Development of students’ critical thinking: The educators’ ability to use questioning skills in the baccalaureate programmes in nursing in Pakistan

Objective: To enhance the Critical Thinking skills of educators associated with the nursing baccalaureate programmes in Pakistan. By focusing on the type and level of questions asked by the educators. Methods: Ninety-one faculty members from 14 out of 17 schools participated in the study. Data on the faculty s questioning skills was obtained through classroom observations and field notes. The duration of the observations was 45-60 minutes. Using Bloom s Taxonomy for cognitive thinking, questions were categorised into high and low categories. Results: Most of the questions (68.9 %) asked by the participants were of lower levels, while some (5.37 %) were ambiguous. In many instances, the participants did not allow a sufficient wait-time for students to think and respond. Conclusion: The findings suggest that educators must learn to use the questioning strategy effectively. They should ask higher level questions if they wish to inculcate Critical Thinking in students.