Assessment of Thinking Styles Inventory, Academic Achievement and Student Teacher’s Characteristics

Abstract

This study was designed to achieve three objectives. The first was to investigate the validity of the Thinking Styles Inventory (TSI) which is based on the Sternberg’s theory of mental self-government in a sample of student teachers. The second was to examine the relationship between thinking styles and academic achievement. The third objective was to investigate the relationships between thinking styles as assessed by TSI and a number of student teachers’ background characteristics including gender, grade, department and perceived parenting style. A total of 649 first (291) and fourth (358) grade student teachers (245 male and 403 female) studying in different departments of the Faculty of Education at Pamukkale University, Denizli, participated in the study. The results of the study showed that the TSI is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing the thinking styles of student teachers in Turkey. It was also found that only two (anarchic and conservative) of 13 thinking styles were (negatively) related to academic achievement.Moreover, the findings indicated significant relationships between certain thinking styles and examined student teachers’ characteristics. The results and their implications for teaching, learning and assessment in and outside the classroom were discussed.