| This project, based on the scientist-practitioner model as well as on the concept of integration of education with community outreach, involved a partnership with a Hall County school of choice middle school academy (Earhart-Edison [E2] Exploration Academy) that focuses on the STEM core concepts. It was hoped that the integration of social science activities focused on topics such as empathy development, stress reduction, cultural diversity, career exploration, and dangers of drinking and driving would benefit the middle school students. The goal of the current study was to increase critical thinking skills and decrease test anxiety in students. Eighteen middle school participants engaged in 15 psychoeducational activities divided over multiple sessions. Groups met three times per week over a seven-week period. Following each seven-week period, 18 new participants rotated into the program. Test anxiety and critical thinking were measured pre-treatment and post-treatment to determine whether there were changes. Data analyses indicated that there was a significant increase in critical thinking skills in regards to Scholarly Rigor, but not significant increases in other areas of critical thinking. There was not a significant decrease in test anxiety. There were significant negative correlations between various subscales of critical thinking and testing anxiety. |
