The abstract thinking levels of the science-education students in Gaza universities

Abstract thinking has long been considered a core skill for many scientists. Many studies tried to gather evidence about the link between abstract thinking skills and success in Science discipline. The results in several studies showed a positive correlation between the scores of the students in the abstract thinking with the scores achieved in university science (Roberts, 2010; Armoni and Gal-Ezer, 2007; and Bennedsen and Caspersen , 2006). Kramer (2007) has called abstract thinking the “key skill” in understanding and teaching science.

In Ireland, McCormack, Finlayson, and Castle (2009) studied the cognitive developmental levels of a Sample of First Year University Science Students. The purpose of the study was to gauge the cognitive developmental levels of first year university science students. The sample consisted of 386 third-level students. The task used to measure the cognitive developmental levels was one of the Science Reasoning Tasks, developed by the CSMS team. The profile obtained showed that almost 70 per cent of students were at levels capable of formal operational thought. However, only a very small minority showed capability of late formal operational thought. Thirty-two per cent of the university cohort was at concrete levels of cognitive development.

In Turkey, Salih, et al. (2004) studies the students' cognitive development levels. The aim of the study is to determine the relationship between students' cognitive development levels and their science achievement using the Science Cognitive Development Test (SCDT). The sample were 445 students. A positive relationship was found between cognitive level and achievement in science.

In China, Zhang and Watkins (2001) studies the cognitive development and student approaches to learning: The purpose of their research was to provide cross-cultural evidence of the relationship between student approaches to learning and stages of cognitive development. The participants for this study were 67 U.S. and 193 Mainland Chinese students. There were four major findings. First, cognitive development and student learning approaches were related in predictable ways. Second, the cognitive-developmental patterns of the American and Chinese participants differed. Third, for both American and Chinese students, extracurricular activities positively contributed to their cognitive development. Finally, a statistical significant relationship between cognitive development and achievement was identified among the American group, whereas no relationship was found between cognitive development and achievement among the Chinese group. Implications of these findings are discussed.

In KSA , Maghoshi (1990) investigated the cognitive development level of university student in College of Education in Riyadh. The results showed that 30% of the first year students have formal operational thought.

In Palestine no studies have been done to investigate the cognitive developmental profile for university students. Afana, (1998) studied only the critical thinking in some Palestinian universities. He confirmed the importance of the intellectual abilities criteria for selecting university students in colleges of education. There are other types of studies concentrated on enhancing cognitive development and abstract thinking level of students. For example, Velasquez (2013) tried to improve the students’ cognitive development level by applying new methodologies depending on the use of critical thinking and mind mapping activities and other active learning approaches. She tried to stimulate reasoning and cognitive development of students of English (ESL) at Cocle University. Half of the samples presented an improvement in their cognitive development level.