THOMPSON RIVERS UNIVERSITY

“Canadian and Iranian Graduate Students’ Conceptions of Critical Thinking:
A Comparative Study”

by
Farzaneh Ojaghi shirmard

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
Master of Education

KAMLOOPS, BRITISH COLUMBIA

September 2022

Supervisor: Dr. Edward R. Howe
Committee Member: Dr. Mahtab Nazemi
Internal Committee: Dr. Hilda Freimuth
External Committee: Dr. Penny Kinnear

© Farzaneh Ojaghi shirmard, 2022

ABSTRACT
This qualitative study compares Canadian and Iranian students’ conceptions of critical
thinking during their graduate studies in Canada. Critical thinking is an essential skill in
higher education that enables students to have the art of making reasoned judgements from
their observation and experimentation. The present narrative inquiry in the light of openended interviews describes the lived experiences of eight students: four Canadian and four
Iranian, from different master’s programs at a public mid-sized university in British
Columbia province to examine their experiences and notions of critical thinking during their
studies. The study’s findings indicated that while all Canadian participants had a reasonable
perception of critical thinking, some Iranian contributors required knowledge to build their
critical thinking conceptualization. In addition to different cultural and educational
backgrounds, content knowledge, instructors’ competence, and teaching methods played vital
roles in influencing the cultivation and development of critical thinking among both groups
of students. The results recommend the need to re-examine the curriculum and ways
instructors can facilitate critical thinking among Canadian and Iranian students.

Keywords: critical thinking, Canadian students, Iranian students, culture, narrative inquiry,
comparative study

ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This journey was impossible to make alone, and without the presence of many
individuals, I would never have been able to complete my research.
First and foremost, I offer heartfelt thanks to my supervisor and teacher, Dr. Edward
(Ted) Howe, for his continuous support, patience, motivation, and immense knowledge. Ted,
I admire your enthusiasm for the field of education, especially comparative and international
education. I learned a lot and benefited from your side. It is impossible I give back what you
have given me. Still, I can tell you I am thankful beyond measure.
I am deeply thankful to my thesis second reader Dr. Mahtab Nazemi for their
valuable feedback. Mahtab, your in-depth and professional reflections on my research was
supportive to complete this work. I am grateful for your well-timed help and guidance. Mersi.
My utmost gratitude goes to my thesis committee members: the internal committee
member Dr. Hilda Freimuth and external committee member Dr. Penny Kinnear from the
University of Toronto. Hilda, your constructive comments helped me to improve my thesis
writing and make it more well-crafted. Thank you. Penny, it was an honour for me to discuss
my research with you. I enjoyed hearing your invaluable advice and utilizing them to finalize
the study in the right direction. Thank you.
Then, I should thank Dr. Alfred Schaub, who granted me his personal time to share
his points of view about my study. His willingness to provide valuable advice guided me to
complete this thesis.
This study owes much to its participants, whose willingness to share their stories,
thoughts and experiences brought new hope for improving knowledge in the research area.
Keith, Mona, Sydney, Mali, Jenna, Amir, Lamech, and #4 thank you for your voluntary
participation and unique perspectives, which supported me in conducting my study. Without
you, I would not have embarked on this journey.
Finally, my deepest thanks go to my beloved husband Majid, my dearest siblings:
Alireza, Masoud and Fatemeh, and my kind parents. Majid, your never-ending love always
supports me in reaching my purposes. I am thankful for all your emotional and financial
support during my master’s level. Without you by my side, as the major cheerleader, I could
iii

not live my dreams. I love you Azize delam. Alireza, my kind-hearted brother, I am thankful
for having you as the oldest brother in my life and I am delighted that you are here in
Canada; thank you for all you have done during my educational journey. Masoud, my always
sweet little brother, thank you for all your funny and kind messages. You are full of joy, and
you always make me laugh; I wish you a bright future. My brilliant and only sister Fatemeh,
how lucky I am that you are in my life as an intelligent, beautiful, kind, and patient sister.
These days that you are in the middle of your Medicine program, I see how much you are
studying hard, and I admire your motivation and enthusiasm. I am sure that soon you will be
one of the beneficial doctors for people and reach your aims. I am so proud of you. Also,
thank you to my parents for all they have done for me during my life and for their
understanding of my delay in visiting them in Iran.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................v
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES.......................................................................................x
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................................. xii
DEDICATION...................................................................................................................... xiii
Chapter One: Introduction .....................................................................................................1
How Was the Topic Born? .................................................................................................... 1
Statement of Problem ............................................................................................................ 3
Significance of Study ............................................................................................................ 4
Research Questions ............................................................................................................... 4
Organization of Chapters ...................................................................................................... 5
Chapter Summary .................................................................................................................. 5
Chapter Two: Literature Review ...........................................................................................7
Critical Thinking ................................................................................................................... 7
Recognizing Critical Thinking .......................................................................................... 7
Historical Perspective of Critical Thinking ................................................................ 7
Definition of Critical Thinking .................................................................................. 8
The Importance of Critical Thinking ....................................................................... 10
The Significance of Critical Thinking in Higher Education ........................................ 11
Previous Studies .................................................................................................................. 12
Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................ 14
Chapter Three: Education in Canada and Iran..................................................................16
v

Education in British Columbia, Canada .............................................................................. 16
Historical Perspective ............................................................................................... 16
Higher Education...................................................................................................... 17
International Students ............................................................................................... 18
Critical Thinking in British Columbia Education .................................................... 18
Education in Iran ................................................................................................................. 19
Where Is the Middle East? ....................................................................................... 19
Iran’s Historical Perspective .................................................................................... 21
Education System in Iran ......................................................................................... 22
Higher Education in Iran .......................................................................................... 23
Critical Thinking in Iran Education ......................................................................... 23
Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................ 24
Chapter Four: Methodology .................................................................................................25
Researcher’s Positionality ................................................................................................... 25
Design of the Study ............................................................................................................. 26
Site and Participants ............................................................................................................ 28
Data Collection and Analysis Procedure ............................................................................. 30
Data Collection. ............................................................................................................... 30
Data Analysis. .................................................................................................................. 32
Approaches to Ensure Trustworthiness ............................................................................... 35
Peer Debriefing ................................................................................................................ 35
Member Checks ............................................................................................................... 36
Triangulation ................................................................................................................... 36
Ethical Considerations......................................................................................................... 36
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Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................ 36
Chapter Five: Findings ..........................................................................................................38
RQ1: What Are Canadian and Iranian Graduate Students’ Conceptions of Critical
Thinking? ............................................................................................................................ 38
Definitions of Critical Thinking from Canadian Students’ Views .................................. 39
Definitions of Critical Thinking from Iranian Students’ Views ...................................... 40
Canadian Students’ Views on the Importance of Critical Thinking ................................ 43
Iranian Students’ Views on the Importance of Critical Thinking ................................... 44
Canadian Students’ Views about the Necessity of Critical Thinking for Their Programs
......................................................................................................................................... 46
Iranian Students’ Views about the Necessity of Critical Thinking for Their Programs .. 46
Summary of Findings to Research Question 1. ............................................................... 48
RQ2: How Does the Experience of Studying at a Canadian University Impact Graduate
Students’ Critical Thinking? ............................................................................................... 48
Canadian Students’ Overall University Experiences about Critical Thinking. ............... 49
Iranian Students’ Overall University Experiences about Critical Thinking .................... 51
Canadian Students’ Significant Needs for the Development of Critical Thinking ......... 53
Iranian Students’ Significant Needs for the Development of Critical Thinking ............. 54
Canadian Students’ Difficulties with Critical Thinking in Their Programs of Study. .... 56
Iranian Students’ Difficulties with Critical Thinking in Their Programs of Study. ........ 57
Canadian Students’ Views About Barriers to Develop Their Critical Thinking ............. 59
Iranian Students’ Views About Barriers to Develop Their Critical Thinking. ................ 59
Summary of Findings to Research Question 2. ............................................................... 62
Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................ 63
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Chapter Six: Discussion .........................................................................................................65
Dissection of Research Questions ....................................................................................... 65
Discussion about Research Question One....................................................................... 65
The Definition of Critical Thinking Among Canadian and Iranian Students. ............. 65
The Role of Critical Thinking in the Iranian Cultural Context .................................... 69
Canadian and Iranian Students’ Views About the Importance of Critical Thinking ... 70
Canadian and Iranian Students’ Views about The Necessity of Critical Thinking ..... 73
Discussion about Research Question Two ...................................................................... 76
Canadian and Iranian Students’ Overviews Related to University Experiences ......... 76
Canadian and Iranian Students’ Significant Needs for Developing Critical Thinking 77
Canadian and Iranian Students’ Difficulties in Developing Critical Thinking............ 77
Barriers to Developing Critical Thinking Among Canadian and Iranian Students ..... 77
Content Knowledge .................................................................................................. 78
Instructor’s Competence .......................................................................................... 79
Teaching Methods .................................................................................................... 80
Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................ 82
Chapter Seven: Conclusion ...................................................................................................83
Implications ......................................................................................................................... 83
Limitations of the Study ...................................................................................................... 84
Recommendations for Future Research .............................................................................. 85
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 87
References ...............................................................................................................................88
Appendices ............................................................................................................................102
Appendix A: Invitation Email ........................................................................................... 102
viii

Appendix B: Informed Consent Form ............................................................................... 103
Appendix C: Research Ethical Board Approval Letter ..................................................... 105

ix

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figures
Figure 1: Map of British Columbia ......................................................................................... 17
Figure 2: Map of Middle East and North Africa ..................................................................... 20
Figure 3: Map of Iran .............................................................................................................. 22
Figure 4: Participants’ Type of Interview Attendance ............................................................ 32
Figure 5: Qualitative Process of Data Analysis ...................................................................... 33
Figure 6: Visual Model of the Coding Process in Qualitative Research ................................ 34
Figure 7: Bloom’s Taxonomy Hierarchy ................................................................................ 35
Figure 8: Process and Elements for Examination of the First RQ .......................................... 39
Figure 9: Key Themes of CT’s Definitions Among Participants ........................................... 43
Figure 10: Canadian and Iranian Students’ Shared and Non-shared Themes about the
Importance of CT Skills .......................................................................................................... 45
Figure 11: Common and Non-common Main Themes Among Canadian and Iranian Students
Related to Necessity of CT for Their Program of Studies ...................................................... 47
Figure 12: The Process of Analysis of the Second RQ ........................................................... 49
Figure 13: Similarities and Differences in Overall University Experiences Among Canadian
and Iranian Students ................................................................................................................ 53
Figure 14: Shared and Non-shared Needs among Canadian and Iranian Students ................. 56
Figure 15: Comparison of Canadian and Iranian Difficulties Related to The Use of CT ...... 58
Figure 16: Barriers To developing CT from Canadian and Iranian Students’ Viewpoints .... 61
Figure 17: Students’ Level of Familiarity with the Concept of CT Based on Bloom's
Taxonomy ............................................................................................................................... 68

Tables
Table 1: Participants Demographic Information..................................................................... 30
Table 2: Comparison Summary of Sub-themes Definition of CT Among Canadian and
Iranian Students ...................................................................................................................... 41
Table 3: Codes Repetitions of Canadian Students’ Overall University Experiences with CT 50
x

Table 4: Codes Repetitions of Iranian Students’ Overall University Experiences with CT ... 52
Table 5: Key Themes of the Impact of University Experiences on Students’ CT .................. 62

xi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

BC ………………………………………………………………....……… British Columbia
CT ………………………………………………………………………… Critical Thinking
IELTS ………………………………………International English Language Testing System
RQ …………………………………………………………………………Research Question
GDP …………………………………………………………………Gross Domestic Product
MENA …………………………………………………………Middle East and North Africa
NI …………………………………………………………………………... Narrative Inquiry

xii

DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my younger brother,
Mohammad Reza Ojaghi shirmard (1991-2017)

who was the river of passion, hope, and love that did not reach the ocean of life.

Mohammad,
Words cannot articulate how much I miss you.
I wish you were here now.
This is for you.

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1

Chapter One: Introduction
How Was the Topic Born?
In January 2021, I started my master’s program in Education at Thompson Rivers
University in Kamloops, British Columbia (BC), Canada. I started my journey in one of the
most challenging times in the history of the world. Since the unprecedented COVID-19
pandemic, all my classes shifted to a virtual format, and these changes posed new
complications like a lack of communication with instructors and classmates in my education.
At the beginning of my master’s journey, I took a course entitled “Research Colloquium”
that led us to practice our critical thinking (CT) by participating in various group activities on
numerous topics in educational research. In the first session, while the class was virtual, I sat
down in front of my laptop and waited for the instructor; I was looking at my classmates’
profile pictures and had the typical thoughts: will this course be attractive? how much work I
am supposed to do? could I get through my study? and of course, what instructor will look
like?. When the instructor joined the class, after introducing herself, she kindly tried to
explain the necessary information about the course, activities, and assignments; then, the
story began. One of the weekly class activities was “critical discussion” based on the
required subjects. When the instructor explained the process, I did not realize that it might be
challenging, but, in practice, I had a big question: how should I reflect critically? As a nonwestern international student who studied in a different educational and cultural systems, I
was confused and struggled with those particular assignments. Then, I realized, thanks to the
technology, I could search on the internet to find an answer or discover a way to do the tasks.
Unbelievably, I could not find anything clear to respond to my question. Also, I did not have
a chance to meet the instructor or classmate in-person to ask them, and I was shy to ask them
by email because I thought that only I could not manage these assignments.
While I was stressed and had a challenging question in my mind, I got an email from
one of my classmates who had the same question. I was surprised since she was from another
country and had the same question as me. She explained that she asked other students, and
they could not find any clear answer for these particular assignments. This spark made me

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dare to ask the instructor about the process of critical discussion. In the next session, at the
end of class, I had a chance to express my big question: what is CT, and how can I use it?
Therefore, the instructor provided a summary of CT, and based on my understanding, I
realized that CT, this western concept is a set of skills that lead individuals to think and
analyze a topic from another perspective and have the ability to make a judgment. With that
explanation and more practice, I could understand a little about what CT is and how I should
critically reflect on the topic. Still, I became curious about how international students who
were raised in different cultural and educational backgrounds encounter the concept of CT in
their western academic journey?
According to Sermeus et al. (2021), features like considering diverse outlooks,
recognizing assumptions, logical thinking and association with complex problem solving and
decision making make CT the crucial desirable result of education among students. In this
regard, Zara and Othman (2013) noted that CT abilities are recognized as necessary skills for
learners in fast-changing world that leads them potentially to enhance creative thinking,
reasoning, communication skills and problem-solving talents. However, Kuhn (1999)
highlighted that “enthusiasm for critical thinking as a goal of education shows no sign of
waning” (p. 16). Yet, as Van Gelder (2005) pointed out, in general, students cannot become
critical thinkers by being handed activities and assignments to improve the rigours of CT
associated with academic literacy; indeed, they require to be apprenticed to the standards of
CT and must gain some theoretical knowledge about its foundations.
According to O’Sullivan and Guo (2011), while some Canadian-educated students are
unprepared to engage in the expected level of criticality when they enter university,
international students who were educated in various cultural contexts and vastly different
educational systems face significantly greater intellectual challenges. Moreover, Shaheen
(2016) discovered that international students are often criticized as being non-critical thinkers
and rote learners because of the lack of CT in their methods of studies. Likewise, in order to
obtain academic literacy, they need to adopt thinking outlines, which highlight academic
achievement through disciplines and modes of learning. Thus, international students need
more attention to promote them to meet the standards of educational evaluation, which is
recognized on the premise that “knowledge exists in and through critical thought” (Paul,

3

1992, p. 5).
Statement of Problem
The number of international students pursuing higher-level educational degrees in
western countries has been growing due to the open-door policy and marketization of
institutions in recent decades. One of the mandatory requirements to study in Englishspecking regions for international students from non-English-speaking countries is passing
different language tests such as IELTS (International English Language Testing System).
While these exams aim to indicate a fair and accurate assessment of students’ English
proficiency (Mat Daud et al., 2011) yet they do not indicate students’ critical academic
literacy “to adequately comprehend and produce academic texts” (Ewert, 2011, p. 5). One of
the main attributes of Canadian higher education is to encourage students to think and reflect
critically on knowledge and experiences. Nevertheless, international students are required to
use CT in an academic context. Therefore, entering a Canadian academic community and
becoming critical thinkers might be challenging for some international students, and their
educational outcomes might be below academic standards.
Consequently, as CT is a western concept, far less but growing is a body of studies
about international students’ conceptions and experiences of CT in English-specking
universities (e.g., Zhong & Cheng, 2021; Islamiyah & Sholakhuddin Al Fajri, 2020;
Samanhudi & Linse, 2019; Tiwari et al., 2003). Most of these investigations focused on
Chinese or Indonesian students in universities in the United Kingdom. Therefore, in a
comprehensive meta-search of the literature, no studies were found to examine international
students’ perceptions of CT in Canadian universities. So, I intend to look deeply into the
experiences of Iranian international students as the concept of CT developed in western
world is absent in the Iranian educational system. I planned to discover their stories about
CT, determine the impact of the Canadian educational experiences on their CT and compare
their lived experiences with Canadian students. However, I must acknowledge the
complexity of this topic which consists of deep cultural/linguistic roots of CT and cultural
norms, values, beliefs, and practices that require consideration. In fact, in-depth consideration
of these points and identity issues is beyond the scope of this thesis. Also, I must point out

4

that the definition of Canadian and Iranian students will be discussed in Chapter Four which
is the methodology section of the thesis. In this study, when I speak of the “western concept,”
I mean primarily European and American notions. And, when I refer to “western countries,”
I refer to the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
Significance of Study
According to the notion that CT is a vital part of academic literacy acquisition for
graduate students, there are at least four reasons why study about Canadian and Iranian
graduate students’ perceptions of CT is important.
First, this research provides information on the experience of two diverse groups of
Canadian and Iranian students doing their masters in various programs at a public mid-sized
Canadian university. Second, the study’s results deliver much-needed insights into the impact
of a Canadian university on postgraduate students’ conceptions of CT. Third, the present
investigation drew on data collected through interviews among participants to compare their
experiences, opinions, and challenges of CT during their studies. Through understanding
students’ conception of CT, curriculum developers will have more knowledge to design a
curriculum that considers developing CT among local students while paying attention to
Iranian international students’ needs and academic backgrounds. The research will lead to a
richer indication of how a curriculum and environment can effectively influence the
development of CT in the academic context among Iranian students. The findings of this
research may be used in higher education institutions to design more culturally relevant
pedagogies. Thus, administrators, department heads, and instructors at colleges and
universities will be able to design, plan, and implement CT instructional strategies within
their curricula. Finally, it is hoped this thesis will add to the body of research and help other
scholars interested in comparative and international higher education studies to acquire a
snapshot and better understand Canadian and Iranian students’ conceptions of CT.
Research Questions
This narrative study examines Canadian and Iranian students’ conceptions of CT
during their graduate studies. To reach this aim, I broadly engage focus on two research
questions (RQ):

5

1- What are Canadian and Iranian graduate students’ conceptions of critical thinking?
2- How does the experience of studying at a Canadian university impact graduate
students’ critical thinking?
Organization of Chapters
The present research compares Canadian and Iranian international students’
conceptions of CT during their master’s programs at a Canadian university. In this regard, I
present the thesis in seven chapters as follows:
My research begins with Chapter One, which introduces the background for the study
by providing a statement of the problem, the significance of the study, and the questions that
the study will address. Chapter Two offers a brief literature review to situate the study in the
different aspects, including a historical perspective of CT, definitions of CT, the importance
of CT, the role of CT in higher education and will sum up the previous studies that have been
done in the research scope. Chapter Three spells out different aspects of education in Canada
and Iran to better comprehend CT contexts within the two regions. Chapter Four describes
the research methodology by focusing on the researcher’s positionality, the study’s design,
site and participants, data collection and procedures, trustworthiness approaches and ethical
considerations. Chapter Five details the study’s findings based on participants’ lived
experiences to deliver answers to research questions. The discussion about the results of the
study is presented in Chapter Six. Finally, Chapter Seven provides implications and
limitations of the research, offers recommendations for future studies, and will come to an
end with concluding remarks.
Chapter Summary
This chapter established the need to understand international students’ conceptions of
CT during their higher education in Canada. The chapter introduced the situations that
international students encounter related to the use of CT during their graduate studies.
Through vast meta-search of the literature, I found studies that aimed to discover Chinese or
Indonesian students’ perceptions of CT in western universities, mainly in the UK, and no
studies were found in the context of Canadian and international students’ pictures of CT. As

6

the population of international students in Canada is increasing and considering most of these
students are from different academic and cultural backgrounds, where CT is not a primary
component in their home countries’ educational systems, there is a need to pay attention to
these students’ experiences of developing CT in Canadian academic context. Therefore, the
current research aims to be a voice for Canadian and Iranian international students, to
discover and clarify their conceptions of CT and the impact of a Canadian university on their
CT. The cultural and educational background differences among Canadian and Iranian
students appear to demand for curriculum developers to design programs that consider
developing these essential skills not only for Canadian students but also paying attention to
Iranian international students’ needs and academic backgrounds. Chapter one introduced the
topic, the problem statement, the importance of the study, and specific research questions in
the study. The organization of chapters provides a review of the whole thesis that support this
research. In the following, the second chapter will present a review of the related literature on
the study’s scope.

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Chapter Two: Literature Review
This chapter examines the literature on CT features. The chapter first provides a brief
history of the concept of CT, followed by an overview of the various notions and scholars in
the following sections: definition of CT, the importance of CT, and the role of CT in higher
education. Moreover, the chapter will review previous studies about international students’
conceptions of CT in western countries.
Critical Thinking
Recognizing Critical Thinking
Historical Perspective of Critical Thinking
According to Paul et al. (1997), the origins of appreciating the value of CT as a
learning objective may go back to antiquity and the ideas of Socrates. Through the reflective
question of shared beliefs and explanations, Socrates recognized those acceptable and
rational beliefs from those which appeal to our natural egocentrism. Indeed, Socratic
questioning as a teaching strategy invites the attention of several viewpoints on a subject and
the question of an individual’s beliefs and the underlying assumptions behind arguments.
After Socrates, philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, and the Greek skeptics continued Socrates’
tradition and searched for the truth beneath the surface by examining whether what seems to
be is what it really is. In the Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas pioneered the writings and
teachings of systematic CT, which believed in the potential power of reasoning and the need
for a reason to be systematically cultivated and cross-examined. During the Renaissance,
several philosophers such as Colet and Erasmus welcomed the principles of questioning and
doubt as a technique of scientific investigation leading to more profound thought and
understanding of knowledge. Later, the thinkers of the French Enlightenment (e.g., Bayle and
Montesquieu), through extending CT to examine the nature of the social and political world,
had a meaningful influence on this western concept.
In contemporary times, an American philosopher and educator, John Dewey, has been
identified as the father of modern CT tradition (Fisher, 2001). Dewey (1910) believed that
the primary goal line of education was learning to think critically. In the same direction,
various contemporary scholars, and educators such as Baron and Sterberg (1987) and Brown

8

(1998) agreed that training in CT should be an essential task of education.
Definition of Critical Thinking
CT is rooted in two primary academic disciplines: philosophy and psychology
(Lewis & Smith, 1993). Also, Sternberg (1986) has noted a third CT discipline is from an
educational view. Thus, CT is a rich concept with various approaches that are open to define
from multiple perspectives: philosophy, psychology, and education. Some definitions are
broad, and some others are narrow. The earliest attempts to define this complex thinking
began over 100 years ago with Dewey (1910), who coined the term CT for the first time.
Dewey called “reflective thinking” an “active, persistent and careful consideration of any
belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it, and the
further conclusion to which it tends” (p. 6). In his definition, he emphasizes reflective
thinking involves individuals asking themselves questions about what to believe by
evaluating reasoning and considering the implications of one’s beliefs.
Another definition of CT regularly cited by higher education professionals is defined
by Ennis (1987), which is based on five significant ideas: “practical, reflective, reasonable,
belief, and action” (p. 10). He integrated these creative elements into the definition of CT as
“reflective and reasonable thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do” (Ennis,
1985, p. 45). He pointed out that the upper three levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy of educational
purposes (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation) are associated with CT (Ennis, 1993). In
addition, Bloom’s Taxonomy is an extensive educational research framework created by
Benjamin Bloom in 1956 (Armstrong, 2010). Bloom’s Taxonomy is a structure that can be
used to define levels of human thinking skills, from lower-order thinking to higher-order
thinking. It is a multi-tiered model of classifying thinking into six cognitive levels of
complexity that are associated with CT. These categories include knowledge,
comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Forehand, 2010).
From Sternberg’s (1986) viewpoint “critical thinking comprises the mental processes,
strategies and representations people use to solve problems, make decisions, and learn new
concepts” (p. 3). In terms of CT as a mental process for analyzing or evaluating information
or problems, Mendelman (2007) found that CT involves “gradual progression from the
superficial to the increasingly complex” (p. 300).

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One more definition of CT is provided by Scriven and Paul (1987), who defined as
“the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying,
analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by,
observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and
action” (p. 1). Also, Facione (1990) explained that the ideal definition of CT is “habitually
inquisitive, well informed, trustful of reason, open-minded, flexible, [and] fair-minded in
evaluation” (p. 6). In their research, Lewis and Smith (1993) discussed that there are at least
three different definitions for CT: “(a) critical thinking as a problem solving, (b) critical
thinking as evaluation or judgment, and (c) critical thinking as a combination of evaluation
and problem solving” (p. 134). Moreover, Brookfield (2020) explored that CT is a process
that causes individuals to frequently start researching assumptions that they are faced with,
which allows them to look for relevant “evidence and experience”; thus, they can further
recognize and understand the world. In addition, Islamiyah and Sholakhuddin Al Fajri (2020)
noted that CT is defined with general key terms such as inquiry, evaluation, analysis,
inference, reflection, and judgment in an academic context. Tempelaar (2006) used the word
“metacognition” to define critical thinking as a cognitive psychologist. Unlike the above
scholars, Atkinson (1997) argued that CT is a social practice that is learned automatically
through living life in a specific cultural context where individualism, self-expression, and
using language as a tool for learning are highly valued and promoted. In other words, the
researcher believed that “critical thinking is cultural thinking” (p. 89).
According to the above evidence, there is no specific definition for the concept of CT.
The literature review demonstrated numerous meanings of CT that causes difficulties in
maintaining a clear focus on its essence. However, several scholars (e.g., Howe, 2004;
Fakunle et al., 2016) agree that the term CT includes various skills, strategies, and levels of
complexity which are associated with creative thinking, problem-solving, decision-making,
and deductive reasoning. As I mentioned earlier in Chapter one, I must acknowledge the
complexity of this topic. While several elements might impact defending CT among students
(e.g., student's background culture, English proficiency among Iranian students, students'
program of studies), the main scope of the current research is to examine the level of
understanding of the concept of CT among students. Exploring students' conceptions of CT is

10

based on Bloom's Taxonomy as the second analytical framework, which will be discussed in
Chapter Four, the methodology section of the thesis.
The Importance of Critical Thinking
CT is a powerful resource in an individual’s personal and civic life and is a pervasive
and self-rectifying feature in human phenomenon (Facione, 1990). Further, Franco (2016)
believes that “critical thinking is the kind of ‘good’ thinking used in everyday life to increase
the chances of success” (p. 108). According to Kpazaï et al. (2011), CT is a crucial tool for
all learners because it favours acquiring several skills required to face a changing world.
Through CT skills, individuals can counter uncritical thinking and thoughtless action in
different situations. Likewise, CT counts as a sensitive skill in different contexts because it
identifies the specificity of each case and provides a viable response. Even more, Norris and
Ennis (1989) discussed that critical thinking maintains independence for individuals that lead
them to “exercise autonomy in making important decisions, respecting the rights and others
autonomy of others, and seeking not only factual information but also an understanding of
why things are as they are” (p. 22). Therefore, recognizing propaganda, analyzing hidden
assumptions in arguments, and assessing the credibility of information is the result of CT for
critical thinkers (Halpern, 1996, as cited in Maudsley & Strivens, 2000). Indeed, the
significance of CT not only is allowing individuals to indicate their skills, such as observing,
inferring, generalizing, reasoning, and evaluating, but also is a requirement of propensity to
“seek and to base judgment and action upon reasons” (Siegel, 1990, as cited in Islamiyah &
Sholakhuddin Al Fajri, 2020, p. 4404). Nevertheless, a study conducted by Miri et al. (2007)
presented that learning experiences concentrate on analysis, evaluation, and synthesis. At the
same time, it develops abilities such as problem-solving, inferring, estimating, predicting,
generalizing, and creative thinking, which is all considered CT skills. Indeed, in modern life,
making rational decisions based on evaluative judgments or CT is essential for people rather
than accepting authority. Also, CT builds a variety of skills for individuals. Namely, critical
thinkers can understand how language can be used to create and analyze arguments based on
their goals. Moreover, CT leads individuals on how to evaluate hypotheses and use the laws
that guide scientific reasoning while, similarly, displaying how to determine probabilities and
consider the odds of success in each situation (Franco, 2016). Additionally, Hashemi et al.

11

(2010) stated that the significance of CT is its impact on people’s personal and social
characteristics, as CT not only leads them to avoid accepting speech and ideas blindly and
without reason but also allows individuals to place a question sign opposite of different
models that are inspired smartly from specific patterns. Indeed, the authors argued that CT
assists individuals in being sensible and civilized citizens in society. Yet, Marin and de la
Pava (2017) noted there is no guarantee being educated and practicing good judgment makes
individuals happy or economically prosperous. Still, CT certainly provides more occasions to
reach these goals.
To sum up, examining the importance of CT by various scholars indicates that CT is
seen as an ability that is not only objectively valuable but also beneficial for evaluation.
People’s quality of life depends on the quality of their thinking because they can analyze and
evaluate different opinions to develop their beliefs. Thus, individuals, by systematically
cultivating their knowledge, insights, and assumptions, must improve their thought and
perspectives (Egege & Kutieleh, 2004; Marin & de la Pava, 2017).
The Significance of Critical Thinking in Higher Education
Several scholars highlighted that CT plays an important role in higher education, and
it is vital for students to develop essential abilities in all programs as “critical thinking
successful completion forms the heart and soul of every subject because its concepts and
principles are presupposed in, and give rise to, the logic of every subject” (Fella &
Lukianovaa, 2015, p. 3). Franco (2016) argued that higher education is a public product, and
a high-quality higher education institution follows an attitude designed to guide students to
improve as human beings. Another investigation conducted by Chitpin and Evers (2012)
highlighted that CT is a fundamental goal in education explicitly featured in the elementary
and secondary school curriculum. Yet, Egege and Kutieleh (2004) claimed that the main
distinguishing factor separating university academic standards from secondary school
academic standards is CT which always has been viewed as a necessary attribute for all
successful students. Students as future citizens not only have to build their knowledge
capacity, but also, they need to improve their higher-order thinking skills, such as CT,
decision making, and problem-solving in order to “facilitate the transition of students’
knowledge and skills into responsible action, regardless of their particular future role in

12

society” (Miri et al., 2007, p. 354). Based on Franco’s (2016) point of view, through CT in
higher education; people become citizens, who consider life as a process of meaningful
lifelong learning “guided by ethics and evidence for personal and common prosperity and,
more important, freedom” (p. 118). Likewise, Tsui (2003) highlighted that CT leads students
to recognize issues and assumptions in a university environment, identify relationships, make
proper inferences, evaluate evidence, and deduce conclusions. Thus, CT must be taught
early, practiced often, and not be pushed from online core content designs (Trottier, 2009).
Similarly, university context is frequently connected with general key terms such as inquiry,
evaluation, analysis, inference, reflection, and judgment (Islamiyah & Sholakhuddin Al Fajri,
2020). According to Fahim and Shakouri Masouleh (2012), preparing students to think
critically is an objective in higher education. This ability is the content of education at this
level which requires higher-order thinking, such as applying critical evaluation and giving
evidence for their opinions. The researchers suggested that in a higher education context,
instructors must provide students with diverse models, opportunities, and explanations to
assist them in operationalizing their skills.
Altogether CT is essential in academic context, especially at higher education levels,
as it reveals itself in argumentation and enables students to move from passive recipients to
active participants. Thus, through social and cognitive activity, CT creates dynamic skills
among students (Islamiyah & Sholakhuddin Al Fajri, 2020). Recognizing some CT aspects
from different scholars’ world horizons appears culture has a significant impact on promoting
CT among people because it influences different academic processes such as learning
processes or pedagogies approaches.
Previous Studies
CT is an integral part of education and a crucial attribute for students, especially in
higher education (Howe, 2004; Zhong & Cheng, 2021). Although there are several studies
regarding conceptions of international students about CT in western countries, there are little
data regarding Canadian and Iranian students in this area. For example, Tiwari et al. (2003),
through a cross-sectional design methodology, compared the CT dispositions among Asian
(Hong Kong Chinese) and non-Asian (Australian) nursing students in two universities, one in

13

Hong Kong and the other in Australia. The results of their study showed significant
differences in critical thinking disposition between both groups of students. While the Hong
Kong Chinese students failed to show a positive disposition, the Australian students
demonstrated a positive disposition toward CT. Another study by Chaisuwan et al. (2021)
examined the CT dispositions and differences through cross-sectional research among
baccalaureate nursing students in Thailand and United States based on cultural values. The
outcomes of their research displayed no statistically meaningful relationship between cultural
values and CT dispositions. However, nursing students in the United States had a remarkably
higher mean score on the entire cultural values and subscale of autonomy, secular, and
emancipative values than nursing students in Thailand. In another investigation, Zhong and
Cheng (2021) published an article that, through a qualitative study focused on Chinese as
international students at a British university, to examine their perspectives on CT and ways
that students could develop CT during their studies. Similarly, in their research, Islamiyah
and Sholakhuddin Al Fajri (2020), in the light of interviews, tried to discover Indonesian
students’ perception of CT in a British university during their graduate studies to discover
influencing factors on the development of CT among students. In a different study, Egege
and Kutieleh (2004) explained while CT is a paradigmatic case for universities that maintain
it as a requirement of quality academic work, academics still bemoan the lack of a critical
approach to a study by international students. The authors argued while there are differences
in learning styles and attitudes among diverse cultural groups of students; there is a mandate
needed to facilitate the successful transition in terms of teaching or developing CT capacity
as a vital “distinguishing feature between western academic models of study and non-western
or Confucian-based learning systems” (p. 78). Fella and Lukianovaa (2015), in their study,
which focused on the lack of CT skills among international students who study in British
universities, found that cultural background among students is a barrier to developing critical
thinking ability. The scholars discussed that there is a considerable power distance between
teachers and learners in teacher-centered setting education. This creates a passive learning
environment in which students accept a teacher’s authority and do not participate in lectures
or lessons without being invited. Furthermore, researchers highlighted international students
continuously in their academic achievements obtain “lower ratings, not only because they

14

write in a foreign language, but also because they cannot think critically, presumably because
they have not been trained to do so before they came to the UK” (Fella & Lukianovaa, 2015,
p. 4). In the same light, a study conducted by Song (2016) about Chinese international
students in Australia indicated that Chinese students were concerned that their perceived
incapacity to present Western-style CT is indicative of the existence of their own different
rival types of knowledge. In Canadian research contexts, many studies focused on different
areas of CT. For instance, Wright (2002) found teaching CT problematic due to existing
definitions, practices, and obstacles; thus, the scholar in their investigation outlined several
methods for teaching and developing CT among students. In another study guided by
McGrath (2003), through a cross-sectional research design, the researcher tried to explore the
CT and dispositions among baccalaureate nursing students at a university in Western Canada.
The study’s findings indicated that while about 38% of the students had adequate levels of
CT, and 85.5% of the students had sufficient levels of CT dispositions, there is still a need for
continued development in these areas. In a comparative study, Howe (2004) examined
Canadian and Japanese teachers’ conceptions of CT through a mixed-method study. The
study’s results indicated that while Canadian teachers tended to connect CT to the cognitive
domain, Japanese educators stressed the affective domain. In another investigation, Gunn et
al. (2008) focused on examining the importance of CT in science education, both at the
secondary and post-secondary levels among Canadian students, through drawing from CT
and science education literature, as well as previous studies in this area. Their study
concluded that CT is a necessary component of science education and that it must be pursued
at the secondary and post-secondary levels.
To summarize, CT is a key skill for students, especially international students in
higher education. There have been several types of research regarding international students
studying in English-speaking countries. The review of the current literature has found no
research focused on Canadian and Iranian students, studying at Canadian universities, and
their conceptions of CT. This study aims to fill this gap.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter, I examined CT from different components, namely the historical

15

perspective, the definition of CT, the value of CT, and the importance of CT in higher
education based on different scholars’ ideas. The definition of CT, this essential skill for
individuals’ daily life, has been multitude and can be found in the literature on CT
differently. Moreover, I reviewed current literature regarding international students’
conceptions of CT who are studying in western countries and the existing barriers they faced
during their educational path. Indeed, their difficulties are compounded by their different
ways of reasoning that result from an upbringing in diverse cultural communities
(D’Andrade, 1995). Also, I noticed that there is insufficient research in the literature on
Iranian students’ conception of CT who study abroad, mainly in Canada. In the next chapter,
I examine the context of education in Canada mainly BC and Iran from different perspectives
to better understand CT’s place in these regions.

16

Chapter Three: Education in Canada and Iran
The following chapter explores education in British Columbia, Canada and Iran. This
section examines BC from a historical perspective, higher education, international students
and the role of CT in BC’s education system. In this part, I will discuss Iran by providing
information about its geographical location, historical perspective, education system, higher
education, and the role of CT in Iran’s education system.
Education in British Columbia, Canada
Education in Canada is under the authority of each province. According to Jones
(1997), the responsibilities that have been assigned among the government of Canada and
provinces allow under the British North America Act, the regions have the sole responsibility
for education. Factors that have shaped education in Canada are religion, language, culture,
geography, demography, and economics. Canada has ten provinces, but most notably it is BC
that has implemented significant education reforms in CT (Howe, 2004). Therefore, in this
study, I focus on the region of BC to better understand the context of education in terms of
CT.
Historical Perspective. The westernmost province of Canada is BC which is located
between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, and it covers 950,000 square
kilometres. According to the Government of British Columbia (2021), the population of BC
was 5,147,712 as of July 1, 2020. There are various dates about the period of BC’s
identification and elaboration of provincial needs, innovation, expansion, and the
establishment of regional post-secondary education systems, but it might be described
anywhere from the 50s to the early 70s (Jones, 1997). Figure 1 displays a map of BC.

17

Figure 1:
Map of British Columbia

Note. Adapted from the Government of Canada, (2007). British Columbia. [Map].
https://ftp.maps.canada.ca/pub/nrcan_rncan/raster/atlas_6_ed/reference/bilingual/bc_new.pdf

Higher Education. Post-secondary education in Canada can be traced back to the
early permanent settlements of New France. Universities did not emerge until after Canada
became a British colony. The dominion of Canada was created by the British North America
Act of 1867, and BC joined the Canadian federation in 1871 (Jones, 1997). In BC, the postsecondary education system is integrated. It has a well-established transfer and articulation
system among post-secondary institutions that offer a range of education and training
options. In this regard, there are various types of post-secondary institutions that include 25
public post-secondary institutions, 20 private and out-of-province public degree-granting
institutions, private training institutions, 15 theological institutions, 43 aboriginal-controlled
post-secondary institutes, and language training institutions that offer both full and part-time
adult education (The Government of British Columbia, n.d.). According to Statistics Canada
(2020), during 2018 and 2019, 227,022 domestic students were studying at the postsecondary level in BC, of which 96,276 were men, 130,308 were women, and 438 were

18

gender unknown. 145,512 were students who attended universities, and 81,510 joined
colleges. Therefore, higher education in BC has been playing a prominent role in the social
and economic development of the province (Jones, 1997).
International Students. The number of international students from diverse linguistic
and cultural backgrounds studying outside their home countries is increasing continuously,
with more than 2.5 million all around the world (Samanhudi & Linse, 2019). Their presence,
according to, Dos Santos (2018), increase the overall diversity of higher education
institutions in Canada. The researcher discussed Canadian higher education institutions,
specifically and found BC to be a popular destination among international students for
educational and research purposes based on the institutions’ well-known academic qualities.
Furthermore, BC made the second-largest contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
with 19.8% in 2018 due to welcoming a significant number of international students from
more than 150 countries to experience a world-class education and life (Global Affairs
Canada, 2020). Thus, international education plays a vital role in the Canadian economy.
Statistics Canada (2020) reported that international students in BC in 2018-2019 numbered at
68,466, including 34,074 males, 34,323 females, and 69 unknown genders. Further, 15,642
of these were international students from West Central Asia and the Middle East. In this
regard, Gregor and Jasmin (1992) explained that educating international students not only is
a great way to provide good relations with other countries but also improves Canada’s ability
to function effectively in a global economy, as foreign students provide a significant resource
for university and college communities.
Critical Thinking in British Columbia Education. Considering that the BC
education system is among the best in the world (Dos Santos, 2018; Ali Shah et al., 2019;
Khelifaab et al., 2022), several scholars (e.g., Howe, 2003; Hymel et al., 2017; Fillion, 2020)
have revealed the BC education system is undergoing an extensive transformation in terms of
applying CT components in the curriculum. This transformation aims to stress problemsolving and CT, literacy and communication, teamwork, and information technology in order
to coordinate with the realities of 21st-century education. BC’s curriculum leads students to
make judgments based on reasoning. In other words, students, through considering options,
analyzing specific criteria, and drawing conclusions, can make judgments. In fact, CT

19

“competency encompasses a set of abilities that students use to examine their own thinking,
and that of others, about information that they receive through observation, experience, and
various forms of communication” (Ministry of Education in British Columbia, n.d., para. 1).
Thus, clearly, education in BC aims to foster students who can be critical thinkers and reflect
on the different information, ideas, and experiences, in order to set objectives, make
judgments and refine their thinking. According to the above evidence, CT is rooted in BC ‘s
education system, especially higher education, in which students critically appraise
knowledge and values; therefore, international students are required to be able to adapt to this
academic convention to be a part of the academic community (Islamiyah & Sholakhuddin Al
Fajri, 2020).
Education in Iran
Iran is one of the Middle Eastern countries. As a starting point for examining
education in Iran, it would be worthwhile to review a brief history of the Middle East to
obtain a comprehensive outlook of this part of the world. Therefore, this section starts by
providing concise information about the Middle East and will finish with a focus on Iran.
Where Is the Middle East? While there is different information about the numbers of
Middle Eastern countries, Yousef (2004) discussed that according to the World Bank and the
United Nations, reference to the Middle East corresponds to the operational definition of the
Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region which includes most members of the Arab
Union and Iran. Creedon and Al-Khaja (2019) explained that the MENA region ranging from
Egypt to the Arabian Peninsula, includes 18 countries from Morocco on the eastern shores of
the Mediterranean to the Arabian Peninsula: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan,
Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia,
United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen. Similarly, Alsulami et al. (2013) noted that 15
countries between western Asia and northern Africa structure the Middle Eastern region.
Furthermore, the authors identified that Iran, Iraq, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, Israel, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Yemen are Middle
Eastern countries. According to the World Bank (2019), MENA countries are the same as
those mentioned above, with the exception of Palestine. Aidaros (2005), in their investigation

20

in addition to countries mentioned earlier, claimed that Afghanistan, Cyprus, Somalia, Sudan,
and Turkey are also included in the MENA region. Figure 2 represents Map of Middle East
and North Africa.
Figure 2:
Map of Middle East and North Africa

Note. Adapted from Diet, Genetics, and Disease: A Focus on the Middle East and North
Africa Region by Fahed et al., 2012, Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, 2012, 1-19. DOI:
10.1155/2012/109037

From an economic perspective, Middle Eastern countries are ranked by the World
Bank based on their GDP. The high-income countries include Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain,
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Israel, and Oman. The middle-income countries are Iran, Jordan, and
Lebanon, and the lower-income countries are Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq
(Alsulami et al., 2013).
Many common themes run across the historical and cultural experiences of Middle
Eastern countries. Indeed, the Middle East primarily refers to more or less similarity in the
cultural, traditions, religious, geographical, and climatic conditions that do not have precise
borders (Aidaros, 2005; Budhwar & Mellahi, 2007). The main ethnic groups in the Middle
East include Arabs, Iranians (also known as Persians), Turks, Jews, Kurds, Berbers,

21

Armenians, Nubians, Azeri, and Greeks. Besides, major languages spoken in the Middle East
reflects its ethnic diversity, which includes three main languages which are Semitic (Arabic,
Hebrew, and Aramaic), Indo-European (Kurdish, Persian, Armenian), and Turkic (Turkish,
Azeri) (Public Broadcasting Service, n.d.).
The Middle East is the birthplace of the three major monotheistic religions: Islam,
Christianity, and Judaism (Serour & Serour, 2021). In their research, Budhwar and Mellahi
(2007) expressed that Islam is the main religion, with approximately 95 percent of the total
majority population following it. Once more, Aidaros (2005) highlighted that the other
populations follow Christianity and Judaism. The estimated population of the MENA region
was 464,554,123 in 2020 (The World Bank, 2020).
To sum up, Maclean and Fien (2017) revealed while there is great diversity in Middle
Eastern countries in terms of demography, culture, and economic development, still, there is
much a similarity among the regions, such as having hopes for a better life and the positive
future for children and young generations in the Middle East.
Iran’s Historical Perspective. Iran, also known as Persia until 1935, is located in
Southwest Asia and is one the most populous countries in the Middle East. According to The
World Factbook (2022), the estimated population in Iran is approximately 86 million people.
Iran is a multicultural and multiethnic country composed of Persian, Azeri, Kurd, Lur,
Baloch, Arab, Turkmen, and Turkic tribes. The official language is Persian or Farsi and there
are several dialects such as Azeri, Kurdish, Gilaki and Mazandarani, Luri, Balochi and
Arabic. Islam is the main religion in the country, and the Iranian population is mainly Shia
90-95%, Sunni 5-10% other (including Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian) 0.3%, unspecified
0.2% based on the World Factbook (2022). Figure 3 displays the map of Iran.

22

Figure 3:
Map of Iran

Note. Adapted from the World Factbook (2018). Maps-Iran. [Map].
https://www.cia.gov/static/4ee450549211daefc351c92a33a7590c/47498/Iran_Transportation.
jpg

Education System in Iran. Education in Iran is divided into two levels. The Ministry
of Education manages K-12 education, and higher education is under the Ministry of Science
and Technology management. There is compulsory education for all children, starting at the
age of six, and there are both free public and private schools at all levels for students. The
Iranian education system is extremely centralized and delivers a national curriculum for all
grades (Madandar Arani et al., 2012). Iran’s Islamic Revolution in the late 1970s affected
significant changes in social systems, including educational and legal systems. The
educational system has changed in numerous dimensions, such as school programs and the
content of school textbooks, which are based on Islam frameworks and the rejection of other
ideologies. Hence, in 1980 the Higher Council of the Cultural Revolution was founded to
Islamize the country by Islamizing the content of the Iranian education system (Salehi Abari
& Nikdoosti, 2021; Hashemi et al., 2010; Shahnazari, 1992). Nevertheless, the latest
estimated literacy rate among Iranian people in 2016 was 85.5 %, consisting of men 90.4%

23

and women 80.8% percent (The World Factbook, 2022).
Higher Education in Iran. Iran has an extensive network of public, private (Azad),
and state-affiliated universities that offer main degrees, namely associate-level programs,
undergraduate and graduate degrees, and graduate doctorate levels. The tradition of
university education in Iran dates back to the early centuries of Islam, the 20th century;
however, the system had become old-fashioned and was adapted along French lines. Tehran
University is the first modern university located in Tehran, the capital of Iran. It established
in 1934, and the Ministry of Science was formed in 1967 (Raisan, 2009). There are 54 state
universities, 42 state medical schools, and 289 major private universities operating. Public
universities are free for all students, but it is competitive, and students must pass a
centralized exam. Private universities also operate the same way, except they are not as
competitive, and students must pay tuition for programs (Hamdhaidari et al., 2008). In the
light of evaluating higher education in Iran, Hamdhaidari et al. (2008) argued about two
considerable aspects: on the one side, educational reforms in different areas, such as
widening access via using a wide range of information and communication technologies,
gender equity, and decentralization. On the other side, weaknesses in the wide-ranging
curriculum not addressing rapid change, the lack of a realistic program for the real needs of
the workforce, and the failure to create a student-centered participative environment. From
another point of view, Mir (2013) stated that higher education in Iran is plagued by quality
issues resulting from a lack of qualified faculty, updated curricular resources and technology,
censorship, and an overly high representation of religious content compared to academic
content. Still, Karimia and Taghvatalabba (2020), in their latest study, underlined higher
education has become more accessible among people, especially women, over the past four
decades.
Critical Thinking in Iran Education. In terms of the position of CT in Iran’s
education system, an investigation conducted by Hashemi et al. (2010) revealed that the
Iranian education system stresses knowledge transmission and learning is generally limited to
memorizing resources; therefore, the main issue that system encounters is the “goal-centred
being instead of being process-centred” (p. 68). According to Eghbali et al. (2021), university
is the source of thought and meaning, a symbol of knowledge production and transfer, and a

24

center of critique and social enlightenment in civil society on a global level. Moreover, the
researchers explained despite claims from officials, instructors, and administrators within
higher education that there is stress on developing CT among students, “there is not enough
will and motivation to encourage students to think and specially to use critical thinking in
practice” (p. 28). Indeed, higher education has not been successful and failed to cultivate CT
skills among learners because of emphasis on the traditional system, which is placed on
teaching and transferring curriculum and superficial and memorized learning. Likewise,
Hashemi et al. (2010) highlighted that CT leads students to have doubt, curiosity, diverse
notions, and statements about a subject when trained well. While “criticism begins with
doubt and criticizers try to awaken the doubt to make the base of certainty firm” (p. 68),
many textbooks’ contents are still presented subjects vaguely in the Iranian education system,
which creates ambiguity among students. In fact, ambiguity is one of society’s cultural
features, where CT is not fundamental. Thus, considering that most Iranian students are not
taught nor educated to be critical thinkers, providing them with an appropriate context to
foster CT dispositions is vital during their educational journey and for their day-to-day life
(Hajhosseini et al., 2016).
Chapter Summary
This chapter offered information regarding the BC and Iran from multiple angles such
as historical perspectives, education systems, and the role of CT in higher education in these
areas. While BC’s education pays more attention to CT among students at different levels of
education especially higher education, Iranian students suffer from a lack of this essential
skill in their curriculum. Considering that Canada is one of the popular destinations among
international students, many students likely suffer from a lack of CT skills during their
educational journey. As the roots of cultural variations in human thinking construct the
“habits of thought that were already characteristic of their societies” (Nisbett, 2003, p. xxi),
Iranian international students might encounter challenges in the process of learning how to
think in educational settings and how to participate in academic criticism during their
educational experiences in Canadian and western-tradition universities. The next chapter will
indicate the research methodology I utilized for the thesis.

25

Chapter Four: Methodology
The following chapter describes the narrative inquiry (NI) methodology used. This
qualitative study involved interviews through open-ended questions and compared
conceptions of Canadian and Iranian students about CT at the post-secondary level studying
in Canada. The study focuses on exploring how Canadian university influences students’ CT.
In this chapter, after introducing the researcher’s positionality, I will explain the design of the
study, introduce target participants, elaborate on the data collection and analysis procedures,
ethical considerations, and explore the trustworthiness approaches of this research.
Researcher’s Positionality
“The term positionality both describes an individual’s world view and the position
they adopt about a research task and its social and political context” (Holmes, 2020, p. 1).
The position of a researcher enables readers to realize the study within the context of the
investigator’s unique characteristics, assumptions, and relationship to study participants
(Madge, 1993). All individuals have a social identity from biological structures such as sex,
body type and sexual orientation, and socially and culturally features like gender, race,
citizenship, and economic status (Gopaldas, 2013). Consequently, in this part, my
experiences and perspectives that informed this research are expressed.
I am an Iranian woman from a middle-class family. I was born and raised in Tehran
and lived there for almost 26 years, during which time I completed my undergraduate studies
and worked in the field of education for several years. I have been fortunate to live and work
in Denmark for long periods of time and later to live in Canada for academic purposes. These
opportunities helped me obtain various valuable experiences that shaped my worldview,
especially self-awareness about who I am and who I am going to be in the future. In
Denmark, interacting with people with dissimilar backgrounds offered me an understanding
of the aspects that shape my characteristics and identity based on different Danish elements,
such as social and cultural contexts. These experiences and observations led to my primary
interest to be curious about difficulties and concerns that international people encounter when
attempting to create an adapted version of themselves based on host countries’ features.
Again, when I moved to Canada, a multicultural land, I realized so many differences in

26

economic, cultural, and social aspects compared with my home country and Denmark.
More precisely, as an international student, I recognized profound differences in the
Canadian and Iranian education systems. For instance, regarding the importance of having
CT and instructors’ stress on using and practicing it in almost discussions, activities, and
assignments, I realized how this concept is new and challenging for other international
students and me. Generally speaking, being a critical thinker depends on each country’s
culture and education system. Without understanding the cultural context and considering
educational backgrounds and students’ ways of thinking, individuals cannot be expected to
become critical thinkers in educational settings. In addition, the way that international
students especially Iranian students encounter this concept raised an idea in my mind about
the opportunity to explore and share their stories about CT. Accordingly, my interests were
rooted in what are Iranian students’ conceptions of CT and what factors could have been
helping them to foster and develop CT during their educational journey. Therefore, my
enthusiasm for being a voice for this group of students allowed me to conduct open-ended
interviews to learn more about Iranian students’ perspectives of CT. Indeed, the point of
using an open-ended interview approach was to provide a conversational environment which
enables me to understand better the participant’s real feelings and opinions about the topic.
Undoubtedly, it is not implied that the present study can thoroughly explain a highly complex
phenomenon; instead, it can effectively shed light on the phenomenon, research, and practice
regarding the concept of CT among Canadian and Iranian students. To sum up this part, at
this stage that I am writing my thesis, I have created a personal definition of CT. To me, CT
is about having the ability to choose; the mode of thinking leads individuals to analyze and
reconstruct ideas, subjects, beliefs, and values to make informed judgments. The ability to
choose gives people’s life meaning.
Design of the Study
This comparative study utilizes NI to compare and contrast Canadian and Iranian
graduate students’ conceptions of CT. NI and other interpretive forms of qualitative research
are frequently used to discover a detailed understanding, perception and outlook of complex
phenomena (Creswell, 2013; Maxwell, 2012). Qualitative research leads the researchers to

27

gather data either through observation or conversation with the participants (Creswell, 2014;
Maxwell, 2012). Based on Elliott (2005), qualitative research is often defined as providing
more comprehensive information, and research studies are also tools for constructing data
over back and forth discussions. Likewise, to better comprehend individuals’ experiences, the
qualitative study empowers me to pose questions that their results are not limited to numbers
and statistics. Instead, this method is beneficial to making sense of human experience’ reality
which helps to have the capacity to describe and clarify a social world to develop explanatory
models and theories sufficient for individuals’ life.
While the study approach is qualitative, it is more based on NI since narrative
investigation allows describing people’s beliefs, values, and life experiences. According to
Clandinin (2007), NI is a “profoundly relational form of inquiry” (p. xv) that studies
individuals’ lived and informed stories that are personal, cultural, social, or institutional
(Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). Additionally, “telling stories is a natural part of life, and
individuals all have stories about their experiences to tell others. In this way, narrative
research captures an everyday, normal form of data that is familiar to individuals” (Creswell,
2013, p. 502). Through exploring an individual’s experience, NI “seek ways of enriching and
transforming that experience for themselves and others” (Clandinin & Rosiek, 2007, p. 42).
Referring to Creswell and Guetterman’s study (2019), the theoretical lens in NI is “a guiding
perspective or ideology that provides structure for advocating for groups or individuals in the
written report” (p. 516) to indicate an educational research issue through realizing the
experience of a person. The scholars stressed, NI studies emphasis on recognizing the
experiences of a person or several people to understand their past, present, and future
experiences.
One of the tools for gathering data in NI is an open-ended interview approach which
creates a narrative environment that investigators can gather stories from their participants
about their experiences with a particular phenomenon (Jovchelovitch & Bauer, 2000) to
“externalize his or her feelings and indicate which elements of those experiences are most
significant” (Elliott, 2005, p. 4). Indeed, the focus on an individual’s personal and social
experience draws on the philosophical thoughts of Dewey, who saw that a person experience
was a main lens for understanding an individual (Creswell & Guetterman, 2019). Besides,

28

several NI scholars like Clandinin and Connelly (2000) were inspired by Dewey’s
perspective and highlighted NI as an approach to a collaborative, reflective and relational
understanding of individuals’ experiences. Additionally, as a relational inquiry (Clandinin et
al., 2010), NI begins with relationship creation and engages in a procedure in which the
participants’ and the investigator’s stories are restructured into collaborative stories
(Connelly & Clandinin, 1990).
In this investigation, the research questions focused on asking students to share their
thoughts about CT and express their experiences about the impact of a Canadian educational
experiences on their conceptions of CT during their graduate level. Indeed, I employ the NI
approach because it allows me to listen to participants’ unique narratives and situate myself
in their position to realize their feelings about their real-life experiences. Meanwhile, using
the open-ended interview approach as a key tool for data collection allows me to think with
participants’ stories in multiple ways (e.g., toward my opinion, toward social and cultural
contexts) and also create a flexible space for interviewees to share their stories without
unnecessary direction from the investigator.
Site and Participants
One of the unique features of qualitative approaches, which focuses on deeply
exploring a central phenomenon of a small population, is using a theoretical or purposeful
sampling strategy (Creswell, 2013; Maxwell, 2012). Additionally, in purposeful sampling,
researchers intentionally select people and sites “to learn or understand the central
phenomenon” (Creswell & Guetterman, 2019, p. 206); therefore, a small number of Canadian
and Iranian graduate students were involved in this study.
The site of the present study was a public mid-sized university in the interior of BC,
that offers various on-campus and open learning programs in undergraduate and graduate
degrees and vocational training for Canadian and international students. I recruited eight fulltime and part-time graduate students that had successfully finished their first year of studies.
The idea behind this was to ensure that these students had knowledge and experience of CT
in their program during their education period. In addition, Creswell and Guetterman (2019)
argued that it is typical in qualitative research to study a few people “because the overall

29

ability of a researcher to provide an in-depth picture diminishes with the addition of each
new individual or site” (p. 209). I divided participants into two groups: Canadian students
and Iranian students. When I speak of Canadian students, I mean students who were raised in
Canada and, most importantly, their familiarity with kindergarten to grade 12 curriculum
regardless of their race, ethnicity, and gender. In other words, anyone who has done
schooling in the Canadian system and obtained their bachelors in Canada. When I refer to
Iranian students, I imply students raised in Iran, who have done schooling in the Iranian
educational system, received their bachelor’s in Iran and identified as international students
at the university. Also, both groups of participants were recognized as enrolled students in
the interior university of BC while collecting data.
To recruit the early participants, I used the personal network method, which can be
seen as convenience sampling in which the contributors are close in proximity to the
investigators (Creswell, 2013). Thus, I invited participants to contribute to the study through
an invitation email (see Appendix A). After the interviews with the first two participants, I
asked them to recommend potential subjects for the study. In this sense, the snowball
sampling technique also was used to recruit the participants. According to Creswell and
Guetterman (2019), the snowball sampling technique is a type of purpose sampling where
existing participants usually recommend potential individuals to be sampled. Thus, passive
snowball recruitment was used. Participants were requested to discuss the research topic with
friends and contact those they believed may be eligible for the study or forward the invitation
email that I sent them to those they thought might be suitable or interested in volunteering to
be participants. All participants, before the interview, received an informed consent form (see
Appendix B), which provided brief information about the study’s purpose and essential
factors of their participation in the research. Interviewees with a complete understanding
signed the consent form and offered pseudonyms to give anonymity. Therefore, all names
throughout the thesis are pseudonyms that participants mentioned on their consent forms.
Entirely the data was gathered from the anonymous participants and referred to through
pseudonyms in the study. To minimize the bias that can be part of snowball sampling, the
participants were recruited from the different programs and gender. Table 1 indicates the
breakdown of participants’ demographic data by providing their essential information. The

30

table shows participants’ pseudonyms, gender, semester of education, programs of study,
education level and nationalities. Canadian participants consist of two men and two women.
Keith and Lamech identified as men, and Jenna and Sydney were women. Accidentally, all
Canadian students were studying in the Education program, and except Keith, who was in his
ninth semester; all the Canadian students were in their last semester. The Iranian group
consists of one man named Amir and three women called Mona, Mali and #4. Iranian
students were from different programs of study; Amir was a third-semester student in
Environmental Science. Mona was a third-semester Data Science student. Mali was studying
the third semester in the field of Education, and #4 was in her last semester of the Business
Administration program. Again, all names mentioned above are pseudonyms that participants
mentioned in their consent forms.
Table 1:
Participants Demographic Information
Pseudonym

Gender

Semester of education

Program

Education level

Nationality

Keitha

Man

Ninth

Education

Master

Canada

Jenna

Woman

Last

Education

Master

Canada

Woman

Last

Education

Master

Canada

Man

Last

Education

Master

Canada

Mona

Woman

Third

Data science

Master

Iran

Amir

Man

Third

Environmental Science

Master

Iran

#4

Woman

Last

Business Administration

Master

Iran

Mali

Woman

Third

Education

Master

Iran

Sydney
Lamech

a

Note. a Keith and Lamech were doing their master’s in an open learning program.

Data Collection and Analysis Procedure
Data Collection. This research discovered the Canadian and Iranian students’
conceptions of CT during their master’s programs. I collected data from January to March
2022 through face-to-face and online interviews focusing on students’ experiences and

31

understanding of CT. In order to better understand the central phenomenon, I used one on
one interview approach. According to Creswell (2013), the one-on-one interview is a data
collection method in which the investigator asks questions and records responses from only
one or some participants in the study at a time. This method is a great way for interviewing
participants “who are not hesitant to speak, who are articulate, and who can share ideas
comfortably” (p. 218). The use of open-ended question approach for interview assists in
obtaining honest answers which, based on Creswell (2013), not only permits “respondents to
add their perceptions” (p. 392) but also let applicants create responses within their “cultural
and social experiences” (p. 387). Interviews were the main data source for this study, and the
core components of interview data are participants’ words based on their notions and
experiences; thus, being an effective interviewer plays a crucial role in the study. In this
regard, I followed Merriam’s (1998) guidelines to conduct the eight interviews. The first step
to gather meaningful data is to ask proper questions. To achieve this, I avoided the following
sorts of inquiries: “multiple questions,” “yes-or-no questions,” and “leading questions”,
(Merriam, 1998, p. 79). The interview questions were designed according to the research
questions and focused on examining graduate students’ conceptions of CT during their
studies. This study involved both Canadian and Iranian interviewees that successfully
finished their first year of programs. When I met each participant - in-person or virtually- I
introduced myself and presented information about the research in detail, such as the goals of
the study, the research’s potential advantages and risks, ways to guarantee privacy and
confidentiality, the responsibilities of the interviewees, and the participant’s right to
withdraw from the study at any time. Also, I responded to their questions and clarified
unclear points about the research and process. Then I started interviews that were performed
in the English language for all participants and were recorded for later word-by-word
transcription. The conversation usually started with a broad and open question like "how was
your day?", then I moved into the details. Details discussed included their opinion about the
definition of CT, their notion about the importance of CT for their programs, the problems
they encountered related to practicing CT and factors that were helpful for the development
of CT. For some participants, I interpreted or explained the question with examples when
they had difficulties. I listened carefully to their stories, which sometimes were combinations

32

of excitement, frustration, and complaints. Figure 4 shows the type of interviews that
participants attended. Five students attended in-person interviews in a convenient location,
and three participants preferred an online interview.
Figure 4:
Participants’ Type of Interview Attendance

Type of Interviews

Number of Participants

6

5

5
4

3

3
2
1
0
Face to Face Interview Online Interview

Data Analysis. For the present study, I used thematic analysis and Bloom’s
Taxonomy framework for data analysis. First, I will provide information about thematic
analysis and after that I will discuss about Bloom’s Taxonomy framework. Thematic analysis
is a proper way to examine the interview transcriptions to specify whether there were any
themes, differences, or relationships amongst the data (Gibson & Brown, 2009). In order to
do this, I followed Creswell and Guetterman’s (2019) pattern, as displayed below in Figure 5,
to analyze the data systematically.

33

Figure 5:
Qualitative Process of Data Analysis

Note: Adapted from “Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating
Quantitative and Qualitative Research (6th ed.)”, by J. W. Creswell and T. C. Guetterman,
2019, Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, p. 237.

To follow the above process, I began to transcribe all the interviews after each
session. Then I organized all the materials into diverse types for later reading and analysis. In
the next step, I coded all data. Additionally, the coding process aims to make sense of text
information by labelling the segment with codes to narrow raw data into broad categories.
This process includes five steps: “initially read through text data; divide the text into
segments of information; label the segments of information with codes; reduce overlap and
redundancy of codes; collapse codes into themes” (Creswell & Guetterman, 2019, p. 244).
Also, Creswell and Guetterman’s (2019) coding procedure were used to code and analyze the
study’s themes. The thematic analysis consists of five steps: the first step is a preliminary
data exploration by reading through the transcripts. The second step is dividing the text into
segments of information; the next step is coding and labelling the data by segmenting the

34

text. The fourth step is the redundancy of codes by writing margin notes and forming initial
broad codes, and the final step is to collapse codes into themes to construct a narrative.
Figure 6 represents a visual model of the coding process in qualitative research for this study.
Figure 6:
Visual Model of the Coding Process in Qualitative Research

Note: Adapted from “Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating
Quantitative and Qualitative Research (6th ed.)”, by J. W. Creswell and T. C. Guetterman,
2019, Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, p. 244.

Bloom’s Taxonomy is also used as an analytical framework to inform a deeper
understanding of students’ conceptions of CT. As I discussed previously in Chapter two,
Bloom’s Taxonomy consists of six categories which create a hierarchy. The lowest three
levels are knowledge, comprehension, and application and the highest three levels include
analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Forehand, 2010). The scale of the CT concept among
participants is based on this taxonomy. I examined students’ levels of understanding of the
notion of CT based on this hierarchy. Figure 7 illustrates Bloom’s Taxonomy hierarchy.

35

Figure 7
Bloom’s Taxonomy Hierarchy

Increasing Complexity

Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge

Note: Adapted from “Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Learning Objectives”, by N. E. Adams,
2015, Journal of the Medical Library Association, 103(3), p. 153.

Approaches to Ensure Trustworthiness
According to Merriam (1995) “in applied fields like education, social work,
counseling, and administration, the question of the trustworthiness of research findings looms
large; after all, much research is designed to understand and improve practice” (p. 51). Thus,
the validity and reliability of research play an important role in the field of education.
Consequently, through reflecting on Merriam’s (1995) approach, I applied the following
strategies to ensure the validity and reliability of this study.
Peer Debriefing. An in-depth conversation with peers regarding the research design,
data collection and analysis, and findings assisted the researcher to recognize the underlying
issues and things to keep in mind to develop their study. Asking peers to observe the data and
results was an approach to ensure the acceptability of this study (Merriam, 1995).
To start this study, through discussion with my supervisor, I gained professional and
constructive feedback and advice in different areas such as the purpose of the study, research
design, interview protocol, gathering data, and analysis process. Throughout the study, I

36

requested my supervisor, one of my instructors and other graduate students who were
working on their thesis in the education program to listen to data collection and analysis
procedures to make sure the ways are concrete and believable. Namely, through a meeting
with one of my instructors, I shared the data analysis and coding process to ensure that we
had the same understanding of interviewee ideas, and I chose proper themes for data.
Member Checks. One of the approaches to credibility is member checks which
involve inviting participants back to check whether the data and interpretations of the data
are correct (Merriam, 1995). In this research, I shared the interview transcripts with the
participants to ensure that their words and notions had been carefully and correctly
understood. All the students had two weeks to review their ideas and were encouraged to
comment on their transcripts for the final report.
Triangulation. According to Merriam (1995), the triangulation process is helpful to
ensure trustworthiness through several data sources, multiple investigators, numerous
theoretical frameworks, and various methodologies. Based on this belief, if a specific
phenomenon can be seen in an interview, observation, theory, or other sources, this
phenomenon can be supposed to be true. Therefore, in this research, I interviewed diverse
participants with different backgrounds to acquire common visions and perceptions.
Ethical Considerations
Thompson Rivers University’s Research Ethics Board granted ethical approval to
undertake this research which is presented in Appendix C. All participants read and signed
the consent forms before the interview. The ethical requirement of confidentiality and
anonymity was emphasized on the consent form. The participants were provided with a
written email invitation, consent form and verbal explanations prior to the study’s interview.
Chapter Summary
This chapter examined the research methodology, data collection procedures, and the
data analysis process. An open-ended interview approach was used in order to address the
research questions of this study. A NI was conducted to examine and compare Canadian and
Iranian students’ conceptions of CT during their higher education. Students from different
programs of studies and gender were interviewed through face-to-face and online interviews.

37

For data collection, interviews were recorded and transcripts word by word. Moreover, data
analysis followed Creswell and Guetterman’s (2019) process. Peer debriefing, member
check, and triangulation approaches were used to determine trustworthiness in this research.
Further, for this study’s ethical considerations, the ethical approval was undertaken through
Thompson Rivers University’s Research Ethics Board. In the next chapter, I will present
findings from the research data collection.

38

Chapter Five: Findings
This chapter will present findings based on eight graduate students’ data analysis
using open-ended interviews. The results will cover the following research questions but will
not be limited to the research questions:
1- What are Canadian and Iranian graduate students’ conceptions of critical
thinking?
2- How does the experience of studying at a Canadian university impact graduate
students’ critical thinking?
The investigation aimed at recognizing students’ conceptions of CT and factors that
can facilitate or deter CT among Canadian and Iranian students in their master’s programs.
RQ1: What Are Canadian and Iranian Graduate Students’ Conceptions of Critical
Thinking?
The data analysis of the students’ responses about their conceptions of CT provided a
comprehensive result divided into three main sections: students’ definition of CT, their
notions about the importance of CT, and its necessity for their programs of study. Figure 8
illustrates the process and elements for examining the first RQ. The process starts by
examining Canadian and Iranian students’ views into three categories: the definition of CT,
the importance of CT and the necessity of CT for the programs of study. Then, in the final
step, I summarize the findings of the first RQ.

39

Figure 8:
Process and Elements for Examination of the First RQ

Definition of CT

The Importance of CT

• Canadian Students’ Views
• Iranian Students’ Views

• Canadian Students’ Views
• Iranian Students’ Views

• Canadian Students’ Views
• Iranian Students’ Views

Canadian and Iranian Graduate Students’ Conceptions of CT

The Necessity of CT for
the Programs of Study

Summary of Findings to Research Question 1

Definitions of Critical Thinking from Canadian Students’ Views. The data
conducted from Canadian participants showed all students provided a great understanding of
the concept of CT. All the descriptions indicated related CT concepts and presented no
complications in defining CT. Starting with Sydney who specified definition of CT in
seeking and understanding diverse perspectives about notions. Sydney explained that CT
means openness to alternative views, which aligned with the dispositions toward CT
introduced by a scholar like Facione (1998). For another participant, Jenna CT means
questioning existing knowledge. In our conversation, she conveyed a sense that it is
significant to be an open-minded person and have a consideration about each subject from
various perspectives. She stressed that CT is about questioning and re-examining
assumptions about what we already know and searching for new knowledge. Thinking about
Jenna’s point of view reminded me that her belief is in line with Facione’s (1990) expose that

40

“well informed, trustful of reason, open-minded, flexible, [and] fair-minded in evaluation”
(p. 6) is the ideal definition of CT. Other interviewees, Keith and Lamech, both expressed CT
relates to logical reasoning through analyzing and synthesizing information to evaluate and
judgment. Additionally, their definitions show their familiarity with the concept of CT and
understanding of the importance of this skill in most types of their daily situations. Also,
their definitions show that their beliefs are related to the superior three levels of Bloom’s
Taxonomy (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation) associated with CT (Ennis, 1993) introduced
in Chapter Two of the thesis.
All in all, openness to alternative views, questioning existing knowledge, analyzing
and synthesizing information and making judgments are key sub-themes of the definition of
CT among Canadian students. The key themes of the definition of CT among Canadian
students will be presented in the following section.
Definitions of Critical Thinking from Iranian Students’ Views. Based on four
interview data, the Iranian participant’s definitions of CT were slightly different from each
other. Some of these definitions implied relevant principles of CT and displayed there are no
difficulties in defining CT, whereas others reflected a lack of understanding of this concept.
The definitions of CT among Iranian students can be classified into four sub-themes:
information processing abilities, analyzing multiple perspectives, criticizing, and selfexpression.
Mona, in response to the question about what CT means to her, provided a definition
that interpreted CT as a set of information processing abilities. “Mona” explained the ability
to “look at all aspects” of problems or information requires CT. When I asked #4, another
study’s participant to share her idea about the definition of CT, she directed her knowledge of
CT as an ability to consider multiple perspectives of information and observations for
making a judgment. Mona and #4 knew the significance of analyzing the information they
face in their personal and professional paths. Their definition is similar to the definition
developed by Ennis (1993), which conceptualized CT as higher-order thinking skills used to
make a reasoned judgment. The descriptions of CT from the two other Iranian participants
show a lack of understanding of this concept. “Amir’s” definition of CT indicated that
finding “fault in something and criticize someone or something” is called CT, while CT is

41

about judgement, which can include finding faults and flaws but emphasizes questioning and
analyzing different information and ideas. Indeed, his definition is against most scholars,
such as Ennis (1985), that defined CT as rational thinking, which provide the ability for
individuals to decide “what to believe or do” (p. 45) rather than criticizing information. On
the other side, reflecting on “Mali’s” definition of CT, who articulated that facing the concept
of CT was “challenging” to her, specified that her understanding of CT did not come
reasonably and occurred after conducting repeated practices during her studies. She pointed
out, “whatever I like, whatever I do not like, and my opinion about a text or whatever I can
express myself” is CT. Mali’s perception of CT is synthesizing reliable sources and putting
her thoughts about a subject to express herself clearly. While still she needs more awareness
about CT to foster this concept, her definition is similar to Atkinson (1997), who stated CT is
a social practice which can be learned through different tools, namely self-expression.
In sum, the above findings indicated sub-themes of the definition of CT among
Canadian and Iranian students’ points of view that assist in extracting key themes of the
definition of CT among these groups of students. Table 2 illustrates a comparison summary
of both groups’ notions about the sub-theme’s definition of CT. As the table indicates,
Canadian students articulated openness to alternative views, questioning existing knowledge,
analyzing, and synthesizing information and evaluating and making judgments were the
definition of CT. Information processing abilities, analyzing multiple perspectives,
criticizing, and self-expression was the definition of CT among Iranian students.
Table 2:
Comparison Summary of Sub-themes Definition of CT Among Canadian and Iranian
Students
Scope of Comparison

Definition of CT

Canadian Students

Iranian Students

Openness to alternative views

Information processing abilities

Questioning existing knowledge

Analyzing multiple perspectives

Analyzing and synthesizing information

Criticizing

Evaluate and make judgments

Self-expression

42

The analysis of participants’ conceptions resulted in six main themes: Analysis, Openmindedness, Reasoning, Questioning, Criticism and Self-expression, which represent the
meaning of CT from Canadian and Iranian students’ perspectives. Figure 9 demonstrates the
six key themes extracted from participants’ opinions about the definition of CT. The analysis
theme extracts from analyzing multiple perspectives and analyzing and synthesizing
information. The second theme, which is open-mindedness, is a result of openness to an
alternative view. The third main theme is reasoning from information processing abilities
and evaluation and making judgments. The fourth key theme is questioning, from
questioning existing knowledge sub-theme. Criticizing takes place under the theme of
criticism, and self-expression is the last key theme in the definition of CT among Canadian
and Iranian students.

43

Figure 9:
Key Themes of CT’s Definitions Among Participants

Analyzing and
synthesizing
information

Analyzing
multiple
perspectives

Analysis

Openness to
alternative views

Self-expression
Openmindedness

Self-expression

Themes and
Sub-Themes

Critisisim

Reasoning

Information
processing
abilities

Criticizing
Questioning

Evaluate and
make
judgments

Questioning
existing
knowledge

Canadian Students’ Views on the Importance of Critical Thinking. The analysis
of the four Canadian responses to the question about their beliefs regarding the importance of
having CT indicates that all participants came to an agreement that they need to have this
skill. Four themes emerged in the responses that show CT’s importance for Canadian
students, including analyzing, decision-making, evaluating information, and questioning.

44

Lamech, through his participation in the interview, remarked that CT is an essential
skill for him because it helps him navigate the world better to make more reasonable
decisions based on his situation. We discussed the impact of gathering different perspectives
about the world around us on decision-making skills. “Lamech” stated CT “allows a person
to view what is happening in the world and make a decision based on what is going on”. In
the same light, Sydney explained CT is useful because it helps decipher different information
worldwide. Sydney believed that CT led her to analyze the information from misinformation.
Keith and Jenna’s notions were similarly minded, that CT is an essential skill for everyday
life. They believed that CT allows them to have the ability to evaluate information and
question the existing knowledge to determine inconsistencies and mistakes in reasoning.
Clearly, Canadian students had a great sense of the importance of CT, which aids them in
reflecting on themselves and making independent judgments.
Iranian Students’ Views on the Importance of Critical Thinking. The interview
analysis of the four Iranian responses to the question of their thoughts regarding the
importance of having CT specifies that three of the participants believed that it is essential to
have CT and one participant mentioned that it depends on the situation. Consequently,
problem-solving and decision-making were the two key categories that indicate the
importance of CT among Iranian students. It is noteworthy to consider that Iranian students’
awareness of the concept of CT directly impacted their ideas about the importance of CT.
Taking Mona and Mali’s points of view about the essentiality of CT, who believed that it
helps them to have problem-solving skills through the use of knowledge, data and
experiences. In the same line as Mona and Mali, #4 describes that CT enables her to achieve
decision-making skills. While decision-making is a process that guides people to gain
actionable conclusions, CT helps to determine whether choices and results are sound or not.
Additionally, Mona, Mali and #4’s opinions are in line with Miri et al. (2007), who believe
that CT is important because it helps individuals to develop their higher-order thinking skills,
namely problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
In contrast with other students, Amir believes the importance of CT depends on the
situation. Reflecting on Amir’s definition of CT, which ended with criticism, he argued that
CT could be used to improve or reform faulty subjects. Recalling the aim of CT from

45

Franco’s (2016) viewpoint, which directs people to assess hypotheses and make judgments
rather than uncover faults in people’s ideas and decisions, reminded me that from Amir’s
point of view, CT is not necessary as the purpose of it is correction people’s mind and
determination.
Therefore, almost all Canadian and Iranian students agreed that CT is a superior skill
for their personal and professional pathways. Figure 10 illustrates derived shared and nonshared notions from Canadian and Iranian students’ perspectives on the importance of CT.
The green circle shows themes among Canadian students, which are analyzing, questioning,
and evaluating information. The red circle indicates the main theme among Iranian students,
which is problem-solving skills. The shared theme among Canadian and Iranian students is
illustrated in the common area of the circles, which is decision-making.
Figure 10:
Canadian and Iranian Students’ Shared and Non-shared Themes about the Importance of CT
Skills

Analyzing
Questioning

Decisionmaking

Problem solving

Evaluating information
Canadian Students
Iranian Students

46

Canadian Students’ Views about the Necessity of Critical Thinking for Their
Programs. In response to the question about the necessity of CT in programs of study,
Canadian interviewees provided different points of view. Jenna and Sydney agreed that CT
are crucial for their programs, while Keith and Lamech believed that it depends on the
purpose of the study and the curriculum. During the interview, Jenna was optimistic that CT
in the program of study supported her to be an open-minded person. She believed that
although, without CT, still, she could finish her master’s yet, the achievement could not be
sufficient for personal and professional development. In the same direction, Sydney said the
CT is essential for her graduate study as it improves her decision-making ability. She pointed
out that CT could allow her to reflect and clarify information to be a good decision-maker.
Indeed, the necessity of CT in their programs aids them to have the right to accept or reject
any knowledge, ideas, and experiences, which is in line with Ennis (1985), who pinpointed
that CT’s focus is on helping people to decide “what to believe or do” (p. 45). On the other
side, Lamech and Keith provided different views. Lamech said that while CT would help get
in-depth knowledge about a particular subject, it does not play a positive role in obtaining
great grades for courses. In the same way, Keith added that CT is more proper for research
courses than other curricula which aim to complete tasks and assignments. Keith argued:
To be honest, I feel that critical thinking skills were not very important for most of
the coursework. I found that in many of the courses, if you have critical thinking
skills, you can learn more from the information and the content, but I felt a lot of
courses in the program focus on completing tasks. […] the one exception to this is, I
believe, doing the thesis research project that requires some critical thinking because
it is not information that is given to you; it is information that you are searching for.

Iranian Students’ Views about the Necessity of Critical Thinking for Their
Programs. The analysis of the Iranian students’ responses about the necessity of CT for their
studies programs indicated that all of them concur that CT is vital for their field of studies.
Three of the participants addressed the most common element of problem-solving skills
resulting from CT in their programs. One interviewee commented that decision-making
ability would result from CT in her program. Mona, a student in Data Science, explained that

47

CT is essential for her field as it helps her to be an efficient problem-solver. She spoke that
when she is positioned in a professional and academic situation where she needs to find an
appropriate way to solve an issue, CT assists her in analyzing and evaluating her background
knowledge, which consists of different science like mathematics, statistics and programming
to choose a proper solution that is suitable for situations. Alongside, Mali and Amir had the
same opinion that CT is essential for their programs because it supports them “to see the
depths of everything and helps to solve the problem” explained “Mali”. #4, a Business
Administration student, agreed that CT is crucial for her program because it fosters decisionmaking ability. She articulated CT helps her in avoiding being emotional or doing wrong
actions when she wants to make decisions.
Understanding both groups’ perspectives about the necessity of CT for their programs
of studies guides to getting an insight into their levels of conceptions of CT for their field of
studies. Figure 11 represents the main common and non-common themes of the necessity of
CT for programs of studies among Canadian and Iranian students. The blue circle shows the
theme of Canadian students, which is open-mindedness, and the green circle, which is
problem-solving, indicates a theme among Iranian students. The share part of the circles,
decision making, is the common theme among both groups of students.
Figure 11:
Common and Non-common Main Themes Among Canadian and Iranian Students Related to
Necessity of CT for Their Program of Studies

Decision making
Open-mindedness

Canadian Students

Problem solving

Iranian Students

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Summary of Findings to Research Question 1. The overall picture of the data
analysis linked to research question one about Canadian and Iranian graduate students’
conceptions of CT, divided into three main categories: the definition of CT among both
groups, its importance, and whether it is necessary for their field of study. The results
indicated that Canadian students had a more reasonable interpretation than Iranian students
about the definition of CT. Almost all Canadian and Iranian participants recognized CT as an
essential skill that can help them improve different abilities, namely decision-making skills
which was a common theme among the two groups. While all Iranian participants and two
Canadian students were agreed that CT is necessary for their studies programs, two Canadian
students articulated that the necessity of CT depends on the purpose of the study.
RQ2: How Does the Experience of Studying at a Canadian University Impact Graduate
Students’ Critical Thinking?
The second RQ aims to specify the impact of a Canadian educational experiences on
students’ CT in higher education. To explore this RQ, I began by discovering Canadian and
Iranian students’ stories about CT during their educational experiences. When I listened to
their narratives, I realized several elements exists in their experiences; their overall university
experiences linked to CT, their significant needs for developing CT, the difficulties they
faced with the concept of CT in their studies and factors that inhibit the growth of CT in their
fields. Therefore, to reach answers for this RQ, I divided participants’ stories into four
categories include their overall university experiences with CT, the significant needs of
Canadian and Iranian students that impact their CT, difficulties that they encountered in their
programs connected to CT and elements that inhibit the development of CT in their fields.
The procedure and factors that analyzed the second RQ between Canadian and Iranian
interviewees demonstrate in Figure 12. As the figure shows, key categories, including overall
university experiences, significant needs, difficulties and barriers linked to CT, were
examined from Canadian and Iranian students’ views. Then from participants’ stories, I
obtained the main themes of the impact of the university on their’ CT and finally, by
summarizing the results, I wrapped up the second RQ.

49

Figure 12:
The Process of Analysis of the Second RQ

• Canadian Students’ Views
• Iranian Students’ Views

• Canadian Students’ Views
• Iranian Students’ Views

Overall University
Experiences

Significant Needs

Difficulties

• Canadian Students’ Views
• Iranian Students’ Views

• Canadian Students’ Views
• Iranian Students’ Views

Impacts of A Canadian University on Graduate Students’ CT

Barriers

Key Themes of the Impact of a University on Students’ CT

Summary of Findings to Research Question 2

Canadian Students’ Overall University Experiences about Critical Thinking.
The stories and experiences shared in the interviews with Canadian students indicated their
positive insights and acknowledgments of the optimistic impact of the university on
developing their CT. The most frequent domain of the effects of the university on
participants’ CT was the ability to identify different perspectives, which Keith, Lamech,
Sydney and Jenna pointed out. In different words, all students explained that their overall
educational experiences that positively influenced their CT helped them to foster the ability
to understand and examine situations from different places and assume other beliefs,
experiences, and viewpoints. The role of instructors was the second most frequent category,

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present in three participants’ responses. Jeena and I spoke about how in her experiences,
instructors positively impacted her CT development. Jenna explained her instructors’ art of
CT supported her to “see things through a different lens”. In similar respondents, Lamech
and Keith believed that instructors, through appropriate curricula, can assist students in
developing logical reasoning. Keith experienced that his instructors presented different ways
of thinking about his field and challenged his “preconceptions” and initial thoughts about his
program. In the same direction, besides the role of instructors, the helpful curriculum was
another vital theme articulated by two interviewees. Lamech believed using a proper
curriculum helps students to develop their CT during their studies. He explained, “teachers
set up assignments in a way that they force you to do some in-depth critical thinking and
analyze from different perspectives and synthesize using your own experience into what you
are working on”. Disposition to build own ideas was the last category mentioned by one
student. Sydney said that while her undergrad level was mainly about reading textbooks and
doing assignments, the graduate-level has more efficiency in developing her CT, namely
building her own ideas. Indeed, the ability to construct personal ideas directly can influence
human development. Table 3 exhibits the repetition of specific codes recognized in the
Canadian students’ points of view about their overall university experiences linked to CT. As
the table displays, all participants’ first code is the ability to identify different perspectives.
The role of instructors articulated by three students placed in the second row. The third row
is the location of the helpful curriculum code that two students expressed. Finally, the code
builds own ideas stated by one interviewee can be seen.
Table 3:
Codes Repetitions of Canadian Students’ Overall University Experiences with CT
Codes

Number of Students

Ability to identify different perspectives

4

The role of instructors

3

Helpful curriculum

2

Build own ideas

1

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Iranian Students’ Overall University Experiences about Critical Thinking.
Suppose I define positive experience as white and negative experience as black; in this case,
the narratives of Iranian participants regarding their overall university experiences with CT at
the graduate level would be defined as gray experiences. The first common domain among
Iranian students’ overall educational experience about CT was the role of instructors in
obtaining and/or developing CT, which was articulated by three participants but in different
directions. #4 and Mali had the same stories. They discussed the positive role of instructors
in their programs as educators were aware of the essentiality of this skill. #4 and Mali agreed
that their instructors provided an environment where they could develop their CT. For
example, Mali expressed that while the concept of CT was new to her and she did not have
any knowledge about this western concept in her previous education back in Iran, the
instructors provided sufficient opportunities to support her to be familiar with this subject. In
contrast, Mona claimed that instructors in her program did not have enough knowledge and
experience to help her improve her CT. She explained that her main focus was to do
assignments or pass exams rather than time to think and reflect on subjects she learned. She
had unhappy educational experiences that did not offer proper opportunities to gain CT
during her study. The second most repeated category was constructive courses expressed in
two participants’ responses. When Mali and I spoke about her university experience with the
CT, she said that while she experienced a challenging and demanding time, the university
supported her in becoming familiar with this concept by offering beneficial curricula.
However, she believed that CT practices in the academic context must be increased for her
and unfamiliar students with this concept. In the same light, #4 also had the same opinion
that in her program, the university, by offering constructive courses, namely “project
management”, aided in constructing her CT positively. The last category claimed by two
students was named ineffective university. When Amir and I met each other, in response to a
question about his overall view regarding the impact of the university on his CT, he found no
practical effect during his educational journey. Indeed, Amir and Mona agreed that the
university was ineffective in developing their CT. Table 4 flashes the repetition of particular

52

codes distinguished in the Iranian students’ thoughts about their overall university
experiences with CT. As the table presents, the role of instructors was the first repeated code
among students but positively and negatively. Two students mentioned the positive role of
instructors, and one participant said the negative role of instructors. The helpful curriculum
was expressed by two students placed in the third row. Finally, in the last row, the code
ineffective university stated by two interviewees can be found.
Table 4:
Codes Repetitions of Iranian Students’ Overall University Experiences with CT
Codes

Number of Students

The role of instructors (positivity)

2

The role of instructors (negatively)

1

Helpful curriculum

2

Ineffective university

2

Recalling Canadian and Iranian participants’ stories regarding their overall university
experiences with the concept of CT shows some comparisons and variations among students.
Figure 13 illustrates similarities and differences in overall university experiences among both
groups of students. The light blue circle indicates Canadian students’ notions, including the
ability to identify different perspectives and build new ideas. The Iranian participants’
thoughts placed in the dark blue circle contain the role of instructors (negatively) and
ineffective university. The shared areas between the two circles indicate common beliefs
among Canadian and Iranian participants, including helpful curriculum and the role of
instructors (positively).

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Figure 13:
Similarities and Differences in Overall University Experiences Among Canadian and Iranian
Students

Ability to identify
different perspectives

Helpful
Curriculum

The role of instructors
(negatively)

Build own ideas

The role of
instructors
(positively)

Ineffective University

Canadian Students

Iranian Students

Canadian Students’ Significant Needs for the Development of Critical Thinking.
When Canadian students shared their stories about their educational experiences related to
CT, each participant expressed the considerable need that could help develop their CT. These
demands include the role of instructors and questioning, exposure to a variety of cultures,
critical reflection and reading different resources. Starting with Jenns’s story, who believed
having instructors that create an environment where students allow to ask questions about
existing knowledge can be counted as a significant need for CT development. “Jenna”
explained, “the most significant part of my developing critical thinking is questioning but
also having teachers that are willing to have me question them and discuss with them”.
Questioning gives a chance to Jenna to examine and analyze ideas, assumptions, or theories
rather than accepting them at face value. Exposure to various cultures is another need that
Lamech believed can be a supportive tool to increase his CT. During our virtual meeting, he
noted that exposure to different people, diverse cultures, and various religions to synthesize

54

information supports him develop CT. Lamech expressed that understanding people’s
differences helps him to navigate and resolve issues and become an independent learner to
deepen his knowledge of the world around him. Sydney, another Canadian student, explained
the significant factor that could develop CT is the ability to reflect critically on different
subjects. She believed that “being able to think about yourself and your own beliefs is kind of
like the most important step in developing critical thinking skills”. In our conversation, she
expressed that critical reflection allows individuals to engage in higher order thinking and
creative practice, which supports making sense of experience. Another different need among
Canadian students was articulated by Keith, who believed reading different resources plays a
significant role in CT growth. During our online meeting, Keith clarified that diverse reading
resources could provide several outlooks which enable him to have different skills such as
decision-making ability and realizing which information and fact make the most sense.
“Keith” statement in this sense is: “being able to read a lot of fiction and nonfiction that gives
a lot of different perspectives on life, on thinking, on information, studying, and on
everything”.
Iranian Students’ Significant Needs for the Development of Critical Thinking.
The data analysis outcomes of Iranian students’ stories indicated different essential demands
that positively influence CT development during their studies. The first element that two
participants mentioned is the role of instructors in the development of CT. The second
element is the pedagogical approaches presented by two participants, and the third one is the
development of background knowledge mentioned by one student. Mali and Mona both
agreed that instructors played a prominent role in fostering CT. They explained similar
notions but in different words that educators can increase or improve their CT by using
proper pedagogical approaches. For instance, Mali spoke that whenever she asked her
instructors about the concept of CT, they tried to explain the process in a simple way that she
could make sense of the subject. Also, Mona believed that by designing reasonable curricula
and using proper activities, instructors could help to flourish CT in her field of study.
Identical to Mona, #4 highlighted proper pedagogical approaches influence her development
of CT. She explained that providing situations where CT can be used could help her develop
CT. She clarified that knowing about CT practices step-by-step can support her in realizing

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in each step what should be considered. The shared demands in #4, Mon and Mali’s stories
were the instructor’s professional competence and pedagogical approaches, which directly
impact the development of CT during their graduate studies. Background knowledge was the
last significant need for CT development in the Iranian group articulated by Amir. Amir
believed that having background knowledge about the concept of CT could assist him in
having more understanding of the topics. Amir clarified that by having prior knowledge
about CT, he would be able to participate in class while reacting to prosperous CT
assignments actively.
Through the conversations with Canadian and Iranian students, I realized that
identifying their significant needs, which play constructive roles in promoting CT during
their master’s level, helps them to boost their self-esteem and encourages them to understand
and grasp academic concepts. Considering both groups’ lived experiences indicated shared
and non-shared significant demands that support students to grow their CT. Figure 14 offers
an overview of these needs among Canadian and Iranian students during their master’s level.
While the left circle indicates Canadian students’ significant needs related to CT
development, the right circle shows Iranian students’ essential demands that assist them in
developing their CT. The shared area between two circles presents identical needs among
both groups of students. In this regard, questioning, critical reflection, reading different
resources, and exposure to a variety of cultures expressed by Canadian participants. Iranian
interviewees highlighted pedagogical approaches and background knowledge. The role of
instructors was a noteworthy common need articulated in both groups of students.

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Figure 14:
Shared and Non-shared Needs among Canadian and Iranian Students

Questioning
Pedagogical
approaches

Critical reflection
Reading different
resources
Canadian Students

Exposure to a variety
of cultures

Role of
instructors

Background
knowledge
Iranian Students

Canadian Students’ Difficulties with Critical Thinking in Their Programs of
Study. Examining the data analysis of Canadian students’ notions about challenges they
faced in using CT in their programs of study indicated different factors. Information
evaluation, critical reflection and judgment, lack of background knowledge and re-evaluating
existing knowledge were four major difficulties that interviewees mentioned in the
interviews. Sydney remarked that evaluating information to consider subjects’ reliability and
accuracy was the challenging part of her study. She spoke in her different assignments
critically evaluation of what she was reading and how she was thinking was tough because
she could not realize how good she is in evaluating the subject. Speaking with Lamech made
me realize that the ability to critical reflection and judgment was another hardness of
operating CT that he faced. Lamech articulated that CT, reflection, and judgment had always
been part of his life which kind of go hand in hand. Yet, having a mindset to practice CT into
assumptions and stereotypes requires thinking profoundly to make rational and logical
choices and analytically considering thoughts, beliefs, and facts. In another participant’s

57

story, I listened to Keith’s experience about the lack of background knowledge that created a
hard situation to utilize CT at his graduate level. In this sense, Keith explicated prior
knowledge about the subjects affects the level of achievement of a meaningful reflection on
materials and elaboration of the learning context. He said in courses which offer basic
knowledge about the topic; he could successfully be able to think critically. In another area,
Jenna’s point of view indicates that the opportunity to re-evaluate existing knowledge was a
concern in using CT in her field of study. “Jenna” explained:
There are certain things you were raised with that are very hard to re-evaluate.
Certain things are easier to change your opinion. On and others are just so ingrained
with you. And so, I think that is probably one of my biggest obstacles, especially
when it comes to theories of education.
Iranian Students’ Difficulties with Critical Thinking in Their Programs of
Study. Like Canadian participants, Iranian students faced some difficulties in terms of using
CT during their studies. Lack of proper pedagogical approaches mentioned by two students
and the role of instructors presented by one participant. Due to a lack of knowledge about the
concept of CT, one participant in this group did not provide a related answer.
Discussion between Mona and I resulted in the issue that Mona did not have an
opportunity to develop and practice CT in her field of study due to overwhelmed assignments
and exams provided by her instructors. While Mona’s stories indicated she experienced many
pressures and stress during her educational period, she clearly noted that her instructors’
teaching methods did not provide a place where she could express, analyze, and realize
aspects of what she learned compared to real-life situations. Along with Mona, Amir also
shared that the lack of proper and practical courses to develop CT in his program was the
main difficulty during the study. He mentioned that his program did not deliver any
supportive opportunities for him to gain information and ideas about CT, which would be
useful to apply CT in academic and professional situations. The role of instructors was the
other factor that impacted the development of CT among Iranian students. A remarkable
example comes from #4, who explained that some instructors expected to practice this skill
in assignments or classroom activities without considering students’ knowledge and
background. “#4” noted:

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Instructors, most of them, not all of them, expect you to have that skill but not teach
it. So, it is kind of like common sense that this is critical thinking, and you should be
doing and putting it in all your answers, but there was no specific procedure that you
need to do this.
Through sharing both groups of students’ experiences in terms of difficulties they
faced in developing CT during their postgraduate studies, Canadian and Iranian students
revealed their different points of view. Figure 15 campers Canadian and Iranian students’
difficulties related to the growth of CT during their graduate level. While information
evaluation, critical reflection and judgment, lack of background knowledge and re-evaluating
existing knowledge were difficulties that Canadian students faced in growing their CT; lack
of pedagogical approaches and role of instructors were complications that Iranian students
met in improving CT during their master’s level. Also, there was not any common difficulty
among these groups of students.
Figure 15:
Comparison of Canadian and Iranian Difficulties Related to The Use of CT

Information evaluation
Critical reflection and
judgment
Lack of background
knowledge

Lack of pedagogical
approaches
Role of instructors

Reevaluating existing
knowledge
Canadian Students

Iranian Students

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Canadian Students’ Views About Barriers to Develop Their Critical Thinking.
Canadian students identified several factors that prevented them from being successful
critical thinkers. According to their narratives, while one interviewee expressed there is no
specific limitation for improving CT in her program, two other participants had the same
opinions that a lack of interaction and communication was the major factor that prevented the
development of CT in their programs. Exclusive resources are another factor mentioned by
one student who believes that caused to inhibit CT’s improvement in her field of study. With
her strong tone that showed she knew what she wanted, Jenna articulated that did not find
any limitation in her program that banned her from using and developing CT. She was
positive that her university experiences ultimately helped her to have opportunities to
practice CT. Keith and Lamech, who studied their programs online, shared the same opinion
that the shortage of interaction and communication was the factor that acted as a barrier to
improve their CT. In Keith’s lived experience, online learning where there was no chance to
have an organic discussion in classrooms was a vital factor limiting CT development. He
explained that conversations with classmates help engage CT because it allows everyone in a
class to challenge and bring different perspectives that individuals were not expecting.
Nearly the same, “Lamech” stated, “seeing the people in person and seeing that diversity in
person would have enhanced my critical thinking”. From Keith and Lamech’s outlooks,
interaction and communication were viewed as the basic structure of CT that allowed them to
launch unique learning experiences and opportunities to set new patterns of thought,
reflection, and exploration. When I questioned Sydney to share her thought about inhibition
factors in improving CT, she asked for a few seconds to think about it. While the
environment was silent and we drank our green tea lemonade, her soft tone broke the silence
and expressed exclusive resource was the factor that acted as a barrier to promoting CT skills
in her program of study. To clarify her thoughts, she explained that the information she gets
in her program was very culturally positioned around North American culture, which made it
difficult to think critically about something when it was the only thing presented in her field.
Iranian Students’ Views About Barriers to Develop Their Critical Thinking.
While two Iranian participants did not have any idea about factors that might have a role in
inhabitation the development of CT, two other interviewees had similar opinions that

60

instructional design was linked to reducing CT in their programs. In my conversation with
Mali and later with Amir, they did not have any ideas about factors that had roles in
inhibiting them from being critical thinkers. While I let them have time to think about this,
they said they could not find any answers for this area. In contrast, #4 and Mona had the
same problem but different experiences. They pinpointed that lack of proper instructional
design was a factor that banned them from improving their CT. For example, #4 described
that in some of her courses, there was no emphasis on practicing CT. Therefore, she did not
have opportunities to apply CT on different subjects and topics. Mona, much like #4,
explained she could not practice CT in her various courses, as her courses mainly focused on
transit knowledge rather than providing an opportunity where she could analyze information.
Narrating Canadian and Iranian students’ stories about the factors that acted as
limitations delivered different points. One Canadian student believed there was no barrier to
developing CT during her study. At the same time, two Iranian students did not have any
opinion on what factors could plat as barriers to CT improvement in their programs. Still,
other Canadian students expressed that lack of interaction and communication, and exclusive
resources were factors that negatively impacted their CT growth. Instructional design was the
issue that Iranian students believed did not permit them to improve their CT. Figure 16
designates barriers to developing CT from Canadian and Iranian students’ viewpoints. The
left circle shows Canadian students’ views, including lack of interaction and communication
and exclusive resources, and the right circle displays Iranian students’ sights containing
instructional design. Both groups of participants did not share any common opinion about
elements that inhibits their CT in their field of studies.

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Figure 16:
Barriers To developing CT from Canadian and Iranian Students’ Viewpoints

Lack of interaction
and communication

Instructional design

Exclusive resources
Canadian Students

Iranian Students

In the second RQ, Canadian and Iranian students’ stories were divided into four main
parts, including their overall university experiences, their significant needs for developing
CT, their difficulties, and the barriers they faced in improving CT in their field of study,
which I addressed in the present section. For each part, students presented shared and nonshared codes related to their notions about their experience of studying at a Canadian
university that impacted their CT during their master’s level. As illustrated in Figure 12,
through Table 5, I represent all participants’ ideas based on the findings parts to show the
final themes related to the second RQ. Table 5 consists of four parts; Canadian and Iranian
students’ overall university experiences, their significant needs for developing CT, and their
difficulties and barriers linked to CT development. Each of these parts included sub-themes
that I presented in their positions. Three key themes extracted from sub-themes of the second
RQ’s findings include curriculum design, pedagogical approaches, and instructor’s
competence. These themes play a significant role in Canadian and Iranian students lived
experiences with the concept of CT during their graduate studies.

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Table 5:
Key Themes of the Impact of University Experiences on Students’ CT
Scope of students’
Group of students

Sub-themes

Themes

Canadian

Ability to identify different perspectives

Curriculum Design

Canadian

Building own Ideas

Pedagogical approaches

Overall university

Canadian/Iranian

Helpful curriculum

Curriculum design

experiences

Canadian/Iranian

The role of instructors (positively)

Instructor’s competence

Iranian

The role of instructors (negatively)

Instructor’s competence

Iranian

Ineffective university

Curriculum design

Canadian

Questioning

Pedagogical approaches

Canadian

Exposure to a variety of cultures

Curriculum design

Canadian

Critical reflection

Pedagogical approaches

Canadian

Reading different resources

Curriculum design

Canadian/Iranian

The role of instructors

Instructor’s competence

Iranian

Pedagogical approaches

Pedagogical approaches

Iranian

Background knowledge

Curriculum design

Canadian

Information evaluation

Pedagogical approaches

Canadian

Evaluating and judgment/critical judgment

Pedagogical approaches

Canadian

Lack of background knowledge

Curriculum Design

Canadian

Reevaluating existing knowledge

Pedagogical Approaches

Iranian

Pedagogical Approaches

Pedagogical Approaches

Iranian

The role of instructors

Instructor’s competence

Canadian

Lack of Interaction

Pedagogical Approaches

Canadian

Exclusive Curricula

Curriculum Design

Iranian

Instructional Design

Pedagogical Approaches

Experiences

Significant needs

Difficulties

Barriers

Summary of Findings to Research Question 2. To reach an answer for the second
RQ, I analyzed Canadian and Iranian students’ lived experiences in four parts: their overall
university experiences related to CT, their significant needs for the development of CT,

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difficulties that students faced with CT in their program and factors that inhibit the growth of
CT in their field of studies. In terms of their overall university experiences, Canadian
students had a more positive experience of the impact of the university on their CT than
Iranian students. Half of the participants (three Canadian and one Iranian) agreed that
instructors have the leading role in facilitating and developing CT in their program of study.
While one Canadian student stated the experience of studying assisted her in building her
ideas, two Iranian students mentioned that the university was ineffective in improving CT
skills during their studies. While the role of instructors, questioning, exposure to a variety of
cultures, critical reflection and reading different resources were the fundamental needs that
could impact the development of CT among Canadian students, Iranian participants
articulated that the role of instructors, pedagogical approaches, and background knowledge
were prominent demands in the progress of CT. Fostering CT was not an easy achievement
for Canadian and Iranian participants, and both groups of students faced difficulties in their
programs. Information evaluation, critical reflection and judgment, lack of background
knowledge and re-evaluating existing knowledge were areas that Canadian students
encountered challenges. On the other group, the lack of proper pedagogical approaches and
the role of instructors were two main obstacles that Iranian participants faced. Given factors
that inhibit the growth of CT among Canadian and Iranian students, while lack of interaction
and communication and exclusive curricula were the main inhibition facts among Canadian
students, Iranian participants confirmed that the instructional design prevents the
development of CT in their program of study. Therefore, analysis of the participants’
responses indicates that the university experiences that influenced their CT ended in three
main categories: curriculum design, instructors’ competence, and pedagogical approaches.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter, I presented and interpreted the data and findings, guided by research
questions focusing on Canadian and Iranian students’ conceptions of CT and their university
experiences related to CT during their master’s programs. The results of each research
question were organized into different parts to reach the data’s salient points yielded based
on each group’s points of view. The overall results of the first RQ, which is about Canadian

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and Iranian students’ conceptions of CT, show that Canadian students had a better
understanding of CT than Iranian students. Yet, both groups agreed that this concept is
significant and necessary for their personal lives and professional paths. The general
outcomes of the second RQ, which focused on the impact of the experience of studying at a
Canadian university on students’ CT, revealed that Canadian participants again had more
positive experiences than Iranian students. Iranian participants faced various difficulties in
CT, and they needed more attention and opportunities to obtain and develop CT during their
graduate studies. Curriculum design, instructors’ competence, and pedagogical approaches
were the main themes linked with Canadian and Iranian participants’ beliefs about the impact
of the university on their CT, which will be discussed in Chapter 6.

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Chapter Six: Discussion
This chapter discusses the results of this study’s data analysis, which aims to compare
Canadian and Iranian students’ conceptions of CT during their graduate studies. Even though
several studies have investigated the concept of CT among international students at western
universities, fewer specifically looked at Canadian and Iranian students’ understandings and
interpretations of CT. As CT is traditionally seen as an essential feature of an educated
individual in western academic culture, it is necessary for all students to have an outcome of
contemporary education that meets the demands of citizenship in a democratic society and
successful employment in the quick and highly competitive economy. In this regard, the
outcomes presented in the previous chapter display the rich narratives shared by the eight
graduate students from Canada and Iran who participated in this study. This comparative
study explores the Canadian and Iranian students’ conceptions of CT from multi-dimensional
perspectives, namely beliefs, challenges, and hindrances during their master’s programs. In
this chapter, I will discuss the results and respond to the following research questions at
length:
1- What are Canadian and Iranian students’ conceptions of critical thinking?
2- How does the experience of studying at a Canadian university impact graduate
students’ critical thinking?
Dissection of Research Questions
Discussion about Research Question One
This question aimed to understand the Canadian and Iranian students’ perceptions of
CT. In other words, this question addressed whether students, especially Iranian students
studying as international students at the master’s level, had any notions about this concept.
To deliver an answer to this question, I examined students’ conceptions in three aspects,
including a) the meaning of CT from students’ viewpoints, b) their notions about the
importance of CT, and c) the necessity of CT for their programs of studies. This part will
discuss and compare both groups’ points of view regarding the first research question.
The Definition of Critical Thinking Among Canadian and Iranian Students.
During the interview, my first question from students was about the meaning of CT to them.

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While Canadian students provided a reasonable explanation of the concept of CT, extracts of
the interview data showed that two Iranian students had an awareness of the idea of CT and
the two other participants, Amir, and Mali, had difficulties with this concept. Analysis, Openmindedness, Reasoning, Questioning, Criticism and Self-expression were the main key
categories of the definition of CT among both groups of students. While Analysis, Reasoning,
Open-mindedness, and Questioning are predominantly explained as higher-order cognitive
skills and procedures, Criticism and Self-expression are not active processes of effectively
thinking about thoughts and actualizing subjects according to the concept of CT.
One Canadian and one Iranian student chose analysis, which allowed them to analyze
and synthesize information from multiple perspectives. As I discussed in Bloom’s Taxonomy
in Chapter 4, the upper three levels indicate higher-order thinking skills that involve deeper
learning and more cognitive processing among individuals. The analysis aims to distinguish
between fact and opinion to identify the claims of an argument where the abilities are
commonly thought of as CT (Adams, 2015). For Lamech and #4, the definition of CT was
the ability to break down information and examine it from diverse perspectives to have
superior clarity about information.
The Open-mindedness that one Canadian student chose shows through being an openminded person, people can be more receptive to all diverse notions and arguments without
considering whether they agree or disagree. As Ferkany (2019) discovered, open-mindedness
includes a willingness to consider “new ideas, practices, or experiences” (p. 405) to establish
whether to add or modify thoughtful or critical objects to an individual’s existing knowledge.
Open-minded people can learn new things about subjects and challenge their preconceived
beliefs to make a judgment by logic, reasoning, and evidence. Being open- minded allows
people to think flexibly, determine options, and find new methods to accomplish a given
task. These features are associated with the synthesis level of Bloom's taxonomy.
Reasoning is another theme that one Canadian and one Iranian participant articulated
as a meaning of CT for them. The reasoning process is an integral part of CT discovered by
different scholars such as Scriven and Paul (1987) and Zara and Othman (2013). These
researchers stated that people could evaluate statements, assumptions, and arguments about
subjects in ordinary situations through the reasoning process. For Keith and Mona, the ability

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to process and assess the information to make a judgment is the definition of CT. Therefore,
their definition of CT is related to the analysis level of Bloom’s taxonomy. The analysis
represents the ability to consider complex problems by assuming the information that
individuals gathered and organized.
Questioning is a further theme definition of CT articulated by a Canadian participant.
Questioning helps students by focusing openly on the process of thinking about the
information and existing knowledge to think critically. The ability to question can create a
questioning mind in the same direction as the critical mind. In other words, questions push
assumptions, debates, and vague thoughts for thinking forward. In the same light, Fahim and
Bagheri (2012) explained that Socrates believed that students could reach a deep
understanding and thinking through questioning the fundamental beliefs and assumptions to
consider various perceptions. So, the ability to question and gather different viewpoints is
related to the analysis level of Bloom's Taxonomy. Analysis ability improves individuals'
motivation and leads them to be independent thinkers to make informed decisions.
Criticism is a definition of CT that an Iranian student explains. Even though there is a
difference between having CT and being a critical person, Amir believed that thinking
“against” something or someone could be counted as CT. The word criticism in the online
Axford Dictionary (n.d) refers to “the act of expressing disapproval of somebody/something
and opinions about their faults or bad qualities,” which intersects with CT’s concept. Many
scholars, such as (Ennis, 1985; Sternberg, 1986; Scriven & Paul, 1987) defined CT as a set of
skills that leads individuals to approve or disapprove of an argument through judgment which
results from analyzing, reasoning, and evaluating the observations and information. Amir's
understanding of the concept of CT is related to the lower order thinking of Bloom's
Taxonomy which is knowledge. Amir requires practice in order to build his CT
conceptualization and be familiar with the concept and purpose of CT. However, the
considerable point in Amir’s view about the definition of CT backs to the different cultural
contexts that I will discuss in the following section.
Self-expression is the last theme of the definition of CT presented by an Iranian
student. In the light of Kim and Ko’s (2007) definition of self-expression as “expressing
one’s thoughts and feelings, and these expressions can be accomplished through words,

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choices or actions” (p. 326), it is understandable that Mali’s definition of CT is linked to the
lower order thinking of Bloom’s Taxonomy which is comprehension. According to
Armstrong (2010), comprehension refers to understanding that a person knows what is being
communicated and can utilize the material or idea without necessarily connecting it to other
material or noticing its entire implications. Mali’s definition of CT aims to construct meaning
through interpreting, summarizing, comparing, and explaining the content.
According to the above discussion, the scale of the meaning of CT from students’
understanding shows that most of their knowledge and thoughts about CT are associated with
the upper three levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Figure 17 indicates students’ level of
familiarity with the concept of CT based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. On the left is Bloom’s
Taxonomy hierarchy comprising six levels. On the right side are six key themes that are
extracted from Canadian and Iranian participants’ conceptions of CT. The theme of criticism
is related to knowledge. Comprehension is linked to self-expression. Two theses, including
question and analysis, are connected to the level of analysis. The reasoning is linked to
evaluation, and open-mindedness is related to synthesis level.
Figure 17:
Students' Level of Familiarity with the Concept of CT Based on Bloom's Taxonomy

Evaluation

Sysnthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge

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The Role of Critical Thinking in the Iranian Cultural Context. Along a slightly
different line with the definition of CT among students, it is noteworthy to know the meaning
of CT in the Persian language and Iranian culture. While in English literature, there is a
specific noun word for CT which means “The process of analyzing information in order to
make a logical decision about the extent to which you believe something to be true or false”
(Axford Dictionary, n.d), in Persian dictionaries (e.g., Dehkhoda Dictionary, Mo’in Farsi
Dictionary, Amid Farsi Dictionary) there is no word for the definition of CT. According to
the Dehkhoda Dictionary, which is one of the comprehensive Persian encyclopedic
dictionaries, critical thinking (in Persian: ‫ )تفکر انتقادی‬consists of two words: thinking
(Taffakor /‫ )تفکر‬and critical (Enteqād /‫ )انتقاد‬that have separate definitions. The word thinking
(Taffakor) has the same meaning as thinking in the English language, which focuses on using
a person’s mind to consider or reason about something. Yet, the word critical (‘enteqād/ ‫)انتقاد‬
means “correction” or “description of the advantages and disadvantages of a poem or article
or book” (Dehkhoda Dictionary, n.d). So, putting these meanings together shows that Amir’s
definition of CT, which mainly focused on thinking against someone or something or
criticizing people and subjects, is close to the meaning of CT in the existing Persian
language. However, it should be noted that there are several Iranian scholars (e.g., Hashemi
et al., 2010; Fahim & Bagheri, 2012; Fahim & Shakouri Masouleh, 2012; Hajhosseini et al.,
2016; Eghbali et al., 2021) who published numerous inquiries in order to provide a great and
reasonable definition of the concept of CT based on its purpose for individuals’ academic and
day to day life. Still, there is a need to enter the sensible meaning of this concept in the
Iranian language and literature to increase people’s knowledge and conceptions about this
notion.
Another light that can be shed on examining CT among Iranian students is the Iranian
cultural context. As I discussed in Chapter 3, from 1979, Iran followed the Islamic revolution
that impacted different areas, namely the education system in the country. This Islamic
adaptation created the government’s version of an education, which was influenced by every
Islamic laws. Fahim and Bagheri (2012) explained that while some of the fundamental points
of fostering CT among students are to teach them to build a habit with enough evidence,

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familiarize themselves with conflicting beliefs, teach them to ask profound questions, and
acknowledge the fact that knowledge is always subject to change yet, working on the concept
of CT requires great care and understanding as “it is never possible to question the beliefs
and values in the name of fostering critical thinking” (p. 1125). Therefore, fostering or
developing CT among Iranian students should be issues that do not “question religious or
political matters” (Fahim & Bagheri, 2012, p. 1125).
Considering the above points, the education system in Iran is traditional, and students
are supposed to memorize the materials. Students who can remember more information
obtain better academic achievement. Thus, not only there is no specific curriculum to
familiarize students with the idea of CT, but education systems did not successfully offer an
environment where learners can practice this skill in an academic context. Consequently,
most Iranian students come from a different academic culture with no history of learning and
practicing CT during their studies. Therefore, when they arrive at a western university, they
face challenges linked to their lack of CT.
Canadian and Iranian Students’ Views About the Importance of Critical
Thinking. Both Canadian and Iranian students were invited to share their thoughts about the
importance of CT. Almost all Canadian and Iranian students agreed that CT is an essential
skill for their personal and professional paths. Decision-making was a common theme among
both groups. Analyzing, questioning, and evaluating information were the key themes among
Canadian students, and problem-solving was the main category among Iranian students.
Decision-making is one of the results of CT for those who have the capacity to think
critically. According to Harris (1998), decision-making is the process of recognizing and
selecting alternatives based on the standards and preferences of the decision-maker. Indeed, a
student who is required to make decisions on a more frequent basis and consider those
decisions using their criteria improves the ability to think critically. Decision-making skill is
one area that lends credence to students as a citizen in a democratic society. Yet the
provoking question that appears is how those students growing up in a non-democratic
community can be involved in the decision-making process in their educational system where
there is not enough practice for CT? In addition, I believe students’ decision-making skills
must be the center of academic culture in order to teach students what criteria are crucial in

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making a decision and what would be the impacts of their choices result on themselves and
others. Decision-making ability leads individuals to actionable conclusions that define
whether the option is sound by the CT elements or not. People, through using CT, instead of
automatically accepting all possible results and arguments, they likely to ask questions about
all the potential outcomes and views. A sufficient educational system can operate decisionmaking ability as a tool for the growth of the person’s skill to think critically and for
fostering individuals as effective members of a democracy. While Canada, as a democratic
country, provided enough concepts and practices in terms of promoting and developing CT
among students at different levels in the educational structures, Iran, as a non-democratic
society, faces a lack of CT content in the academic context, which students are not allowed to
promote CT through being in a sustainable learning environment that let them express their
notions, explore, take risks, share their wins and defeats and question each other.
Through the above arguments, whereas Canadian students had proper academic
background knowledge about CT, which led them to know about its importance, on the other
side, Iranian students with an academic background which did not promote CT among them
through social practices got familiar with this concept as Atkinson (1997) explained CT can
be learned through living life that one either grows up with or not had an awareness of the
significance of this skill.
Four non-common themes of analyzing, questioning, evaluating information and
problem solving significantly indicate the differentiation points of view between two
cultures’ levels of students. On the one side, Canadian beliefs indicate that the ability to
analyze, question, and evaluate the information results from the importance of CT, which
primarily stands for focusing on a range of possibilities about different information or beliefs
and breaking down data and observation to consider all aspects of subjects to determine the
significance and the value of the given data.
Through analyzing skills, individuals can examine the information and understand
what is behind the data and observation to describe the implications of that information.
Questioning is one of the ways that can encourages Jenna to think critically by requiring her
to go beyond the actual recall or routine levels of existing knowledge. Through questioning,
students engage in higher-order thinking, which causes the analysis and evaluation of the

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knowledge or data. In this regard, Albergaria-Almeida (2010) noted that “students’ questions
result from a gap or discrepancy in the students’ knowledge or a desire to extend their
knowledge in some direction” (p. 306). Through evaluation, which in Bloom’s Taxonomy is
the highest level of thinking, students distinguish the information and judge or identify if
there is a need to be changed. Likewise, from Canadian points of view, the importance of CT
led them to obtain analyzing, questioning, and evaluating abilities that are helpful to “transfer
knowledge learned from certain disciplines to other cognitive areas” (Santos, 2017, p. 162),
which is the purpose of CT. In other words, reflecting on Tsui (2003), who asserts that
“identify issues and assumptions, recognize important relationships, make correct inferences,
evaluate evidence or authority, and deduce conclusion” (p. 743) are the usual key terms of
the importance of CT in an academic context.
On the other hand, problem-solving was the central theme among Iranian participants.
Iranian students’ perspectives about the importance of CT are mostly linked to solving or
improving problems or faulty decisions. Bearing in mind that CT’s significance is mainly
related to the definition of CT among participants, those students who were aware of the
concept of CT found that it led them to promote problem-solving skills for themselves.
Through CT, people likely could utilize knowledge, details, and data to solve problems
efficiently. In so doing, this does not imply that individuals have to find an immediate
response to the problem. Yet, the focus is that people be able to think about the process,
evaluate issues and discover proper solutions by considering diverse aspects. While
McCormick et al. (2015) argued that many students were not learning problem-solving and
CT, which are fundamental to the core objectives of general education across all disciplines
at the postsecondary level, reflecting on Dewey’s (1902) points that to develop of CT and
problem-solving skills we should move away from curricular content as the crucial point of
learning and towards activities and tasks from which students can draw experiences to aid
them in further learning. Still, I must point out that learning CT requires both training and
practice in a collaborative environment. Again, since Iranian students did not foster their
problem-solving skills through explicit teaching, they realized this skill directly and naturally
in a social context. Therefore, Mona and Mali’s points of view regarding the ability to solve
problems show that, in general, they have a positive insight about the importance of CT for

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their fields of studies, workplace, and day-to-day life, as Nezu et al. (2013) underlined by
having a positive problem orientation, individuals are more likely to be optimistic and
consider that problems are solvable that can help them to obtain more confidence in their
capacity to solve problems. But looking at Amir’s idea that the importance of having CT
results in having problem-solving skills when people “criticize each other” or aim to
“improve a subject” clearly indicates his culturally shaped conception of the importance of
CT. One of the purposes of CT indeed is to help people obtain problem-solving skills, as
Dewey (1910) named it a reasoning process for all subjects and grade levels. Yet, it seems
that Amir’s problem-solving is used when individuals are faced with several critics because
of their diverse opinions, abilities, and processing capabilities. Still, in problem-solving,
which is the result of CT, people, through curiosity which is “the most vital and significant
factor in supplying the primary material” (Dewey, 1910, p. 30), can gather a more
comprehensive form of relevant information to evaluate ideas to solve problems (Hardy et
al., 2017).
Canadian and Iranian Students’ Views about The Necessity of Critical Thinking.
Canadian and Iranian students shared their perceptions about the necessity of CT for their
programs of study. Participants were from different disciplines of study, namely education,
data science, business administration, and environmental science. The data analysis of their
insights, as shown in Chapter 5, indicated that while all Iranian students agreed that CT is
necessary for their programs, Canadian students provided diverse responses. The main noncommon theme about the necessity of CT for programs of study among Canadian students
was open-mindedness. At the same time, the problem-solving skill was the Iranian students’
theme, and decision-making skill was the common category between both groups of students.
Focusing on the Canadian students, all participants were studying in the education
program but with different points of view about the essentiality of CT in their programs.
Keith and Lamech argued that the concept and practice of CT depend on curricula and the
reason for the study. Keith noted that while CT is useful for specific courses like thesis
research that lead students to search for particular topics to provide critical views and create
innovative ideas, viewpoints, and arguments, other courses’ focus is on completing
assignments and tasks. In the same light, Lamech stated that although using CT in curricula

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provides in-depth perspectives about the topics, it is against getting reasonable grades. While
CT is at the forefront of learning and encourages students to reflect and realize their
perspectives at different educational levels, an important point that requires attention is the
role of CT in graduate study for individuals. There are numerous scholars (King et al., 1990;
Seldomridge & Walsh, 2006; Moore, 2013; Labake et al., 2016), who have highlighted that
the primary purpose of higher education in western countries is building and/or developing
CT skills which are generally accepted to be a desired characteristic among students in
graduate education. Moreover, Dewey (1933) argued the main objective of education should
be reflective thinking that leads learners to conclude the careful collection and evaluation of
evidence. Therefore, CT is a vital ability for a well-educated individual who can make
knowledgeable judgments and describe their reasoning about different subjects; thus, it is
prominent to consider what happens in university classrooms and how instructors evaluate
students’ outcomes, specifically regarding higher-order thinking.
The other two Canadian students, Jenna and Sydney, agreed that CT is a requirement
for their field because it assists them in being open-minded and having decision-making skills
which indicate the vital role of CT in the field of education. The examination of Jenna’s point
of view as a non-common theme among Canadian and Iranian students represents that for
her, content knowledge and pedagogical skills are not enough to be an active person in her
area. She believes that she can play an influential role in her major through open-mindedness.
According to Dewey (1933), open-mindedness is defined as “freedom from prejudice,
partisanship, and other such habits as close the mind and make it unwilling to consider new
problems and entertain new ideas” (p. 17). Hence, open-mindedness is commonly recognized
as an intellectual virtue in the lists of epistemic and argumentative virtues, which emphasize
a willingness to interrogate one’s own beliefs (Bowell & Kingsbury, 2016). Meanwhile,
being open-minded leads individuals to be critically receptive to different possibilities, be
willing to think again despite having formulated a perspective and be concerned with
defusing any factors that constrain one’s thinking in predetermined ways (Hare, 2003). Openmindedness through welcoming new insights and accumulating available experiences is one
of the attitudes located at the center of education that enables individuals to think critically
and rationally in their studies.

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Considering the Iranian participants, although students were studying in various
academic programs, all interviewees had the same opinion that CT is necessary for their field
of study. Problem-solving skill was the central theme from Mona, Mali, and Amir’s points of
view that agreed is the outcome of the CT for their areas of studies and a vital ability for
themselves in their career paths. Fundamental problem-solving skills are common in many
disciplines for students, as Krulik and Rudnick (1988) defined it as the process of how “an
individual uses previously acquired knowledge, skills, and understanding to satisfy the
demands of an unfamiliar situation. […] the student must synthesize what he or she has
learned and apply it to the new and different situation” (p. 3). The scholars named problemsolving as a process that leads students to synthesize the knowledge and skills they have
learned and use them to solve a problem in a new situation. The point that I believe is
important is how students obtain problem-solving skills based on their personal and academic
life. Without a doubt, solving problems in each field requires background knowledge,
experience, and creativity which assist individuals in finding a proper solution to a particular
situation. Still, the capacity to think is more significant than having broad knowledge in
solving problems; as Carson (2007) stated, thinking about the knowledge base, and
transferring that knowledge to solve a problem are the essential elements in solving
problems. Developing cognitive skills, such as problem-solving abilities, is helpful across all
collegiate programs because students utilize CT to analyze and synthesize issues and apply
previously learned concepts to find a proper solution. In other words, students should think
critically to be able to solve problems and make effective decisions if they desire to be
efficient in the workplace. Simply, the more ability to think critically, the more capacity to
solve problems effectively (Snyder & Snyder, 2008).
Decision-making skill was the common theme between one Canadian and an Iranian
participant. Sydney, an education student and #4 a business administration candidate, both
agreed that CT is essential for their programs because it led them to have the ability to
evaluate the accuracy and credibility of sources for making logical decisions. Some needed
skills are mandated for individuals in the 21st century, which leads them to succeed in their
lives and future occupations. These abilities include but are not limited to CT and problemsolving skills that advantage individuals to informed decision-making. Learning how to make

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decisions depends on several abilities, such as analyzing and reasoning skills that, as I
discussed previously, are in higher-order thinking levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. People who
are likely to use CT make fewer weak decisions in their daily lives and careers. To add a
shred of evidence to this argument, the result of a study conducted by Butler (2012) showed
critical thinkers who utilize their good thinking skills to be successful in several domains,
including school, home, and job significantly had fewer poor life decisions. Therefore,
university classes have to promote these skills in students to have an inclination, or
disposition, to pay attention to facts, identify gaps within the evidence, and evaluate all the
options when making decisions (Gambrill, 2005).
Discussion about Research Question Two
The second research question was designed to answer how the experience of studying
at a Canadian university impacts students’ CT during their graduate studies. According to the
study’s findings, as presented in Chapter 5, Canadian and Iranian students shared
comprehensive experiences that were classified into four sections, including a) their general
overviews, b) their significant needs, c) difficulties, and d) barriers that are linked with the
university’s impacts on the development of CT during their studies. Three main key themes,
including curriculum design, instructor’s competence and pedagogical approaches, were
extracted from their stories. In the following part, I will compare both groups’ insights in
each section and discuss obtained main themes related to their experiences to answer the
second research question.
Canadian and Iranian Students’ Overviews Related to University Experiences.
The finding of this research revealed that while all Canadians had positive experiences
regarding the impact of the university on their CT, Iranian students had partly positive and
partly negative experiences. Two Canadian students agreed that their program helped them
gain the ability to recognize diverse perspectives and build their notions. In contrast, two
Iranian students mentioned that university and instructors did not positively impact their CT.
Interestingly, two Canadian and two Iranian students had similar thoughts that helpful
curriculum and effective instructors supported them in fostering and developing their CT in
their studies.
The first two Canadian participants’ experiences showed that they have a clear

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understanding of the intellectual standards underlying CT, which could result from the
university’s proper curriculum design and suitable pedagogical approaches that positively
assist them in flourishing their CT. At the same time, against Canadian participants, the first
two Iranian students had negative experiences, which means the university’s curriculum and
instructors were not beneficial for them to foster and/or develop their CT. In the same
direction, the other half participants, two Canadian and two Iranian students, clearly stated
that curriculum and instructors positively played significant roles in obtaining and/or
improving the concept of CT in their field of studies.
Canadian and Iranian Students’ Significant Needs for Developing Critical
Thinking. In response to the question about what participants believe would be vital needs
for their programs that assist them in improving CT, they mentioned different elements.
While the role of instructors was the common need among Canadian and Iranian students that
could help them develop CT abilities, Canadian students believed that questioning, exposure
to a variety of cultures, critical reflection, and reading different resources are vital needs that
can support them improve their CT. Moreover, proper pedagogical approaches and
background knowledge were crucial needs that Iranian participants mentioned would be
beneficial for them to enhance their CT.
Canadian and Iranian Students’ Difficulties in Developing Critical Thinking.
Canadian students emphasized that information evaluation, evaluating and judgment/critical
reflection, lack of background knowledge, and re-evaluating existing knowledge were
difficulties they faced in developing CT skills. On the other side, Iranian students pointed out
that lack of background knowledge and the role of instructors were two areas of challenges
they experienced during their studies. These difficulties among students show the importance
of utilizing appropriate curricula and instructors that could deliver quality education to
students.
Barriers to Developing Critical Thinking Among Canadian and Iranian
Students. The data analysis of students’ responses about the possible obstacles to developing
CT indicated that lack of interaction and exclusive resources were the areas that inhibit
Canadian students from improving their CT during their higher education. A lack of
appropriate instructional design was the primary barrier that Iranian students mentioned

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preventing them from thinking critically.
By comparing Canadian and Iranian students’ viewpoints about their experiences of
the impact of the university on developing their CT, three claims can be generated that
support students to be critical thinkers. These are content knowledge, instructors’
competence and teaching methods that are further discussed below in the following parts.
Content Knowledge. The conceptualization of CT requires to be developed,
practiced, and frequently incorporated into the curriculum to encourage students to the active
learning process. To achieve this aim, the primary attention should be placed on the
curriculum that consists of different aspects, namely content knowledge (Snyder & Snyder,
2008). According to Islamiyah and Sholakhuddin Al Fajri (2020), adequate content
knowledge is a significant feature of the development of CT that able individuals to think
critically about issues in several domains. Moreover, Willingham (2019) discovered that
knowledge content should provide enough information about a subject that lets students have
the ability to “analyze, synthesize and evaluate information” (p. 6) like a reasonable
objective, but those skills mean various ideas in diverse disciplines. Providing enough
content in the curriculum helps students to get knowledge to have the ability to analyze and
synthesize different perspectives on various subjects. Considering Lamech and Sydney’s
points of view as Canadian students that expressed their program suffers from a variety of
cultural content appears a question how Canadian curriculum developers in Canada, one of
the multicultural countries in the world, consider designing inclusive content that supports
both Canadian and international students to discover components of different cultural
contexts? Exclusive content cannot let students think about different structures of arguments
and the ability to consider and analyze different perspectives. Providing enough knowledge
content in the curriculum can help students obtain sufficient background knowledge about a
subject that they can bring to the class and use while working on rich CT projects.
Accordingly, some scholars discovered having background knowledge is prominent for
students if they are willing to demonstrate their CT skills (Case, 2005; Willingham, 2007).
Looking at Amir’s experience as an Iranian international student, a lack of adequate
background knowledge about the concept of CT in his curricula banned him from gaining
information about the concept and losing opportunities to practice during his study. As CT is

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logical and reflective thinking, having background knowledge assists students, especially
those not familiar with the concept of CT or the content of courses, in understanding
resources, processing the information, and getting a sense of the learning context. Therefore,
sufficient content knowledge assists learners in judging the quality of thinking as it is one of
the mandated resources that students require to think critically (Case, 2005).
Instructor’s Competence. Reflecting on Canadian and Iranian students’ stories about
their experiences of developing CT skills at the graduate level demonstrates that instructors
played a significantly positive and negative role as one of the elements of shaping CT skills
during their journey. Instructors are one of the prominent components of educational
systems, which directly impact various aspects of education, such as students’ learning
process, formulating learning goals and assessment of learning results; therefore, considering
their competency plays a vital role in the success of educational programs (Saidah et at.,
2018). Undoubtedly, enhancement of the ability to think critically depends on several factors,
including the instructor’s competence to identify the value of CT and suitable preparation to
develop it among students. (Gul et al., 2010). In the broadest sense, teachers lead students to
foster and build their CT which allow learners to be independent individuals rather than a
person who blindly adopt others’ perspectives or take information as facts. In this regard, two
thoughtful points require attention. The first one is the consideration of the level of teachers’
conceptions of the concept of CT and the second noteworthy point is how to ensure that
teachers have enough experience to facilitate and utilize the concept of CT among students
specifically those who suffer from a lack of CT in their background knowledge. Instructors
without a deep-rooted understanding of the purpose of CT might only rely on teaching
techniques connected with CT instruction rather than facilitate the improvement of CT in
their students. As Ball and Garton (2005) highlighted, instructors “must first emulate higher
cognitive levels in their instructional practice” (p. 59) which indicates their ability to use
proper teaching approaches that influence students to foster or develop CT abilities and
disposition during their learning process. Sharing experiences of Mona and Mali, both
Iranian students with different programs and unique experiences about the impact of their
instructors on the development of CT, clearly shows how teachers can shape students’
abilities to gain skills. On the one side, Mali, who almost did not have any knowledge and

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practice about the concept of CT, noted her instructors, by using different teaching strategies,
such as critical reflection tried to encourage her to think critically about various subjects and
led her to become familiar with the concept of CT. On the other side, Mona explained that
while her main focus in the program was to pass tests or do assignments, she did not have
enough time and motivation to think about what she was doing or provide a reflection on
topics that she was working on. It must be noted that surely there are differences in content,
practices and assessment between disciplines which require particular teaching and learning
strategies; still, the point is whether instructors’ perception of CT impacts their teaching
strategies to encourage students to use CT or just they are merely concentrating on the
comprehension of the subject matter. To sum up, instructors’ competence to stimulate CT in
their students cannot be reached unless they constantly have an awareness of their
assumptions about the concept of CT and a deep understanding of procedures that they can
incorporate CT skills into their lessons where all students with different backgrounds and
knowledge have the opportunities engage and improve their logical thinking.
Teaching Methods. To develop CT and dispositions, utilizing effective teaching and
learning approaches can encourage students to use their higher-order thinking to think
critically. While each discipline has its specific content, practices and assessment, which
require particular teaching methods, instructors must use constructive teaching strategies like
reflection and questioning to actively engage students in their learning process in order to
infuse the habit of using CT skills in students’ minds (Gul et al., 2010). Teaching CT is
particularly essential to students from non-western cultural backgrounds due to their lack of
knowledge and practice, and teachers should be able to explain, practice and stimulate the
concept of CT in their course design and classroom activities. Reflecting on Mali’s
experience as an example, she expressed that her instructor encouraged her to foster CT by
using a questioning approach. This experience indicates that she identified a relationship
between herself and the instructor that assisted her in believing that the instructor welcomed
her thoughts which led her to be keener to think critically in the process of learning. Indeed,
teachers, by using proper instructional methods, can recognize the level of cognition that
learners engage in and can influence students to feel engaged in the class activities, which is
one of the requirements for developing CT. In contrast, in Mona’s experience, she clearly

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stated that due to overwhelmed assignments and tests, she did not have time to think about
the course and analysis the content, and she was stressed to just passed tests and get good
grades. According to her experience, it seems that her courses were designed based on
content-centred rather than students centred, as Snyder and Snyder (2008) aptly described,
when the criterion of students’ learning emphasizes test scores, the learning process from
student-centred places on the content-centred. Still, if the purpose is to develop students’ CT,
they should have the freedom to discover and analyze content and have the ability to apply
information. Moreover, scholars revealed that students were usually not trained to think or
learn individually, and they infrequently pick up skills on their own. Also, keeping in mind
that the one purpose of assignments and quizzes is to demonstrate and determine students’
level of learning, practice and evaluation of the course; reflecting on Ennis’s (1993) beliefs
that assessments should underline thinking rather than facts reminds a point about whether
quizzes or graded assignments are intellectual or just memory recalls in different programs.
Through using effective teaching strategies, teachers generally lead students to have
the ability to build their notions. For example, asking questions assist students in stimulating
thinking critically. Meanwhile, proper teaching methods can efficiently guide students to use
their lower or higher-order thinking. In other words, the more influencing students’ higherorder thinking, the more increasing students’ ability to evaluate information and existing
knowledge. According to Zhao et al. (2016), educating students in a way that they can use
their higher level of thinking by facilitating them to “infer, judge, evaluate, expand their
ideas” (p. 17) creates the tremendous potential to stimulate CT.
Adopting active and cooperating learning methods that focus on students’ active
participation and interaction can support them in improving their CT. Focusing on Keith and
Lamech, both Canadian students who studied online, which pointed out a lack of interaction
and communication was a barrier to improving their CT, indicates instructors have to create
an environment where students have more opportunities to practice the concept of CT even
virtually. According to Zhao et al. (2016), to inspire students to have an active role in
classrooms in terms of building their CT, it is prominent that teachers create a cultural
environment where learners are encouraged to probe assumptions, ask vital questions, and
evaluate reasons by different interactions namely teacher-student and student-student

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communications. As a final point, using proper teaching methods, especially where there are
multicultural students, can lead them to build CT that are useful in every aspect of life.
Likewise, the main criteria for developing CT among students should be focused on
determining students’ level of thinking and putting them in a direction that they are users of
information rather than receivers of information (Snyder & Snyder, 2008).
Chapter Summary
Chapter six focused on discussing the interview findings and the dissection of
research questions. I examined the first research question under four headings, including a)
the definition of CT among Canadian and Iranian students, b) the role of CT in the Iranian
cultural context, c) both groups of students’ views about the importance of CT, and d)
Canadian and Iranian students’ opinions about the necessity of CT for their programs. The
investigation of the second research question ended with a discussion about content
knowledge, instructors’ competence and teaching methods extracted from Canadian and
Iranian students’ university experiences in developing their CT during their higher education.
In the next chapter, I will discuss the research’s implications and limitations and offer
suggestions for the next steps for future studies in the research areas.

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Chapter Seven: Conclusion
The following chapter is devoted to implications and limitations drawn from
investigating Canadian and Iranian students’ conceptions of CT during their graduate level.
This section describes recommendations for future studies in the research area and will be
finished by the study’s conclusion.
Implications
As one would expect of any research, my study indicates several stories to come.
Canadian and Iranian participants narrated their opinions about the concept of CT. Also, they
shared their experiences about the university’s impact on developing CT in a narrow
framework of their needs, obstacles and barriers that played significant roles during their
higher education. The vital implication drawn from the findings of Canadian participants
lived experiences demonstrated that while all students had a reasonable awareness of the
nature of CT, they still required appropriate instructional modules and training to develop
their ability to think critically. Improving higher-order thinking requires new learning
approaches that present information and study strategies that lead to an adequate education
that promotes the ability to think critically among them during graduate studies. The biggest
hurdle in teaching CT to Iranian international students is their cultural and educational
background. While several scholars (e.g., Hashemi et al., 2010; Aliakbari & Sadeghdaghighi,
2011; Fahim & Sa’eepour, 2011; Hajihosseini et al., 2016; Taghizadeh et al., 2018)
discovered that Iranian students suffer from a lack of knowledge and practice related to CT, it
would be fortunate if Canadian universities and educators consider students’ understanding
and preconceived ideas about the concept of CT and the means of being critical thinkers.
Building CT among Iranian students is a cognitive process that develops new characteristics
of an individual’s identity. Thus, Iranian international students require knowledge, time, and
training to distinguish the differences between thinking patterns related to various cultural
contexts. Reflecting on Chan and Yan’s (2007) quote that if learners are taught to be “aware
of the natural and cultural contexts in which their thinking patterns are embedded, they
should become more sensitive to their own ways of thinking and less likely to misapply them
or make hasty judgements based on them” (p. 400) shows building CT in Iranian students as

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a new thinking habit requires specialized development courses and experienced instructors
that can highlight the development of these new cognitive patterns in students.
Without a doubt, Canada, as a multicultural country, welcomes the majority of
international students to pursue their educational degrees at different levels. International
students with different cultural and academic backgrounds face unique experiences that lead
them to create diverse communities where they can share their experiences and ideas;
especially in an academic environment where everyone can enrich their learning experiences.
However, the important point is that if Canadian universities, specifically higher educational
institutions, hope to create an inclusive environment for everyone, they need a further
examination of curriculum and instructional pedagogy. Institutions and instructors need to
create conditions and environments to support all students’ activities and transformative
learning as well as facilitate them to transfer transform knowledge and abilities to build their
CT for working, public and personal lives. Universities that seek to increase the number of
international students have to purposefully create academic and social contexts in which
foreign students be able to achieve desired results. Meanwhile, designing an appropriate
culturally relevant curriculum that provides enough content, presents teaching methods, and
formative assessment supports both local and international students to transfer to different
contexts to enhance their CT dispositions. Therefore, to implement the position of CT, these
essential western abilities among local and international students, universities and educators
should re-think their strategy linked to pedagogy, procedures, and learning environment in
order to construct and/or develop CT among students to prepare them to have the ability to
think. There is a broader context for further study of Canadian and Iranian students’ stories of
CT, and arguably above applicable. More studies will help recognize how universities should
teach CT to both local and international students to become embedded in their practice and
support shaping them into critical thinkers.
Limitations of the Study
Like any research study, the present study consists of several limitations since the
purpose is focused specifically on the narratives of Canadian and Iranian graduate students’
conceptions of CT. The first limitation is related to the nature of qualitative research. This NI

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utilized open-ended interviews, personal networks, and snowball sampling to gather data
which allowed me to uncover interviewees’ profound understandings of their stories. Still the
study was reflected in the small size of the research population (eight participants in total)
which limits the transferability of the research results. For instance, the results from such
small-scale research may not be illustrative enough for a comprehensive understanding of
Canadian and Iranian students’ perceptions of CT and their experiences during their higher
education.
The next limitation is although the aim of the participants recruited was to invite
students from different programs, accidentally all Canadian students were from the education
field. This means that the voice of Canadian participants is not representative of Canadian
students’ conceptions in various programs, and it is not fair to say that other students in
different majors have similar conceptions or experiences. Future studies could be considered
drawing from more diverse disciplines. Also, this study explored Canadian and Iranian
international students’ conceptions of CT and the impact of a university on the development
of CT during their master’s program in the context of a Canadian public and mid-sized
institution rather than in a high-ranked institution. In this sense, the findings might not be
applied to describe Canadian and Iranian international students’ perspectives in a highranked university.
Another limitation of this study has related to the complexity of the topic. This study
aimed to understand students’ conceptions of CT regardless of different effective elements,
such as the role of language. Language and CT grow together and promote each other’s
growth. I interviewed all participants in the English language; so, it might be possible that
some Iranian students did not have enough English proficiency to express their ideas about
the topic. Therefore, identifying these issues and points are beyond the scope of the current
thesis. This research can be considered a pilot study for future detailed discovery of Canadian
and Iranian students’ CT.
Recommendations for Future Research
The present NI aimed to compare Canadian and Iranian international students’
conceptions of CT during their master’s level. I utilized open-ended interview questions to

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gather data from both groups of participants. The findings of the study addressed the gap in
the literature (e.g., the lack of understanding of Iranian international students’ conceptions of
CT in Canadian universities). Also, this NI extended the knowledge of Canadian students’
perceptions, needs, difficulties and barriers regarding developing their CT.
I employed the qualitative method as Babbie (2007) highlighted has the strengths of a
deeper understanding of a particular case or a concept through intimate and in-depth
interviews and observation of a specific group of people. I learned the importance of such
strength from the gathering data process when I observed interviewees’ voluntary responses
to the probing questions and shared their insights and stories. Participants detailed sharing of
their personal experiences, reflective thoughts, and obstacles about the topic of the study
helped obtain an understanding of some Canadian and Iranian international graduate
students’ perspectives on the research topic. I recommend that other researchers interested in
NI and comparative research into such a topic take more students in different levels of study.
This study mainly focused on graduate participants who were in the last year/semester of
their programs. Future studies can involve students from undergraduate levels. For the next
steps, researchers can also use a quantitative research methodology (e.g., studying how
university impacts evolving conceptions of development CT among international students
during a semester). For such quantitative research, I recommend that researchers use a case
study approach, a descriptive and exploratory analysis of an individual or group of students
to examine how a university influences their CT development during a specific period,
explicitly examining the beneficial factors for them rather than inhibit improvement.
The primary purpose of this study was to compare Canadian and Iranian international
students’ conceptions of CT and their experiences of developing this ability during their
higher education. Presently, there are pre-sessional courses (e.g., English for Academic
Purposes (EAP) for all programs or Graduate Certificate in Educational Studies (GCES) for
entrance to the Master of Education program) which are designed to assist students,
especially international students, to improve academic upgrading for the studying at
Canadian higher education. These courses are mainly aimed at helping students with low
English test scores or updating academic knowledge. Still, designing an introductory course
for graduate students that teaches CT for academic purposes would significantly support

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students to the expected level of CT for their programs. Future research can focus on
examining the educational approach, qualifying students’ prior learning knowledge and
recognizing intended learning outcomes in order to establish great opportunities to employ
such a course to build, develop and assess non-western students’ conceptions of CT.
In this research, I aimed to be a voice for some Canadian and Iranian international
students that encountered the concept of CT during their programs. The results of their
stories indicate that curriculum and environment significantly impact their CT. Future
scholars can examine designing a proper curriculum and environment for local students while
paying attention to international students' needs and academic backgrounds.
Conclusion
The present study compares Canadian and Iranian international students’ conceptions
of CT and explores their experiences of improving CT during their master’s programs in
Canada. In this narrative inquiry, I addressed two research questions. The first one focuses on
examining the concept of CT among students. The findings related to this question reveal
that all Canadian participants had knowledgeable perspectives about the idea of CT. Also,
Iranian contributors from non-Western traditions carried different viewpoints about the
concept of CT. The results show Iranian students need more of the universities’ attention to
support them in building their CT conceptualization. The second research question
concentrates on the impact of a Canadian university on students’ CT. The findings show
Canadian and Iranian students faced challenges and obstacles related to content knowledge
and teaching methods that directly influenced their CT ability. Not surprisingly, the results
also claim that instructors play an essential role in supporting students to improve their CT.
Teachers need to pay attention to their students' background knowledge, level of thinking and
intercultural competence when teaching CT, especially to international students. The present
study also proposed possible suggestions that would help improve CT among Canadian and
Iranian international students. Finally, these findings call for a more comprehensive
understanding of how Canadian institutions pay more attention to offer a curriculum and
environment where Canadian and Iranian international students feel that they can realize and
develop CT and become more productive and effective users in their programs.

88

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Appendices
Appendix A: Invitation Email

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Appendix B: Informed Consent Form

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Appendix C: Research Ethical Board Approval Letter