Measuring Critical Thinking Skills in Science Learning: Students’ Perception Versus Actual Performance

The success of teaching can be measured by the critical thinking skills of students as demonstrated through their activities and study results. A descriptive quantitative study was conducted using the Student Perception of Critical Thinking Questionnaire (SPCTQ) to determine the perceptions of 82 grade IX secondary school students in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, regarding their critical thinking skills and their actual performance in the learning process using the Critical Thinking Observation Sheet (CTOS). The data was analyzed using correlation test analysis. The findings showed that the SPCTQ score was higher than the CTOS value. However, there was no relationship between students' perceptions of their critical thinking skills and learning performance. Although students believed their critical thinking skills were good, they could have performed better in the learning process. This highlights that students' critical thinking skills cannot be maximized solely based on self-confidence, beliefs, and student motivation in learning. Instead, it is important to maintain and shape students' perceptions of their critical thinking skills to suit the learning process.