Revealing the Link Between Critical Thinking Disposition and Learning Approaches: A Cross-Sectional Study Among Chinese Medical Students

This study aimed to explore the association between medical students' critical thinking (CT) disposition and learning approach (LA), to provide novel insights for fostering CT in medical education. In this cross-sectional study, 152 second year medical students completed online questionnaires, consisting of a demographic questionnaire, the Chinese version of the California Critical Thinking Skills Questionnaire (CTDI-CV) and the Revised Two Factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F). Students' mean CT score was 290 (SD 26) out of 420, with 64% of students achieving a CT score of 280 or above. Additionally, the students' deep learning approach (DA, characterized by intrinsic motivation and meaning-making strategies) and surface learning approach (SA, characterized by extrinsic motivation and rote memorization) were 29 (SD 6) and 23 (SD 6), both with a maximum score of 40. Regression analysis showed that deep and surface learning approaches explained 39.0% of the variance in total CT score. Additionally, there was a moderate positive correlation between CT and DA (r=0.54, P<0.001), whereas SA showed a negative correlation (r=-0.45, P<0.001). This study revealed the relationship between students' CT disposition and LA, emphasizing the significance of improving students' LA to enhance their CT. These findings underscore the need for curriculum reforms emphasizing deep learning strategies to systematically enhance medical students' CT disposition.