Dialogic pedagogy’s impact on higher education institution students’ critical thinking disposition

The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of the dialogic teaching on critical thinking disposition of higher education institutions in Ethiopia at Gambella University. The study employed a non-equivalent group pre-post quasi-experimental design. Data collection involved a self-report questionnaire encompassing both groups’ pre- and post-treatment phases. A simple random sampling technique was used to select one control group and one experimental group from eight fourth-year classes, and a total of 39 participants were selected as sample of the study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used, including an independent sample t-test employed to compare means of control and experimental groups, while paired t-tests assessed differences between pre-test and post-test scores. Based on post-test mean scores, the dialogical pedagogy significantly improved students’ critical thinking disposition levels (t = 8.221, df = 20, p = 0.000). This statistically significant finding demonstrates that dialogic teaching has a strong positive impact on fostering students’ critical thinking disposition, highlighting its potential as a transformative instructional approach in higher education. It suggests that dialogical pedagogy effectively improves students’ critical thinking disposition, positioning it as an alternative to conventional learning methods that can develop critical thinking disposition. Based on the findings of this study it is recommended that the university should make an effort to put in place policies, guidelines, and programs that support and encourage the use of the dialogic teaching method in all programs in the university classroom.