IMPACT OF CRITICAL THINKING ON PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS OF SENIOR SECONDARY STUDENTS IN OWERRI MUNICIPAL COUNCIL

Abstract

The present study investigated on impact of critical thinking on problem solving skills of senior secondary school students in Owerri Municipal Council. The researchers raised three research questions and formulated three hypotheses. The design of the study was a correlational design. The population of the study was 1,200 senior secondary school students in eleven secondary schools in Owerri Municipal Council. The sample of the study was 10% of the population which is 120 students. The technique employed in selecting the sample size was a multistage simple random technique, which started from selection of schools from among many to only SS2 students among SS1 & SS2 students. The instruments used in data collection were: adopted problem solving skills questionnaire (PSSQ) from Anochie (2024) and critical thinking q uestionnaire (CTQ) adopted from Orji (2025). The instruments has a reliability coefficient of 0.73 and 0.67. The validation of the instrument was handled by specialists from the Faculty of Education, department of Educational Foundation and Department of Life Science Education, Imo State University – Owerri. The data collected was analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMCC) which determine the magnitude and direction of a relationship in coefficients. The findings of the study were that: Analytical thinking has a strong and positive relationship with problem solving skills in Mathematics achievement, synthesizing thinking has a strong and positive relationship with Problem solving skills in Mathematics achievement and that evaluative thinking has a strong and positive relationship with problem solving skills in Mathematics achievement. The implication of the findings are that through critical thinking skills, latent potentials in students could be evolved and put into practical use of innovations in science and creativity. Based on the findings and implications of the findings, the researchers recommended that critical thinking should be made a teaching subject in secondary schools in Imo State.