ones sceptical about the value of the General Studies A-Level. While some students who chose the subject saw it as an easy way to get an extra A-Level, others were often disappointed at the lack of academic challenge and often wondered: "Is General Studies a waste of time?". ⌛

Hayley Molley, who went on to study at the University of Northampton, told the Guardian that she didn’t feel like she learned anything from General Studies. 

“I don’t think there was any point in the lessons – I never revised and I still passed,” she said.

According to Oliver Brown , 17, who studied at Wickersley school and sports college, all the universities he had applied to “specifically say they don’t accept General Studies as an A-Level”.

He complained that this made it “more of a hindrance – with a low grade – than a help to make a competitive application”.

Ryan Hamilton , who went on to become a pharmacist said he “would have found it more useful to have taken another A-Level”.

“At my college, we did the whole A-Level in one year, which shows how easy it is to pass. It would be better to replace it with a more useful subject such as English , Maths or one of the core sciences.” 

The list of A-Level General Studies subjects is quite varied. Students were introduced to ideas in topics from areas including Culture, Ethics, Literature, Language, Mathematics, Politics, Science, And Technology. Homework often involved reading newspapers, writing essays and preparing for debates. 

While the General Studies A-Level is no longer available, in many schools and colleges you can choose to do A-Level-equivalent Applied General qualifications instead. ♻

Applied General qualifications are advanced level qualifications that allow you to learn knowledge and skills that are valued by universities and companies. Unlike most A-Levels, they focus less on theory and more on practical knowledge and a wide range of skills useful for different careers, for example in Law, Creative and Media industries, and Business.

Applied General qualifications include:

• AQA Level 3 Extended Certificates
• CISI Level 3 Diplomas
• IFS Level 3 Certificates
• OCR Cambridge Technicals
• TLM Level 3 Certificate
• WJEC Level 3 Certificates and Diplomas

Available subjects differ depending on the exact qualification you choose but there is a wide choice, including:

• Agriculture
• Art and Design
• Business & Law
• Commercial Enterprise
• Construction
• Engineering
• Environmental Conservation & Animal Care
• Health & Social Care and Child Development & Wellbeing
• Horticulture
• Hospitality
• Information & Communication Technology
• Manufacturing Technologies & Transport Operations
• Mathematics
• Media & Publishing
• Performing Arts
• Planning & the Built Environment
• Sociology & Social Policy
• Travel & Tourism

The courses are planned with teachers, higher education institutions and professional associations working together. Companies such as  IBM, Jaguar Land Rover, Kings College Hospital, Siemens and Fujitsu, and UK Athletics have also helped design Applied General Qualifications.

Some Applied General qualifications can be used to apply for university or higher education courses at other institutions on their own and others can be used as a supplement to your A-Levels. The top grade in many Applied General qualifications is equivalent to an A* at A-Level or 56 UCAS points. 🎓

If you’re interested in Applied General qualifications, you can check out how many UCAS points a course is worth using this points calculator and look up the admissions requirements for different university courses here .

Applied General qualifications are also a good path toward employment and higher-level training, such as apprenticeships if you’re not necessarily focused on going to university .

Whether you’re doing straight A-Levels or choosing to take Applied General qualifications, GoStudent is here to help and support you throughout your studies. We have professional, patient and highly knowledgeable tutors available for one-to-one tuition in a wide range of subject areas. What’s more, if you click here now you can try out a trial tutoring session completely free!

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What is A-Level General Studies?

In A-Level by Think Student Editor February 28, 2022 Leave a Comment

Choosing a route to take post-16 can be a daunting prospect for any teenager. There are so many options available. Specifically looking at A-Levels, there’s such a wide range of subjects to pick from and one of the lesser known is General Studies. Whether you’re looking to stick with your familiar GCSE subjects or want to branch out into a whole new area of study, it’s vitally important that you learn more about what every subject entails, general studies included, before making your final decisions.

A-Level General Studies was originally introduced to broaden the social, cultural, and scientific knowledge of students. You are tested on these three aspects throughout the exam, giving you an overview of what the government views as the most notable features of society. However, the entries to A-Level General Studies have decreased exponentially over the last few years.

By continuing to read, you will learn more about what was offered in the general studies course, how it has changed over the last few years and whether the course is worth taking in terms of university applications.

Table of Contents

What Does A-Level General Studies Test?

When it was first introduced as an A-Level in the 1950s, A-Level General Studies tested students on their knowledge in three main categories.

• The first of these topics, called “The Social Domain”, investigates the basics of politics, economics, social sciences, and law.
• The second, “Culture, Arts and Humanities”, delves into beliefs, morals, and religion, as well as creativity, media, and the importance of culture.
• The final sub-section, “Science, Mathematics and Technology”, teaches the application of science and maths in the real world. It shows the importance of bridging the gap between theory and practice, not just in science but in every subject that involves the application of theoretical knowledge to real-life situations.

Although the sub-topics may have varied since the ‘50s, the main principle of general studies, and therefore the broad specification, has more or less stayed the same. By clicking here , you can view the OCR General Studies A-Level Specification from 2013, providing all the information you could need to know about the content of the qualification.

Why was General Studies Created in the First Place?

The syllabus was originally introduced claiming to “broaden the minds” of students. Whilst this was a valid point to make, the course was more commonly taken to increase the number of UCAS points a person had.

When applying to university, you have to reach a certain threshold number of points to be considered. Unless you can present the right number of points, your application will not even be considered, no matter how many interesting and impressive achievements you can list.

Therefore, lots of schools made the subject compulsory, as it was one of the easier ways to make sure every student in the school achieved the right number of points. However, many schools have since realised that offering more opportunities to earn points in areas relevant to an individual student’s preferred field of study will be far more beneficial.

Click here to view nineteen legitimate ways to earn UCAS points other than through general studies.

However, there are some pupils who are genuinely interested in gaining a deeper understanding of a range of topics. These are the people general studies was originally designed for before it became a mass slog to grab as many points as possible.

Do You Need GCSE General Studies to be Allowed to Take the A-Level?

Technically speaking, you can take any A-Level, whether you have the pre-requisites of the GCSE equivalent or not. In other words, no exam board will refuse to let you take an exam because you haven’t done it before. However, most schools will advise that some subjects, such as languages, should be studied previously because the course will mainly build on previous knowledge.

Fortunately, general studies isn’t one of these subjects. You can take the qualification whether you’ve learnt the information before or not, meaning it’s open to everyone.

That said, exam boards will recommend that students obtain at least a C grade or equivalent in GCSE English and Maths. This guidance isn’t specific to general studies and is given to any A-Level student aiming to gain a top grade . It is equally as advisable to have achieved decent grades in subjects such as sciences, as they are a vital part of the general studies specification.

However, again, there are theoretically no requirements to take the A-Level General Studies course other than motivation and a willingness to learn.

Is A-Level General Studies Mandatory?

Firstly, it is important to note that it has never been legally required to take any A-Level subject. At this level, students are given the independence to find and choose the subject areas they wish to pursue in the future. Therefore, if you are told that a subject is mandatory at A-Level at any point, this will be down to a decision made by the sixth form college itself.

In the past, lots of schools opted to enter their students for the general studies qualification for the reasons noted in the previous section. However, in recent years, the A-Level has become much less popular and the value of studying it has been questioned.

There are very few schools which still list general studies as a compulsory subject, so the most likely outcome is that you will not be required to take it.

What are Universities’ Opinions on General Studies?

Whether a university will accept general studies as a subject completely depends on which school you are looking to apply to. Generally speaking, most Russell Group universities will not consider general studies with the same weight as other A-Level subjects.

Nottingham and Exeter refuse to acknowledge general studies as a qualification altogether and will only focus on your other subjects. Nottingham Trent will even exclude any UCAS points made through the general studies qualification. That said, Portsmouth University does accept A-Level General Studies as a subject, as long as it is taken as a fourth or fifth .

If you are relying on General Studies for a university place, you should definitely check the requirements listed by wherever you plan to apply . It may turn out that you’ll need to gather UCAS points in a different way.

Click here to read a more detailed description of the opinions specific universities have on General Studies as an A-Level, and whether taking the subject is a worthwhile endeavour.

Was A-Level General Studies Scrapped?

Whilst it did have some benefits, the government made the executive decision in 2015 to scrap General Studies. They claimed that it was a lot of extra work for a qualification which wasn’t even recognized by most universities. And on top of this, teachers and students alike questioned the level of academic difficulty in what was being tested.

Lots of students who took general studies have given their opinions on whether the subject was worthwhile and how it could be improved in the Guardian article here.

After this announcement, what had already been a declining number of examinees rapidly decreased. In 2020, not a single student entered for A-Level General Studies, hammering the final nail into the coffin of this dying subject.

The article shown here weighs up the arguments both for and against scrapping the general studies course.

What are Applied General Qualifications?

Despite the general consensus being that general studies wasn’t worth the effort, there were a select few learners who declared that, should the subject contain more difficult content, they would opt to take it in the new format. Based on this, a new programme of study has been created including the suggested improvements.

On Results Day in August 2016, the first Applied General qualifications were awarded to students who had opted to take them. They are equivalent to one A-Level, and work in the same way as general studies A-Level in that their main purpose is to teach transferrable skills for the workplace.

However, the new syllabus means that students can opt for the applied general programme in one specific area of study. For example, AQA offers Applied General courses in both business and science. The specifications for these can be found here .

On top of providing an extra layer of detail that General Studies A-Level couldn’t, all Applied General Qualifications are accepted by universities for UCAS points and grade offers.

By reading this document released by the department for education   here , you can see every applied general qualification offered in the UK and the exam boards which are currently running each.

So, whilst General Studies isn’t technically offered as an A-Level anymore, this mainly seems to be positive. Not only does the qualification technically still exist, but it’s been put into a new format providing much better detail and many more benefits the students being examined.

• Our Mission

Preparing Social Studies Students to Think Critically in the Modern World

Vetting primary resources isn’t easy—but doing it well is crucial for fostering engagement and deeper learning in a rapidly changing world.

In an era when students must sort through increasingly complex social and political issues, absorbing news and information from an evolving digital landscape, social studies should be meaningful and engaging—a means for preparing students for the modern world, writes Paul Franz for EdSurge . Yet much of our social studies curricula emphasizes content knowledge over the development of foundational, critical thinking skills such as understanding the context in which primary sources were created, and determining the credibility of resources.

“The consequence of this approach, coupled with a preference by many schools for multiple-choice assessments, turns out students who are disillusioned with social studies—and creates an environment where “accumulating knowledge and memorizing information is emphasized because that’s what counts on standardized tests,” writes Franz.

In his book Why Learn History (When It’s Already on Your Phone) , author Sam Wineburg, a professor at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education, examines how historians approach resources and argues that this is how teachers should be rigorously vetting—and teaching students to vet—social studies materials for the classroom.

Wineburg first describes how an AP US History student analyzes a New York Times article from 1892 about the creation of Discovery Day, later renamed Columbus Day. The student criticizes the article for celebrating Columbus as a noble hero when, in fact, he “captured and tortured Indians.” However, when real-life historians examine the same article, Wineburg notes that their  approach is “wildly different.”

“When historians encounter this resource, their first move is to source it and put it in context, not to engage with the content,” writes Franz. “This article, to them, isn’t really about Columbus at all. It’s about President Harrison, who was responsible for the proclamation, and the immigration politics of the 1890s.”

The skills demonstrated by the historians are the same skills that should form the core of effective social studies education, according to Franz:

• Assessing the point of view of an author and source
• Placing arguments in context
• Validating the veracity of a claim

It is critical that teachers model this process for students: “Vetting social studies resources is important not just because we want to ensure students are learning from accurate, verifiable materials. It’s important also because the ability to ask questions about sources, bias, and context are at the heart of social studies education and are essential skills for thriving in the modern world.”

Much like historians, professional fact-checkers verify digital resources by using lateral reading. As opposed to vertical reading, where a reader might stay within a single website to evaluate a factual claim, fact-checkers scan a resource briefly, then open up new browser tabs to read more widely about the original site and verify its credibility via outside sources. This process mirrors how historians vet primary sources.

Teachers may also, of course, choose to rely on vetted social studies resources and lessons published by reputable sources—Franz recommends Newsela, Newseum, The National Archives, and the Stanford History Education Group.

Encouraging students to seek out knowledge and ideas, and then to deeply explore the reliability of their sources by considering their context, perspective, and accuracy should be the core skill of any rigorous social studies curriculum.

Critical thinking for college, career, and citizenship

Subscribe to the center for universal education bulletin, diane f. halpern dfh diane f. halpern diane f. halpern is the dean of social sciences, emerita at the minerva schools at kgi and a past president of the american psychological association and the society for teaching of psychology. diane has published hundreds of articles and many books including, thought and knowledge: an introduction to critical thinking (5th ed., 2014); sex differences in cognitive abilities (4th ed.), and women at the top: powerful leaders tell us how to combine work and family (co-authored with fanny cheung). her other recent books include psychological science (5th ed. with michael gazzaniga and todd heatherton) and the edited book, undergraduate education in psychology: a blueprint for the future of the discipline..

May 26, 2016

Editor’s note: In the “ Becoming Brilliant ” blog series, experts explore the six competencies that reflect how children learn and grow as laid out by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Golinkoff in their new book  “ Becoming Brilliant .”

Education is about the future—students learn in schools and other places based on two underlying assumptions: (a) What they learn today will be recalled sometime in the future when the knowledge is needed, and (b) today’s learning will transfer across time, place, and space. Teachers are preparing students for higher levels of education, careers that may not even exist today, and the increasingly complex world of citizenship—voting intelligently, recognizing, and supporting good options for societal problems. With the amount of information increasing exponentially and new information often replacing what we formerly believed to be true, the twin abilities of learning well and thinking critically are essential skills for students at every level.

But what does it mean to think critically?

Critical thinking is using the skills or strategies that that are most likely to lead to a desired outcome. It is purposeful, reasoned, and goal-directed. It is the sort of thinking we should be engaging in when deciding what and whom to believe, which of two job offers to accept, or whether vaccinations really do cause autism. It is different from, but often relies upon, simple recall (e.g., what does five plus seven equal?), unsupported opinions (e.g., I like vanilla ice cream), and automated actions (e.g., stopping at a red light).

Critical thinking has two main components: understanding information at a deep, meaningful level, and overcoming fallacies and biases. For example, suppose you are learning about a new theory. You could learn to recite the definition of the theory with little meaning (e.g., photosynthesis is a process used by plants to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water using sunlight) or you could process it at a deeper level. There are many learning activities that facilitate deep level processing. For example, you could write out the theory in your own words, explain it to someone who is not familiar with it, and provide evidence for (and possibly against) the theory. What is it explaining? What theory is it replacing (if applicable)? What is its history? How could it be applied to an everyday problem?  If you could answer these questions, the theory would become easier to recall, and you could use it to generate new theories or see flaws or strengths in other theories. Argument analysis is another example of deep processing. Critical thinkers learn to identify the conclusion, the evidence, and reasoning used to support the conclusion. They also look for assumptions, counterevidence, and limiting conditions (times when the conclusion may not apply).

Some educators prefer to consider critical thinking as “debiasing” or recognizing and resisting fallacies. Suppose someone asks you if children become brilliant because of their nature or nurture. This is an example of the “either-or” fallacy, and anyone who is trained to recognize it can avoid its pitfalls. Similarly, critical thinkers recognize when correlational data are being used to make causal claims. For example, an article in the Los Angeles Times told readers that if they want their children to get good grades they should make sure that their kids’ friends get good grades. But after reading the article, it was apparent that children with good grades had friends with good grades, and children with poor grades had friends with poor grades. But nowhere did it show that kids with poor grades would improve by friending kids with good grades. The data were correlational, which any critical thinker should recognize.

If you are thinking critically, and I hope you are, you may be wondering: Can we teach students to be better thinkers? The answer is a resounding “yes.” There is a large amount of research literature (reviewed in my book, “Thought and Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking”). In one project that I conducted with a doctoral student, who is now Dr. Lisa Marin, we went into very low-performing high schools in California. There were several studies, some that involved parents and some in which classes were assigned at random with different critical thinking instruction. We found that when critical thinking skills were deliberately taught (not as an ancillary to other content), students improved in their abilities to think critically. There are many studies showing substantial gains in critical thinking in college students, the military, and other populations as well. Critical thinking can be taught at any grade, as long as it is taught in a way that is developmentally appropriate.

Finally, critical thinking has a self-reflective component. Good thinkers consider the steps of problem solving, how they are mentally approaching a problem, and the quality of their conclusion or solution.  

Those who care about the future for today’s children understand that the jobs of the future will require the ability to think critically. So let’s be sure that our students are ready for college, careers, and citizenship by including deliberate instruction in critical thinking. It is probably the most difficult topic to teach and learn, but it is also the most important.

Global Education Higher Education

Global Economy and Development

Center for Universal Education

August 2, 2024

June 20, 2024

Elyse Painter, Emily Gustafsson-Wright

January 5, 2024

ASU General Studies Gold

Preparing students for the future.

ASU’s general studies program draws inspiration from ASU’s charter and design aspirations . The goal of the general studies curriculum is to empower students, regardless of their major, to step outside of their disciplines. By completing courses across diverse knowledge areas, students will develop the critical skills and knowledge required to explore current and future questions from multiple perspectives.  

Students can search for these courses in the ASU Course Catalog and Class Search starting with the fall 2024 term.

What is General Studies Gold?

General Studies Gold is the name of ASU’s general studies curriculum, which specifies the requirements for undergraduate students in catalog year 2024-2025 and forward. 

The General Studies Gold framework reduces the complexity of the previous General Studies curriculum (known as General Studies Maroon and required of students in catalog years 2023-2024 and earlier). General Studies Gold requires the same number of credits and provides greater transparency to students, faculty, and staff.

Required knowledge areas in the General Studies Gold curriculum include: (1) Humanities, Arts and Design; (2) Social and Behavioral Sciences; (3) Scientific Thinking in the Natural Sciences; (4) Quantitative Reasoning; (5) Mathematics; (6) American Institutions; (7) Governance and Civic Engagement; (8) Global Communities, Societies and Individuals; and (9) Sustainability. Additionally, students are required to complete first-year composition.

What this change means for the ASU community

General studies gold faqs.

General Studies Gold is the name of ASU’s general studies curriculum, which specifies the requirements for undergraduate students in catalog year 2024-2025 and forward. Current students with a catalog year of 2023-2024 or earlier are not required to make any changes. Their existing General Studies requirements (General Studies Maroon), major map and degree audit requirements (DARS) are unchanged.  

Why is ASU changing General Studies requirements?

The General Studies Gold program was designed to engage students in modern scholarship by introducing some of the most significant questions of the 21st Century and the methods scholars use to address questions and explore possibilities. The General Studies Gold curriculum is interdisciplinary and flexible, allowing students to select the courses most relevant to them while also developing their abilities to analyze problems and create solutions.

Can a student choose whether to complete General Studies Gold or General Studies Maroon?

 No. General studies requirements are determined by a student’s catalog year. Students can locate their catalog year in the My Programs box in My ASU

How does General Studies Gold align with ASU’s mission and goals?

The General Studies Gold program draws inspiration from ASU’s charter and design aspirations to create a program uniquely representative of ASU. The goals of the General Studies Gold program include:  

• Engaging students in modern scholarship addressing a variety of issues relevant to engaged citizens
• Providing a flexible curriculum within which students make choices based on what is most interesting and relevant to them
• Developing students' abilities to analyze problems and create solutions using multiple perspectives and methodologies
• Supporting inclusive student success

What are the new general studies categories?

The General Studies Gold program includes nine categories: Humanities, Arts and Design (HUAD); Social and Behavioral Sciences (SOBE); Scientific Thinking in Natural Sciences (SCIT); Mathematics (MATH); Quantitative Reasoning (QTRS); American Institutions (AMIT); Global Communities, Societies and Individuals (GCSI); Governance and Civic Engagement (CIVI); and Sustainability (SUST). More information about the General Studies Gold categories can be found in the Academic Catalog .

Does this change the general studies credits a student has already earned at ASU?

If a student stays in their current catalog year, nothing changes about their general studies requirements or how courses already completed meet those requirements.

Do students need to tell their academic advisor, success coach, or professor that they are General Studies Gold or General Studies Maroon?

No. A student’s support team at ASU knows the student’s catalog year and which General Studies requirements they must fulfill.

When searching for classes, how can students tell if the class fulfills their general studies degree requirement?

  Classes with general studies designations are identified in the schedule of classes ( Class Search ).

Starting with the fall 2024 schedule of classes, look for the tags displayed on the far right under the header “General Studies.”

Students can also search directly for courses that fulfill general studies requirements by using one of the dropdown menus (General Studies Gold; General Studies Maroon) under the Advanced Search feature.

Will General Studies Maroon courses still be offered?

Yes, courses with General Studies Maroon designations will continue to be offered. Students can find courses with General Studies Maroon designations in the schedule of classes (Class Search). Students can also search directly for courses that fulfill general studies requirements by using one of the dropdown menus (General Studies Gold; General Studies Maroon) under the Advanced Search feature in the schedule of classes.

Catalog Year

What is a catalog year.

In most cases, a student’s catalog year refers to the academic year a student first started attending ASU as a degree-seeking student. Students can view their catalog year in My ASU in their My Programs Box and on their My Major Map. Catalog year is important because students follow the curriculum requirements that were in effect at that time, including the General Studies requirements (General Studies Gold or General Studies Maroon). For example, if a student starts attending ASU in summer or fall 2024, their catalog year is 2024-2025, and they would follow the General Studies Gold requirements. If a student started attending ASU in spring 2024 or before, they would follow the General Studies Maroon requirements.  

More information about how catalog year is determined can be found here . 

How can a student find out their catalog year?

Students can view their catalog year in My ASU in their My Programs Box and on their My Major Map.

Concurrent degrees, minors, and certificates

If a student is pursuing concurrent degrees at asu with different catalog years, does the student need to complete both general studies maroon and general studies gold requirements.

No. Students with concurrent degrees are only responsible for one general studies program. Students with concurrent degrees requiring different general studies programs should work with their advisor to determine the appropriate program (Maroon or Gold) for their situation.

Does General Studies Gold impact a student’s minor or certificate?

No. General Studies requirements only apply to majors (degrees).

Are the general studies requirements included in ASU’s major maps?

Yes, the major map for a given catalog year includes the general studies requirements, either General Studies Gold or General Studies Maroon. Requirements are marked next to the relevant course on the major map. For example, a Humanities, Arts and Design course is marked “HUAD” for General Studies Gold or “HU” for General Studies Maroon. Courses on major maps 2024-2025 and forward display all general studies requirements they can fulfill in both General Studies Gold and General Studies Maroon. 

Why do both General Studies Maroon and General Studies Gold designations appear on a 2024-2025 Major Map?

During this transition period, courses may carry both General Studies Maroon and General Studies Gold designations. As such, courses appear on the major map with designations for both general studies systems where applicable. Students only need to complete requirements for either General Studies Gold or General Studies Maroon, as determined by the catalog year.  Students can find their catalog year in the My Programs box in My ASU.

Will transfer students use General Studies Gold or General Studies Maroon?

As with all students, transfer students follow the catalog year aligned with when they start attending ASU as a degree-seeking student. Admitted students can view their catalog year in My ASU in their My Programs Box and on their My Major Map.  Some transfer students may be eligible for an earlier catalog based on the Guidelines to Determine Catalog Year . Students eligible for an earlier catalog year should contact their academic advisor to discuss what is best for their unique situation.

Will the Transfer Credit Guide reflect both General Studies Gold and General Studies Maroon designations?

 Yes, the Transfer Guide (TG) has been updated to reflect both General Studies Gold and General Studies Maroon. Similar to the schedule of classes , look for the tags displayed under the General Studies heading for each transfer course and ASU equivalent course pair. As of April 2024, transfer courses that are directly articulated to ASU courses with General Studies Gold designations are updated in the TG. Transfer courses articulated to elective credit at ASU, but also given general studies designations, may be updated to reflect General Studies Gold as those articulations are determined.

Will a student’s AGEC from an Arizona community college meet ASU’s General Studies Gold requirements just like it met the General Studies Maroon requirements?

Yes. Completion of general studies and composition requirements, as documented on an official transcript from regionally accredited institutions of higher education within the United States will fulfill ASU's General Studies Gold and first-year composition requirements. Certification of completed general studies includes completion of a general education package recognized by ASU (such as an Arizona General Education Curriculum (AGEC) ), an associate of arts degree, a bachelor's degree or comparable.

Current ASU students can speak with their academic advisor for more information. For questions prior to admission, contact a transfer admissions specialist .

A student has transfer credit that was articulated to General Studies Maroon. Why is it showing up on a 2024-2025 graduation audit under General Studies Gold requirements?

During the transition period, ASU courses may carry both General Studies Maroon and General Studies Gold designations. If a transfer course was previously articulated to an ASU course with a General Studies Maroon designation and that ASU course also carries a General Studies Gold designation, the transfer course may meet requirements for both systems.  

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Cultivating students' critical consciousness through global citizenship education: Six pedagogical priorities

• Published: 11 August 2023

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This article conceptualizes Global Citizenship Education (GCE) as a liberating and dynamic journey of consciousness-mobilization that supports students' critical thinking about how they can contribute to social justice. The authors’ conceptualization of GCE for critical consciousness is entrenched in the work of Paulo Freire. It is political because it is meant to shape the learner into an emancipated, ethical, and critical global citizen. As such, GCE for critical consciousness is based on six pedagogical priorities: praxis, reflexive dialogue, decolonialism, ecocritical views, caring ethics, and empowering humanity. These six priorities are not meant to be comprehensive; they are aimed at boosting debate on the key levers needed to place GCE on a plausible critical, ethical, and sustainable path. Hence, those priorities explicitly challenge and move beyond Western-European-centric and neoliberal GCE conceptions. The article ends with a call for further academic action to (re)construct the momentum needed to push for their implementation.

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The Educator in Global Citizenship Education: Centering Context and Enabling Being

Global citizenship education in practice: A transformative approach to global learning in Zanzibar

Global South university educators’ perceptions of global citizenship education: Reflective dialogue, social change, and critical awareness

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Annual Review of Political Science

Volume 26, 2023, review article, open access, citizenship studies: policy causes and consequences.

• Sara Wallace Goodman 1
• View Affiliations Hide Affiliations Affiliations: Department of Political Science, University of California, Irvine, California, USA; email: [email protected]
• Vol. 26:135-152 (Volume publication date June 2023) https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-051921-102729
• First published as a Review in Advance on December 01, 2022
• Copyright © 2023 by the author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See credit lines of images or other third-party material in this article for license information

This article reviews the field of citizenship studies, with attention to the causes and consequences of policy. It summarizes key findings and points of consensus across three research domains: the determinants of citizenship policy, the consequences of citizenship policy, and the consequences of citizenship, i.e., the utility of obtaining citizenship for immigrant integration. After identifying strengths and weaknesses of each, I propose new directions in research that widen the field in terms of cases and generalizable theory while also deepening the field through serious attention to approaches that center the immigrant experience.

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Global Education and Critical Thinking: A Necessary Symbiosis to Educate for Critical Global Citizenship

Global Citizenship Education (GCE) is a topic of relevance in current international educational debates, which increasingly focus on the formation of critical citizenship. This makes it necessary to discover from a critical pedagogical perspective the relationships between this pedagogical approach, Critical Thinking (CT), and GCE. Throughout this study, through an extensive theoretical review of the literature, we try to show the characteristics in which critical pedagogy, GCE, and CT converge, giving rise to the Critical GCE towards which we must move today. Therefore, this study is revealing for discovering the path towards which GCE is currently heading by clearly showing the symbiosis between CT and GCE. In conclusion, if we want to educate global citizens, it is necessary not only to have a strong background in GCE but also to develop CT to understand global society critically and the need to act to try to transform the world into one free from oppression and injustice.

1 Introduction

Global Citizenship Education (GCE) in recent years stresses the need to create critical citizens to go beyond putting themselves in the situation suffered by people living in impoverished countries; that is, it is intended that Critical GCE – or for social transformation – instructs literate people who think critically and act to transform society through dialogue and respect (Bosio & Waghid, 2022 ; País & Costa, 2020; Torres & Bosio, 2020 ).

Now, what is scientific-critical literacy? The concept of scientific literacy has several interpretations, such as Bybee ( 1996 ) points out four types of scientific literacy: nominal, functional, conceptual–processual, and multidimensional; Hurd’s ( 1998 ) notion, understanding it as a civic competence should develop the ability to think rationally about social, political, economic, or personal issues. Scientific literacy is linked to the development of Critical Thinking (CT) and is understood as the civic competence necessary to think rationally about socioeconomic or personal issues; therefore, a literate person can: differentiate ideas, analyze data, and use scientific knowledge, appreciate the various perspectives (environmental, socioeconomic, and political) from which a problem can be faced, analyze information, apply scientific knowledge, make decisions, and act to solve complex situations (Anderson, 2019 ; Tenreiro-vieira & Vieira, 2013 ).

Educational centers should be aware of the importance of educating literate people who have a global and contextualized vision of social reality. However, this is not usually the case because schools tend to transmit content in a decontextualized and fragmented manner by subject; this results in ending up leaving aside the conflicts that occur in the world and that affect, in one way or another, the daily lives of students (De Castro, 2013 ; Maithreyi, Prabha, & Viknesh, 2022 ). This idea is reflected in the International Manifesto on the GCE elaborated by Oxfam ( 2008 ), which states that educational processes are related to the “growing complexity of the social, economic and political processes of the world in which we live, […] the school continues to be organized today according to an inefficient educational model that does not always respond to the challenges of our contemporaneity” (Oxfam, 2008 , p. 4).

The undeniable role of educational institutions in transforming society from a critical perspective has been one of the topics of pedagogical debates since the end of the twentieth century (Aubert, Duque, Fisas, & Valls, 2004 ; Balls, 2021 ; Hodorovská & Rankovová, 2023 ). Several authors of great pedagogical relevance defend critical pedagogy: Apple ( 2000 , 2002 ), Dewey ( 1938 ), Freire ( 1967 , 1970 ), Giroux ( 1980 , 1997 ), Kincheloe ( 2008 ), Macedo ( 1994 ), or Willis ( 1988 ). Among them, it is worth highlighting Giroux ( 1997 ) who understands critical pedagogy as an “ethical project with roots in critical theory, so that it incorporates both a vision of how society should be constructed and a theory of how current society exploits, dehumanizes and denigrates certain groups of people” (Scott, 2007 , p. 103).

For his part, Freire ( 1997a , b ) does not conceive of an education that does not promote training in values and affirms that the approach to educational reality must be carried out critically in order to transform it and also achieve a change in citizenship. In agreement with this author, Dewey ( 1938 , 1995 ) defends that from education, people should be trained to understand the need to act to transform social reality (Feinberg & Torres, 2014 ). For this reason, critical education is constantly evolving to adapt to the changes occurring in the world, and therefore, from the educational field, it should never “lose sight of the fact that its fundamental concern is human suffering” (Kincheloe, 2008 , p. 40).

Currently, critical pedagogy continues to develop from a similar perspective, seeking an understanding of both the world and the educational system that does not focus solely on the mere acquisition of content. Post-critical or post-modern authors (Astolfi, 1999 ; Morín, 1987 , 2000 ) are situated under this perspective and not only promote renovating currents at the curricular level or the acquisition of knowledge but also emphasize the need to move to action. In this sense, Astolfi ( 1999 ) points out that “learning is not only increasing the “stock” of knowledge, but also […] transforming the ways of conceiving the world” (Astolfi, 1999 , p. 65). Another of the postmodern pedagogues mentioned earlier is Morín ( 1987 , 2000 ), who speaks of complex thinking and indicates a “primordial need to learn to contextualize and, better said, to globalize; that is, to situate knowledge in its organized whole” (Morín, 2000 , p. 61).

These ideas, which underlie Morin’s approach and those of the referent authors in critical and post-critical pedagogy mentioned above, are reflected in the notion of Critical GCE in current research and in the urgency of moving towards the development of global citizens who think critically (Dill & Zambrana, 2020 ; Santamaría-Cárdaba, Martínez-Scott, & Vicente-Mariño, 2021 ). Therefore, Critical GCE seeks to go beyond sensitizing people by promoting the need to act and acquire knowledge in a contextualized manner favoring CT so that everyone understands his or her role in the global society.

2 CT: Key to Global Citizenship

CT is essential in education for global citizenship, but for what reasons? What are the characteristics of CT and why are they related to Critical GCE? This section provides answers to these questions, and therefore, before trying to define CT, it is necessary to highlight some of the most relevant ideas on this issue: 1) thinking carries with it the assimilation of content because we always think about something; 2) thinking is the most valuable way in which people assimilate knowledge through 3 operations: perception, acquisition, and retention; 3) obtaining new knowledge is only possible thanks to the inference capacity of our thinking, which initially starts from the notions already acquired.

There are multiple conceptions of what CT is due to the fact that it is an issue present in various academic fields, but none is universally accepted (Paul & Elder, 2002 ; Philley, 2005 ; Tenreiro-Vieira & Vieira, 2013 ). This lack of consensus leads to the consideration of all notions about CT which encourages Delphi studies on the definition of this concept (Facione, 1990 ). Table 1 shows the definitions proposed by the most relevant authors: Beyer ( 1985 ), Ennis ( 1985 , 1987 , 1996 ), Facione ( 1990 , 2007 ), Halpern ( 1998 , 2006 , 2014 ), Kurfiss ( 1988 ), Lipman ( 1998 ), McPeck ( 1981 ), Paul ( 1993 , 2005 ) or Paul and Elder ( 2002 , 2003 ), among others.

Definitions of CT

Note. Own elaboration.

After observing the definitions given above, a question arises: is CT considered a skill or a way of thinking and a set of capabilities? If attention is paid to the above definitions, it is possible to understand which notion of CT is defended by each author; specifically, CT as a skill can be seen in the definitions of Beyer ( 1985 ), Halpern ( 1998 , 2006 , 2014 ) and McPeck ( 1981 ). However, in the idea of CT as a way of thinking and set of skills is found in the definitions of Ennis ( 1985 , 1987 , 1996 ), Facione ( 1990 , 2007 ), Franco et al. ( 2017 ), Paul ( 1993 , 2005 ), Paul and Elder ( 2002 , 2003 ), Saiz ( 2017 , 2018 ), Solbes and Torres ( 2012 ), and Tamayo et al. ( 2016 ). However, not all definitions of CT can be framed within these two perspectives as is the case of those proposed by Kurfiss ( 1988 ) and Lipman ( 1998 ).

Based on the above definitions, it is possible to appreciate traits in common among them and some allusion to the dimensions of CT, which are: knowledge, norms, dispositions, and capabilities (Vieira, 2018 ). Beyer ( 1985 ), Ennis ( 1985 , 1987 , 1996 ), and Lipman ( 1992 , 1998 ) refer to the capabilities dimension in their definitions by conceiving CT as the ability to analyze information to rely only on reliable sources and to establish reasoned conclusions. Like these authors, Facione ( 1990 , 2007 ) adds to the performance of information analysis the skills of interpreting, evaluating, and drawing inferences to make informed judgments. For his part, Halpern ( 1998 , 2006 , 2014 ) states that the critical thinker must be able to solve problems and make decisions; even, Saiz ( 2017 ) points out that CT requires the ability to reason and decide to solve conflict.

Kurfiss ( 1988 ) focuses his definition on the knowledge dimension, commenting on the need to possess all possible information to be able to investigate a problem and propose hypotheses. In turn, Lipman ( 1998 ) stresses the relevance of knowing the context being studied in order to make reasoned judgments. Likewise, Paul ( 1993 , 2005 ) together with Paul and Elder ( 2002 , 2003 ) emphasize that CT should consist of knowing oneself to improve the quality of reasoning. Tamayo et al. ( 2016 ) propose that CT requires the acquisition of knowledge that allows one to doubt what is established as true to put all issues in doubt and thus place thinking before the need to resolve a conflict.

As McPeck ( 1981 ), Solbes and Torres ( 2012 ), and Walters ( 1994 ) warn, CT requires dispositions, i.e., a critical thinker must be sensitized and informed to act and participate responsibly in society. In this sense, the dimension related to standards is implicit in all the definitions analyzed since a critical thinker must be rigorous, precise, use reliable sources, and be responsible taking into account the social and cultural context of the problem under study. It should be noted that the definition of CT proposed by Franco et al. ( 2017 ) compiles these dimensions noting that CT integrates capacities, dispositions, knowledge, and norms to achieve making assessments, deciding, and solving problems.

In summary, the diversity of definitions provides a wide range of possibilities when it comes to understanding CT. However, if we try to synthesize all the definitions compiled, we could define CT as a way of thinking that comprises various skills to enable people to analyze any situation or problem, differentiate irrelevant information from important information, seek various explanations, establish reasoned and truthful judgments based on evidence, be able to make decisions, and act in search of the best possible solution.

2.1 Components of CT and its Purposes

After understanding what CT is, it is important to comment on the elements that make up this thinking. Plummer, Kebritchi, Leary, and Halverson ( 2022 ) point out the relevance of possessing skills such as interpreting, analyzing, or inferring, although these should not be the objective of CT teaching and assessment. Nowadays, it is considered that the acquisition of skills may not imply CT, since it is likely that they are possessed but that they do not know how to apply them correctly; thus, it is the dispositional or attitudinal component that promotes the ability to adequately apply their skills to think critically. For this reason, most of the reference authors in this field (Ennis, 1996 ; Facione, 2007 ; Halpern, 1998 ; McPeck, 1981 ) consider, from the philosophical viewpoint, that CT is constituted by two elements: cognitive skills and dispositions or attitudes.

In line with this idea from the perspective of psychology, Saiz ( 2018 ) considers that CT has two types of components: cognitive and non-cognitive. The cognitive ones are associated with skills and are only “the processes of perception, learning, and memory […], thinking is an acquisition process, inferential in nature, which encompasses any form of reasoning” (Saiz, 2018 , p. 21). While the non-cognitive or motivational ones are linked to feelings, emotions, or attitudes. The components of CT are interrelated in such a way that “we reason and decide to solve, and we solve to achieve” (Saiz, 2018 , p. 24); that is, people act to change a situation that is unsatisfactory to them and prevents them from achieving well-being.

Therefore, the purpose possessed by the development of CT capabilities is linked to the formation of an active citizenship that understands and acts critically in various “contexts and situations of everyday life, from understanding the meaning of a news item […]; through decision making and personal problem solving […]; to participation in decision-making on public issues” (Vieira, Tenreiro-Vieira, & Martins, 2010 , pp. 101–102). For this reason, didactic resources should be designed based on the dimensions mentioned earlier to promote CT citizenship.

2.2 Capacities, Dispositions, and Difficulties of CT

The complexity of defining the term CT is also reflected when it comes to agreeing on the skills that a critical thinker must develop; in this situation, Tenreiro-Vieira and Vieira ( 2000 ) have been used as a reference and the skills that must be possessed to think critically according to the most relevant authors in the area of CT have been synthesized in Table 2 .

CT capabilities according to different conceptual definitions

In summary, what are the skills that a critical thinker should possess? The most relevant skills that make CT based on Paul ( 2005 ) and Santiuste et al. ( 2001 ) are 1) understanding (identifying the problem and discovering the existing relationships); 2) analyzing (analyzing the information available on the problem, causes, effects, etc.); 3) inferring (inferring data or information that does not appear explicitly on the problem); 4) proposing solutions (being able to formulate solutions to problems and overcome obstacles), and 5) making decisions (choosing a plan of action to achieve a proposed objective).

Before concluding this section, the existing difficulties in proceeding to think critically should be pointed out, which according to Solbes and Torres ( 2012 ) are 1) assuming science as a distant and decontextualized knowledge, which entails not being aware of current social problems; 2) questioning opinions and beliefs based on dominant discourses and ignoring indirect interests; 3) analyzing socio-scientific problems encompassing all their dimensions (scientific, ethical, cultural, social, etc.); 4) to make value judgments on socio-scientific and technological issues in terms of their contribution to the resolution of global problems; and 5) to avoid comfortable and passive attitudes.

Therefore, the formation of a critical global citizenship involves the acquisition of a scientific-critical literacy and is the key to the GCE, by trying to create people capable of thinking for themselves, questioning everything, analyzing both their local and international contexts, comparing the different existing perspectives, and acting by making their own decisions in the face of any problem or situation of injustice.

3 GCE from a Critical Pedagogical Perspective

Education plays a leading role in developing CT to promote democratic citizenship that acts against inequalities and situations that cause suffering to people (Jamatia, 2022 ; McLaren & Kincheloe, 2008 ; Peach & Clare, 2017 ). For this reason, educational centers should enhance the critical literacy of students so that they understand the situations of injustice and contradiction present in today’s world; that is, they should develop a democratic and critical view of reality at both global and local levels to transform the world (Giroux, 2003 ; Jones & Manion, 2023 ).

The Critical GCE seeks to avoid passivity in citizenship, promoting consciences that do not accept existing inequalities and favoring their protagonist in individual and collective actions to try to curb social injustices. Therefore, the aim is to create critical global citizenship, which is why it is argued that education should promote egalitarian societies in which any type of discrimination or oppression should be sold (Leite, 2022 ; Melber, Bjarnesen, Lanzano, & Mususa, 2023 ). In addition, the training provided by schools should not be limited to the memorization of content, since practical exercises should be used to prepare people to live in today’s society (Borghi, 2012 ; McArthur, 2023 ). In other words, if the aim is to educate people who actively participate in transforming society, they must learn by doing.

Thus, if the aim is to build an active global citizenry that participates in today’s democratic society, it is imperative that people do not merely understand issues superficially and that they reflect to make informed judgments (Naiditch, 2010 ; Peach & Clare, 2017 ). As Kitts ( 2022 ) warn, critical pedagogy must be contemplated in educational curricula to be more effective for teachers and students.

However, what are the features of critical citizenship? Table 3 shows these characteristics according to Johnson and Morris ( 2010 , 2012 ) who base themselves on the four objectives of citizenship education proposed by Cogan, Morris, and Print ( 2002 ): “the knowledge, skills, values, and dispositions of citizens” (p. 4).

Features of education for critical citizenship

Note. Own elaboration; own adaptation from the study by Johnson and Morris ( 2010 , p. 90).

In accordance with the above characteristics, it can be seen that education for social transformation requires citizens to know both the reasons for social inequalities and their rights and to be aware of their capacity to act on reality (Mata, Ballesteros, & Padilla, 2013 ). Andreotti ( 2006 ) adds, as previously mentioned, that it is essential to make students critically literate in order for them to understand social reality and North–South inequalities since critical literacy is a key dimension for Critical GCE.

This same author, after studying the arguments on global citizenship proposed by Dobson ( 2005 , 2006 ) and analyzing the effects of colonialism on North–South relations according to Spivak ( 2003 , 2004 ), made a comparison between the soft GCE and the critical GCE. In this sense, recent studies such as those by Andreotti ( 2022 ), Bosio and Waghid ( 2023 ), Giroux and Bosio ( 2021 ), McLaren and Bosio ( 2022 ), or Stein, Andreotti, Suša, Ahenakew, and Čajková ( 2022 ) analyze from a decolonial perspective the importance of educating people who question the information they receive and can think critically from the perspective of GCE.

Understanding Critical GCE in the same way as DeLeon ( 2006 ), as both consider that advocates of critical pedagogy understand education as an act of public character through which they seek to “transform schools towards the pursuit of social justice […] and use education to generate social change and empower educational actors” (DeLeon, 2006 , p. 73). This vision of education as a means to transform society permeates the current GCE, since the Critical GCE requires that people possess the ability to think critically to understand the causes of inequality and social injustices so that they can act to transform society and defend human rights.

The critical citizenship referred to in this study must possess a high level of social responsibility, think critically, and be aware of global problems. This same concept of critical global citizenship is used by Oxley and Morris ( 2013 ) to refer to people who focus on reducing inequalities and actively advocating for social justice; likewise, these authors include the notion of social global citizenship to allude to citizenship that is grounded in critical and postcolonial ideas. However, Jooste and Heleta ( 2017 ) use another different denomination when referring to critical global citizenship as “scholarly” citizenship, which they differentiate from “closed-minded” citizenship being the one that does not care about people living in other areas of the world or possessing another religious ideology.

Today’s changing society makes it necessary for people to acquire various competencies in order to act appropriately in complex situations, and the way forward is CT. Therefore, the formation of critical global citizenship carries with it the development of CT by focusing on “inequality and oppression, critiquing the role of current power relations and economic agendas” (Goren & Yemini, 2017 , p. 171). Authors such as Johnson and Morris ( 2012 ) already announced that CT was directly related to critical pedagogy; in this line, Lipman ( 2003 ) and Moon ( 2008 ) emphasize that the acquisition of new knowledge and the ability to make a judgment are two key aspects of CT and conscientization because “it involves the discovery that one is oppressed and the judgment that such hegemonic power exists in society” (Johnson & Morris, 2012 , p. 286).

4 Conclusion

The GCE that is currently emerging seeks the formation of global and critical citizens, giving rise to a union between the characteristics of the GCE and those of CT, which configures the Critical GCE. Figure 1 illustrates the convergence between the definition and dimensions of both issues; specifically, the definition of GCE and the dimensions proposed by Ortega ( 2007 , 2008 ) are included, and a definition of CT is shown together with the dimensions established by Vieira ( 2018 ), and the result of this union is captured in the definition of Critical GCE, and the dimensions proposed by Johnson and Morris ( 2010 ).

Critical GCE as an area of confluence between GCE and TC. Note: Own elaboration.

As can be seen in the previous figure, the vision of Critical GCE already implies the need to think critically and has dimensions similar to those of CT, since, although it does not have a dimension called thinking criteria, all of them are implicit in the dimensions of Critical GCE.

In conclusion, critical global citizenship needs not only to have solid training in GCE but also to develop its CT as a necessary symbiosis to understand society from a critical perspective, thus aiming to act against injustices and promote a change towards a more sustainable and just society.

Funding information : This study has been funded by the Ministry of Universities through the University Teacher Training (FPU) sub-programme (Reference FPU16/01102).

Author contributions: Noelia Santamaría-Cárdaba has developed this research as part of her doctoral thesis and is the result of a stay at the University of Aveiro. She has written the complete article. Vanessa Ortega-Quevedo has revised and helped to improve the critical thinking section. Judith Cáceres-Iglesias and Katherine Gajardo have revised, corrected, and translated the article into English.

Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Critical thinking as a necessity for social science students capacity development: how it can be strengthened through project based learning at university.

• 1 Department of Economics Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Tanjungpura, Pontianak, Indonesia
• 2 Universitas Khairun, Ternate, Indonesia

Critical thinking is necessary for students because it empowers them to solve problems, especially during the learning stage and in real-life situations within society. Based on this fact, the present study proposes a citizenship project model that aims to enhance the Elementary School Teacher Education Study Program by emphasizing critical thinking among students during the teaching of Civic Education at universities in Indonesia. The research is of the experimental quasi-research type, which comprises two classes: an experimental class and a control class. Both the classes were conducted to compare the effectiveness of the proposed citizenship project learning model. The statistical package for the social sciences was used for data analysis. To attain the required results on the implementation of the citizenship project learning model, there were several stages, including problem identification, problem formulation, information gathering, documenting the process, showcasing the results, and reflective analysis of the model implementation process. The results have revealed a significant improvement in the critical thinking abilities of the students in the experimental class category compared to the control-class category. Thus, it is concluded that the adoption of a citizenship project learning model is appropriate for critical thinking skills' improvement of students taking up citizenship education study programs at universities.

Introduction

The development of critical thinking skills is very essential for every student of higher education today ( Kwangmuang et al., 2021 ). Globally, it has been found that 85% of teachers entail a belief that today's students have limited critical thinking abilities, mostly at the time of entry to university ( Jimenez et al., 2021 ). This development is coupled with the fact that, the world of present is facing rapid transformation in technology and scientific knowledge ( Kraus et al., 2021 ), something that is affecting people from all walks of life, including eroding their love for nationalism and affecting their attachment to nationalistic values ( Smith, 1983 ). This situation is also worsened by the existing learning models on citizenship ( Maitles, 2022 ), which are said to have not fully assisted students in developing critical thinking skills, thereby leading to difficulties in reasoning with the mindset of mature citizenry. This in turn affects their communication skills and leads to difficulties in responding to social phenomena that take place in society ( Castellano et al., 2017 ).

Because of the importance of critical thinking in solving problems related to students' learning, critical thinking cannot be separated from educational institutions ( Kim and Choi, 2018 ), especially from institutions of higher education ( Collier and Morgan, 2008 ), which are empowered to address challenges related to human resource development through the implementation of teaching and learning content. This development in turn influences students' change in mindset toward a positive direction by bringing about a change in their attitudes ( Sapriya, 2008 ). For this reason, when citizenship education is included in the realm of higher education it needs to contribute to the development of critical thinking skills as one of the compulsory subjects being taught to each student at any university in Indonesia, with the aim of achieving a 2045 Golden Indonesia ( Malihah, 2015 ). The main concern of such an educational course would be to create students who are able to instill a sense of nationalism and patriotism, as well as inculcate a sense of responsibility as future citizens who are competitive, intelligent, independent, and are able to defend their homeland, nation, and state ( Dirwan, 2018 ). Based on the above reasons, this paper focuses on the development of the critical thinking ability of student teachers by the lecturers of citizenship education by using a project-based citizenship learning model.

The concept of developing such critical thinking skills has paved the way for designing a Project Citizen model, which has been named a project-based citizenship learning model. This model has a twofold objective. Because it not only emphasizes the development of abilities in the form of mastery of skills alone, but more importantly, it emphasizes being critical in views and at decision-making, intellectually, and in character thinking ( CCE, 1998 ; Budimansyah, 2009 ; Nusarastriya et al., 2013 ; Falade et al., 2015 ; Adha et al., 2018 ) presented in practice through daily activities. To prepare students to realize the mastery of skills, such as critical thinking skills, positive mentality, and independent personality, a project-based citizenship learning model ( Adha et al., 2018 ) serves as an appropriate problem-based instructional treatment that can lead students to hone their critical thinking skills ( Brookfield, 2018 ).

The project citizen learning model is a strategy and art in the learning process to meet the learning objectives, especially students' critical thinking skills ( Susilawati, 2017 ). The Project Citizen model can develop students' abilities in terms of knowledge, skills, and civic character, as well as shape their democratic attitudes, and hence moral values ( Ching Te Lin et al., 2022 ). In addition, it can encourage student participation as citizens who are trained and prepared to learn to solve problems, both in the educational realms and government circles, as well as in society and family ( CCE, 1998 ; Budimansyah, 2009 ; Lukitoaji, 2017 ). The Project Citizen model can also encourage students acquire skillset such as intentional development through change. In fact, people can actively become involved in these changes, which may effectively take place on an ongoing basis ( Dharma and Siregar, 2015 ).

Therefore, the project citizenship model in Civic Education learning must be implemented because it is a major contributor to advancing students' critical thinking skills. This model works in such a way that it attracts or calls students to participate in dealing with social problems within a democratic and constitutional way of thinking in society through a Project Citizen-based learning process ( Budimansyah, 2009 ; Fry and Bentahar, 2013 ).

This research was conducted at Khairun Ternate University, a state university founded within the Province of North Maluku, Indonesia. Being one of the most favored universities in the region, its leadership ensures that the institution become a center of critical thinking and knowledge development, one of the soft skills required for national growth and development by shaping students and citizenship education students as future leaders. This study sought 1. To determine whether project-based citizenship education lectures can lead to improvement in critical thinking skills among students; 2. To examine students' critical thinking ability before taking up the study of Citizenship Education, we used a project-based citizenship learning model; and 3. To understand the difference in critical thinking ability between students who were taught using the project-based citizenship learning model and those who were taught using conventional models.

Basing on the above-mentioned aspects, this study sought to address and fill the gaps in students' thinking abilities, by sharpening their ways of looking at the varying citizenship challenges faced in the country. The author(s) implemented a project-based learning conceptual model, as it entailed the required aspects in improving students' thinking competences.

Literature review

Citizenship education as a compulsory subject at university.

The inclusion of subjects pertaining to Citizenship Education at all levels of education is required to sharpen and transform students into responsible stakeholders in nation building ( Gaynor, 2010 ; Kawalilak and Groen, 2019 ) of any given country. In Indonesia, Citizenship Education has of recent times attracted the attention of everyone by leading to varying discussions and policies ( Marsudi and Sunarso, 2019 ) on the program and steps for its implementation as a course or subject that promotes democratic values and shapes citizens into responsible persons who think positively and decide wisely.

Citizenship Education is also basically a vehicle for educating citizens to become democratic citizens ( Hahn, 1999 ). The implementation of this type of education program is carried out by carefully designing the material to be delivered from the curriculum so that it can be applied, assessed, and updated for the purposes of the community ( Callahan and Obenchain, 2013 ). This educational effort is believed to be an integral part of the process of transforming society in all aspects of life, whether social, political, economic, cultural, or spiritual.

By law, Citizenship Education is compulsory because it is enshrined in the Indonesian Constitution. According to Law No. 20 of 2003 on the National Education System ( Nurdin, 2015 ), Citizenship Education explicitly refers to the task of education, whereby it should be able to determine the potential of students and be able to change their morals and character for the better ( Raihani, 2014 ). The law explicitly states that the task of education is to improve the behavior of educated people. Changes in behavior and character have the potential to advance the nation and the state at large. Therefore, education must aim to develop the potential for students to become faithful and obedient servants of God, be healthy, knowledgeable, and competent. These abilities must meet three domains: knowledge, affective, and psychomotor abilities.

Philosophical basis for citizenship education

Every science has a philosophical foundation as a scientific root that can be used as the basis of knowledge ( Ginzburg, 1934 ). Likewise, Citizenship Education too has its own foundation, ontologically, epistemologically, and axiologically ( Uljens and Ylimaki, 2017 ). As it is known that Citizenship Education (Civics) developed from the civic concept with a lexical basis based on the word used in ancient Rome, namely, Civicus ( Cresshore, 1986 ; Winataputra, 2001 ). At that time, Civicus had the meaning of citizens. This term has been adapted especially in Indonesia as a concept called “Citizenship Education.”

Citizenship Education has developed both scientifically and in curricular form, hence, it touches on the broader aspects of sociocultural activities with the nature and various kinds of studies and dimensions ( Cresshore, 1986 ). Furthermore, the epistemological study of Citizenship Education focuses on the topic of “citizenship transmission,” the essence of the first social science study to obtain knowledge believed to be a tradition of self-evident truth. When drawn into learning, Citizenship Education lies at the core of social studies learning ( Anderson et al., 1997 ), which includes studies of scientific disciplines both in practice and concepts called “social studies” ( Barr et al., 1978 ; Soemantri, 2011 ). As a cross-disciplinary study, Citizenship Education is substantially driven by various types of scholarships, including political, social, and humanities. Although integrated into various studies, Citizenship Education can be held in the school sector, universities, and communities ( Winataputra, 2001 ).

From the description given above, it can be interpreted that the inclusion of Citizenship Education as a scientific area of specialization determines the study of what, how, and for what knowledge is constructed. We have long recognized terms in the study of Educational Philosophy, which include perennialism, essentialism, progressivism, and reconstructionism ( Brameld, 1955 ). The four terms of Educational Philosophy are related to Citizenship Education, among which philosophically Civic Education (Civics) is based on the concept of “reconstructed philosophy of education” which has a suitability to fulfill scholarship in terms of “perennialism, essentialism, progressivism, reconstructionism” ( Winataputra, 2001 ). The philosophy of essentialism looks at educational needs, which is the result of a proof that has been tested and experienced. The foundation is taken through an eclectic state that is philosophically centered on sophisticated knowledge (ideas) and reality (real).

The linkage between these educational philosophies makes this philosophical view sociopolitical in line with the Indonesian human conception, which is still an ideal–conceptual profile that must be realized and fought for continuously ( Winataputra and Budimansyah, 2007 ). Citizenship Education is expected to have an effect on three roles, namely; first, in the role of a curriculum that has a planned concept for educational institutions, both legally at the level of the education unit and outside of official activities; second, having an engagement plan to play an active role in the community in the context of social and cultural interaction; and third, having a role in the treasures of scientific knowledge, both in the sector of concept studies, academic ideas, and studies that have certain objects, systems, and methods for science. Such a role when examined has aspects, namely, the first aspect, the most important aspect is the academic subject as content that brings changes from their learning experience, for example, the standard content of Citizenship Education subjects, which determine scientific studies and determine the development of the study; the second aspect, in terms of scientific studies carried out including classroom action research, so that teachers will always reflect in every lesson they do ( Winataputra, 2001 ).

Critical thinking skills' development through citizenship education

As it is known, critical thinking in solving problems and finding solutions is indispensable to the learning of Civic Education for students as prospective teachers ( Ige, 2019 ). Moreover, at this time, digital students are challenged with a lot of information that can trap them in the flow of incorrect information (hoax); therefore, students must be critical and selective to the information available. To break down the problem of students' critical thinking ability, certainly not apart from educational institutions, especially college institutions, which are the right institutions to address this challenge, namely applying learning through content and touching the realm of thinking skills ( Sapriya, 2008 ; Aboutorabi, 2015 ; Borden and Holthaus, 2018 ; Japar, 2018 ).

One of the supports in critical thinking is hunting assumptions, which is one of the indicators of critical thinking ability in the Brookfield assumption. Critical thinking explores alternatives to decisions, actions, and practices from views mastered in a variety of contexts, as well as engaging in experience and information ( Brookfield, 2012 ). In this case, students are required to master critical thinking, namely, hunting assumptions, checking assumptions, seeing things from different viewpoints, and taking informed actions ( Brookfield et al., 2019 ). These four aspects help them by serving as the bases for critical thinking in a learning process that focuses on uncovering and examining assumptions, exploring alternative perspectives, and taking information-based actions as a result ( Brookfield, 2019 ). Critical thinking is best experienced as a social learning process, which is important to the learning of Civic Education, which is oriented toward society. This critical thinking ability is also necessary for students to participate in political and community life ( Banks, 1985 ; Sapriya, 2008 ; Budimansyah and Karim, 2009 ; Setiawan, 2009 ; Wahab, 2011 ; Brookfield, 2012 ). At this critical thinking stage, students can think more systematically and critically, and have high sensitivity to cultural differences, as well as local, national, and global perspectives, with a future orientation ( Kalidjernih, 2009 ; Shaw, 2014 ; Lilley et al., 2017 ). One approach can be implemented through education, by honing critical thinking skills during the learning process, to gain a high learning experience to face social problems from various aspects ( Raiyn and Tilchin, 2017 ; Alkhateeb and Milhem, 2020 ).

From the various opinions given above, the ability to think critically of hunting assumptions is needed in the course of the Civic Education field covering many topics and problems ( Cohen, 2010 ). The implementation of a Project Citizen-based learning model as one of the powerful ways to build an understanding in Civic Education aims to provide learning that focuses on the ability of students to solve problems, so that this provision can benefit them while facing and solving various problems of life.

These abilities are manifested not only in the form of mastery of skills, but more importantly, also by the ability to think critically, mentally, and characteristically ( CCE, 1998 ; Budimansyah, 2009 ; Nusarastriya et al., 2013 ; Falade et al., 2015 ; Adha et al., 2018 ). To prepare students to realize the mastery of skills, critical thinking skills, and mental and independent character, the Project Citizen learning model is a problem-based instructional treatment that can lead students to cultivate their critical thinking skills.

The Project Citizen learning model is a strategy and art in the learning process so as to meet the learning objectives that need to be achieved, particularly as regards the critical thinking skills of students ( Susilawati, 2017 ). This is because the Project Citizen model is able to develop the knowledge, proficiency, and character of democratic civic that allows and encourages the participation of students as democratic citizens. The said model can also help in dealing with problems that can be learned and trained according to the situation of self-condition of the environment faced by anyone, as many things are learned in terms of education, government, society, and family ( CCE, 1998 ; Budimansyah, 2009 ; Warren et al., 2013 ; Lukitoaji, 2017 ; Bentahar and O'Brien, 2019 ). The Project Citizen model is also able to encourage the development of change in an intentional manner, so that actively and effectively, the change occurs continuously ( Dharma and Siregar, 2015 ; Marzuki and Basariah, 2017 ). Therefore, it is important to apply the Project Citizen model to the learning of Civic Education as a major contribution to advancing students' critical thinking skills. This is because the learning model of Project Citizen invites students to participate in dealing with social problems in democracies and constitutional ways of thinking in the community through a learning process based on the project citizenship ( Budimansyah, 2009 ; Anker et al., 2010 ; Fry and Bentahar, 2013 ; Romlah and Syobar, 2021 ).

Thus, the learning model of citizen project lecturers and students can reflect on the studies they found during the course of their studies. The study was conducted by each group that was formed at the beginning of the meeting. Finally, lecturers and students hold joint discussions in the classroom by presenting data and information to create alternative solutions to the urgent problems they had to solve.

Methodology

In this study, a quasi-experimental research method was used. A quasi-experimental research approach is mostly referred to as nonrandomized, pre-post-test intervening research design (Harris et al., 200), which is used across fields of study. In the case of this study, the researchers used control groups and experimental groups but did not randomly segregate (non-random assignment) the participants into the two groups ( Creswell, 2017 ).

In this study, researchers want to see and learn more about the new learning model; therefore, they use two different classes, namely control and experimentation, to compare the classes that use project citizens (experimental) with classes that use the old method ( Sukmadinata, 2005 ). From both classes, researchers can compare the effectiveness of the experimental class learning model with that of the control class model. In addition, researchers will also observe how the results of both experiment and control classes reached high values. The researchers' approach is quantitative. This approach was determined by the researchers because it aimed to statistically test and compare both control and experimental classes. Furthermore, this approach emphasized testing to see an average comparison of the two groups that were statistically the same at the beginning of treatment.

Object and area of the study

This study was conducted at Khairun University in North Maluku Province, Indonesia. The research subjects were undergraduate students of the Elementary School Teacher Education Program and were basically those attending Civic Education courses as their major field of study. The research population comprised of all elementary school teacher Education Study Program students in Semester III totaling 100 of them, consisting of two classes, experimental classes and control classes. Each class consisted of 50 student teachers. The experimental classes of 42 females and 8 male students were experimented with a project-based citizenship learning model. In the control class, there were 44 female students and 6 male students using a conventional learning approach.

Data collection techniques

Data collection comes in various forms ( Gray and Bounegru, 2019 ), which can be either qualitative or quantitative data, comprised of either structured or unstructured data collection instruments or tools ( Pitcher et al., 2022 ). Data in its raw form may have no meaning, but due to the setting up of research targets, most research data are given meaning through interpretation by the authors, just like how the authors used with this study.

This means that data collection can be carried out with the help of written tests ( Silvia and Cotter, 2021 ). So in regard to this research too, the data were obtained through written tests, because this is a way the research chose so as to determine the critical thinking abilities of students, for both the experimental and control classes, before or after the treatment, with the method that had been chosen. This test was administered to students in the form of a detailed questionnaire. The question instrument used in the implementation of this research was a written test sheet that was formulated previously through the validation process by the validator. The hypothesis in this study is H 0 : there is no difference in hunting assumption ability between the experimental and control classes. H 1 : There are significant differences in hunting assumption ability between control-class experiments.

Normality test

Parametric statistical analyses were used to compare the average experimental and control classes. In the early stages of the test, a prerequisite test was conducted using a normality test, with the following results:

Based on Table 1 , the Sig. = 0.200 in the experiment, where G is the group. = 0.200 in the control group. The score is Sig. = 0.200 > 0.05 in both groups. Thus, it can be concluded that normally distributed data displayed a level of significance of = 0.05. A homogeneity test was also performed. = 0.344. This score is >0.05, indicating that the data are homogeneous. After conducting a prerequisite test, a t -test was performed on the Sig results. (2-tailed) = 0.259, with a significance level of a = 0.05.

Table 1 . Normality test results.

The score indicates that there are no significant differences between the experimental and control groups, so both groups are eligible to be subject to research. The average similarity between two groups is a measure of the effectiveness of a citizen's project-learning model. There was a significant difference at the final measurement after the intervention.

The findings and discussion are the answers to the formulation of the problem, which is the main focus of this study. This section presents the results of this study. Before implementing the lecture process of learning using the project-based citizenship model, the students were first given an initial trial test to establish the extent of their ability to think critically. Based on the initial proficiency tests conducted, the students' ability to think critically revealed no limitations in ability. The results of the students' initial ability tests are illustrated in Table 2 .

Table 2 . Abilities of students thinking critically.

From the exposure in Table 2 , the basic ability score of critical thinking for both the control class and experimentation descriptively obtained an average similarity that is not much different from the ability of early critical thinking of the students.

Furthermore, the initial ability to hunt assumptions students also conducted different tests in experimental and control classes using the static test. This was done to determine the difference in students' initial critical thinking ability based on the classification of low, medium, and high categories. The test results are listed in Table 3 .

Table 3 . Classification of basic abilities of the students' critical thinking.

The results of the category wise classification test in Table 3 indicate that the initial ability to display critical thinking skills in the experimental and control classes did not show significant differences. This is illustrated in the classification of the ability based on low, medium, and high categories, which also show no significant differences.

Therefore, it is necessary to implement a learning model that can maximize the ability to think critically by the students, that is: through the Citizen Project model. The Citizen Project model was implemented during the 10 meetings. Step-by-step, learning is underway to implement the learning model. The implementation of this Citizen Project learning model achieved the criteria and gained success in the ability to hunt assumptions for students. This can be seen in the tables that describe in general the classification of the low, medium, and high categories. This exposure resulted from the implementation of the learning model project. An explanation citing the success of the citizenship project-based learning is presented in the following table.

Based on the normality test in Table 4 , it can be seen that the total score of overall hunting assumptions of students in both class control and class normal distributed experiments can be calculated and then a t -test conducted. The t -test results showed a sig. (2-tailed) = 0.00 at =0.05, which means that Ha1 is received. Thus, it can be concluded that there are significant differences in critical thinking abilities between the control classes and the experiments.

Table 4 . General differences in student critical thinking ability.

Then, based on the normality tests in low-category students, the total hunting assumptions were scored in a normally distributed experimental class. However, if the control class is not normally distributed, then a t -test cannot be done for the Mann–Whitney U test. The Mann–Whitney U test results obtained were sig. =0.00 at = 0.05, which means that the Ha1 is received. Thus, it can be concluded that there is a significant difference in the hunting assumption ability of low-category students between experimental and control classes.

Then, for students in the moderate category based on the normality test given in the table, the total score of the hunting assumption's ability of moderate-category students either in the control group or in the normally distributed experimental group is calculated, and then a t- test conducted. The t -test results had a large score. (2-tailed) = 0.00 at =0.05, which means the Ha1 is received. Thus, it can be concluded that there are significant differences in hunting assumption capability in general for students in the moderate categories between the control classes and experiments.

For students in the high category based on the normality test for high-category students, the total hunting assumption's ability score in the normal distribution experiment class was reached but in the normal distribution control class, the t -test could not be performed for the Mann–Whitney U test. The Mann–Whitney U test results obtained were sig. =0.00 at = 0.05, which means that the Ha1 is received. Thus, it can be concluded that there is a significant difference in the hunting assumption ability of high-category students between experimental and control classes.

There are also differences in the ability of students to hunt assumptions after the implementation of the Citizen Project model learning in the low, medium, and high categories. The results are outlined in Table 5 .

Table 5 . Student critical thinking ability based on classification.

Based on the normality test in Table 5 , we can see the total score of the critical thinking ability of all students in the normally distributed control group. However, if the experimental group is not normally distributed, then a t -test cannot be performed to test the Mann–Whitney U test results which were obtained as sig. =0.00 at = 0.05, which means that H 1 is received. Thus, it can be concluded that there was a significant difference in the ability of students' critical thinking between the experimental and control classes.

Then, based on the normality test on the ability of thinking critically among the students in the low category if the total critical thinking skills' ability score in the experimental class and control is not normally distributed, then t -test cannot be conducted to test the results of the Mann–Whitney U test in both the control and experimental classes. The Mann–Whitney U test results obtained were sig. = 0.00 at = 0.05, which means that H 1 is received.

Thus, it can be concluded that there was a significant difference in the ability of thinking critically among students in the low category between the experimental and control classes. Then, for the ability of critical thinking, students in the moderate category based on the normality test mentioned in the table can be seen to reach the total score of student critical thinking ability in both class control and class normally distributed experiments. The t -test results had a large score. (2-tailed) = 0.00 at = 0.05 which means that H 1 is received.

Thus, it can be concluded that there are significant differences in the ability of critical thinking of the students in the moderate category between the control classes and experiments.

For high-category students, based on normality tests on the ability of critical thinking of the students in the high-category score, the total critical thinking ability is normally distributed, in control classes. However, if the experimental class is not normally distributed, then a t- t est cannot be performed to test the Mann–Whitney U test results obtained. = 0.00 at = 0.05, which means that H 1 is received.

Thus, it can be concluded that there was a significant difference in students' critical thinking abilities in the high category between the experimental and control classes. To perceive the difference in the development of hunting assumption's ability to conduct an analysis of pre-test and post-test scores, the analysis included the examination of the magnitude of N-Gain in each class, both control and experimentation. The analysis was conducted on both categories based on initial ability.

Based on the table, we can see the difference in improved hunting assumptions between the control classes and experiments that are reviewed from the initial ability. If we analyze the groups based on indicators of critical thinking ability, we can see that in the control group, the improvement of critical thinking skills' ability is almost entirely in the low category, both in the subclass based on the initial ability and on the ability to critical thinking that students are in a low category.

In the experimental class, hunting assumptions increased in the moderate category. There was no increase in the low category, and it was placed in the ability to critical thinking of students. An increase in high-category critical thinking was also not seen. Furthermore, if we analyze the ability to critical thinking based on the initial ability, it can be seen that the control class shows an increase in the ability to critical thinking in the low category. In the experimental class, although the increase was not classified as high, in all classes, critical thinking showed an increase in the moderate category in the experimental class, which was significantly higher compared to the control class on improved critical thinking ability.

The ability to think critically by the students has an important element in assuming, identifying thinking critical skills, comparing critical thinking abilities based on students' opinions, and performing actions and movements to change old habits by promoting the application of new habits properly ( Brookfield, 2012 ). A study on the ability to think critically is intended to give students an understanding of building hypotheses or assumptions, seeing from data and facts to be identified, tracing figures and experts to compare, and making movements as a form of application of student work as their ability to critical thinking present day required life skill ( Brookfield, 2018 ; Gonzalez et al., 2022 ). Thus, the citizen project learning model is suitable for improving students' critical thinking skills through six learning steps. The six steps were identifying problems, formulating or selecting problems, collecting information or data, creating portfolio file documents, displaying studies, and reflecting on the findings discussed together ( Budimansyah, 2009 ; Dewey, 2021 ). The project citizen learning model is based on strategy “inquiry learning, discovery learning, problem-solving learning, research-oriented learning” (learning through research, learning to find/disclose, learning problem-solving, and learning-based research).

This model is packaged by Dewey, who is called a project citizen. This model is appropriate when applied to Citizenship Education to increase students' awareness and thinking ability, as well as to build smart and good citizen characters ( Budimansyah, 2008 ; Rafzan et al., 2020 ). Thus, through the process of learning the citizen project model, lectures have combined theoretical and practical studies that allow the readiness of students with their groups to undergo a mature process. In particular, Civic Education courses have a wide scope of studies, with a project citizen learning model able to train students to improve critical thinking skills, especially critical thinking hunting assumptions.

Project citizen-based learning in Civic Education courses to improve critical thinking skills and sharpens the argumentative way of reasoning among students, hence making them obtain good results. The results of the analysis of the influence of learning on the ability to critical thinking based on the learning model of project citizenship learning conclude that: the ability of students to think critically in the experimental class, in general, differs significantly compared to the control class; the ability to think critically of students in the low category in experimental class among students differed significantly compared to the control class; the critical thinking ability of students with moderate categories in experimental class differed significantly compared to the control class; and lastly, the critical thinking ability of students in the high category in experimental class was significantly higher compared to the control class.

Based on the statistical analysis of critical thinking assumptions' ability, it can be concluded that the understanding of the student's capacity to think critically through experimental classes, using project citizen-based learning models to ensure students learn from low to medium, and attain high critical thinking skills has been enhanced by learning steps that lead them to be more active and productive in understanding information and critical opinions. This means that there is uniformity in the acquisition of value in understanding students' opinion through critical arguments, which indicate that the citizen's project model can improve the critical thinking ability of students, gauged through exchange of opinions.

From the description given above, it appears that the learning model of a project-based citizenship education model has a significant impact on students' development of the critical thinking skills' ability. This is because the implementation of citizenship-based project learning provides learning steps based on experience. Such an experience can help students develop their knowledge, skills, and skills (civic knowledge, civic skills, and civic disposition) ( Fry and Bentahar, 2013 ; Fajri et al., 2018 ).

Conclusively, a project-based citizenship learning model, as a social learning model, has been found to be effective in developing critical thinking skills that impact on all students' competencies. Competency is the ability of students to conduct a given task independently based on the citizenship-based project learning model applied in the course of Civic Education to enhance students' abilities in problem-solving from concept to real-life realization stage ( Medina-Jerez et al., 2010 ; Mitchell et al., 2017 ; Yusof et al., 2019 ). In other words, the project-based model used in this research is expected to contribute to improved students' reasoning capacity while at school and in a real-life situation.

The result is in accordance with Brookfield's (2012 , 2018) opinion about the aims and objectives of the student's critical thinking ability, who states that social problems could be solved by making decisions based on hypotheses and critical thinking. Based on a deeper analysis and investigation of the research findings and discussion, the application of the project-based citizenship learning model in the Civics Education course was able to create an effective learning atmosphere in sharpening students' critical thinking skills and motivating them to be good and responsible human beings. This statement is in line with the objectives of the Civic Education course, which emphasizes the process of creating students who are intelligent, have good character and required morals in society ( Banks, 1985 ; Branson, 1994 ; Budimansyah and Suryadi, 2008 ; Budimansyah, 2009 ; Setiawan, 2009 ). Thus, the results of the study confirmed that the project-based citizenship learning model is not only a proof of the evidence of the improvement in students' critical thinking skills, but the study also notes that the learning model can as well be effective in helping students develop reasoning abilities and good critical thinking abilities which may also help them in solving various issues within society.

Facilitating the growth of critical thinking abilities of a student leads to critical reasoning, hence encouraging productive discussions, which in turn leads to acceptable criticisms and an open exchange of ideas among students to be easily understood, including those ideas based on assumptions and hypotheses. Based on the exposure of the results and discussion of research on the ability to hunt assumptions, students who were engaged in a project-based citizenship learning model obtained better scores for their critical thinking abilities. This implies that such students experience an improvement in their hunting assumption ability compared to students studying through conventional learning. Assembling a project citizen learning model in Civic Education courses can improve students' ability to hunt assumptions. Thus, it can be concluded that Civic Education courses with the application of the learning model project-based citizenship learning model can improve students' critical thinking skills.

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Ethics statement

Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. Written informed consent for participation was not required for this study in accordance with the national legislation and the institutional requirements.

Author contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.

This study was funded by University Administration.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: citizenship education, citizenship learning project model, critical thinking skills, elementary education, teacher preparation, university curriculum, university education

Citation: Witarsa and Muhammad S (2023) Critical thinking as a necessity for social science students capacity development: How it can be strengthened through project based learning at university. Front. Educ. 7:983292. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.983292

Received: 01 July 2022; Accepted: 26 September 2022; Published: 09 January 2023.

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