Effects of Case Teaching Method in Chinese Course to Promote Critical Thinking Skills for Seventh-grade Students in Zhengzhou NO. 65 Middle School

Background and Aims: This experimental research aimed to 1) compare the critical thinking skills of the seventh-grade students before and after learning through the Case Teaching Method.2) Compare the critical thinking skills of the seventh-grade students after learning through the case teaching method with the criterion determined of 70 Percent of the full score.3) Assess the students’ satisfaction after learning through the Case Teaching Method. Materials and Methods: The population of this study is 120 seventh-grade students, all of whom participated in Chinese language courses. The sample was selected from seventh-grade students of Zhengzhou NO. 65 Middle School using the cluster random sampling method. Data on students' critical thinking abilities before and after the case-based teaching method were collected through questionnaires. SPSS software was used to analyze the collected data, including the mean value of samples, standard deviation, and single-sample t-test. Result: The results showed that 1) Critical thinking skills test scores of the students after learning through the case teaching method (M= 22.87, S.D. =4.31) were higher than before Learning (M= 18.00, S.D. =3.01) at a statistically significant level of 0.00. 2) The critical thinking skills test scores of the students after learning through the case teaching method were higher than the determined criterion of 70% at the 0.05 statistical significance level (M= 22.87, S.D. =4.31). 3) After learning through a case teaching method, students’ satisfaction was at a high level (M=4.03, S.D. = 0.76). Conclusion: Knowledge gained from this research is that using the case teaching method in a Chinese course which consists of 4 steps of teaching, can effectively promote critical thinking skills and test scores of the students, stimulate students' interest in learning, develop students' critical thinking skills, and meets their personalized learning needs. It is a new trend in the future of education.