Quarterly Journal of Social Development (Previously Human Development)

Quarterly Journal of Social Development (Previously Human Development)

How Academics Experience Critical Thinking in Iranian Universities (Case Study: University of Isfahan and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
esmaeil kashef 1
Maghsoud Farasatkhah 2
Vahid Ghasemi 3
Mojgan Mohammadi Naeini 4
1 PhD student in Philosophy of Education, Arak Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran
2 Professor, Higher Education Development Planning Department, Tehran, Iran
3 Professor, Department of Social Sciences, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
4 Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Education, Department of Philosophy of Education, Arak Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran
10.22055/qjsd.2025.48737.3022
Abstract
The aim of this study was to measure the lived experience of academics in the two universities of Isfahan and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in critical thinking. The research method in this study was qualitative, phenomenological, and the data collection tool was a semi-structured interview based on a purposive sample and using the snowball method. Interviews were conducted with 28 people from the two communities of Isfahan University and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, including faculty members and graduate students; from interview 6 onwards, the exploration path expanded and deepened, reaching saturation with interview 29. Then, 634 statements were extracted from the interviews using Max Quda 22 software; And coding began. With this number of main and subthemes, analysis and familying of options to reach categories was done manually. Categorisation and coding were done, and a conceptual model of the main and subthemes was developed. The results obtained indicate that critical thinking: honorable and responsible living (the true and old meaning of the academic individual), critical thinking introduces cognitive, emotional and communicative dimensions and highlights the connection of critical thinking with various dimensions of social, spiritual and personal life, guides people to think beyond the reach and think humanly. Some, due to unpleasant experiences with critical thinking during their academic career, leave students free to be critical in the classroom when they reach the rank of professor.
Keywords
Critical Thinking
Lived Experience
Phenomenology
Academics
Subjects
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Quarterly Journal of Social Development (Previously Human Development)
Volume 19, Issue 4 - Serial Number 75
Vol. 19, No. 4, Summer 2025
Summer 2025
Pages 1-26