A Test on Critical Thinking Level of Graduating Bachelor of Accounting Students: Malaysian Evidence

摘要

Critical thinking has been given great concern by the accounting practitioners as part of new entrance requirement to the industry. In relation to this, the paper seeks to find out 1) whether there is a significant difference between critical thinking levels of performing and non-performing students in Malaysia and 2) whether there is a significant difference between critical thinking levels among students from different universities in Malaysia. This study used the Steps for Better Thinking Rubrics by Wolcott and Lynch (2003). A total of 160 samples were obtained from 6 universities offering Bachelor in Accountancy in Malaysia at the end of 2010 where 130 of them were female and 30 were male. The results show that critical thinking levels for high performance students are significantly higher than low and moderate students. There are also significant differences of critical thinking scores between universities. Future research is needed to explain further these significant differences and to suggest ways to balance them out.