Critical Thinking and Academic Performance of Junior Secondary School Students in Social Studies in Ogoja Education Zone, Cross River State, Nigeria

The study investigated the influence of critical thinking on the academic performance of junior secondary school students in Social Studies in Ogoja Education Zone, Cross River State, Nigeria. Four research objectives were formulated to guide the study; each aligned with four corresponding research questions and hypotheses. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population for this study comprised all 4,043 Junior Secondary School Two (JSS2) students, stratified random sampling technique was used to select 405 junior secondary school students across schools in Ogoja Education Zone. Data were collected using structured instruments titled Critical Thinking Questionnaire (CTQ) and Social Studies Achievement Test (SSAT). The instrument was validated by two experts, one in Educational Psychology and the other in Measurement and Evaluation, from the University of Calabar. Reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed using Cronbach’s Alpha method, yielding internal consistency coefficients ranging from .77 to .84. The study hypotheses were tested using simple linear regression analysis.