CRITICAL THINKING IN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

The objective of this research was to characterize how high school students evaluate the reliability of information. Nineteen Brazilian high school students aged between 16 and 19 participated in the research. A sociodemographic questionnaire and an instrument containing 19 discourses with varying degrees of reliability were applied. The instrument was constructed to measure four components of critical thinking: evaluation of fallacies, distinction of arguments, evaluation of premises, and evaluation of reliability. The characterization was qualitative and consisted of a logical analysis of the discourses. Data collection was carried out remotely. Low levels of critical thinking were observed and erroneous variables that guided the participants' evaluations were identified. The description of the characteristics of the participants' reasoning increases the clarity for educators to plan the teaching of critical thinking, aiming at the scientific and civic education of their students.