Influence of FFA Activities on Critical Thinking Skills in Texas Three-Star FFA Chapters

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of FFA activities on critical thinking skills of Texas FFA members in three-star FFA chapters. This descriptive study was conducted in eight purposively selected three-star FFA chapters throughout Texas. Three-star chapters are those chapters who have emerged as outstanding programs within the state based on the National FFA Chapter Awards Program guidelines. Seniors within each chapter were selected to complete a demographic survey and the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal® (WGCTA) instrument (Watson & Glaser, 2008a). The mean score for all FFA members who completed the survey was 39.85, which is considerably lower than the WGCTA norm group at 48.5 (Watson & Glaser, 2008b). With a mean score of 39.85, the FFA members who completed the WGCTA scored between the 20th and 25th percentile of high school students in the 12th grade (Watson & Glaser, 2008b). FFA members performed best on the Evaluation of Arguments subtest with a mean of 9.02 and scored lowest on the Inference subtest with a mean of 5.35. The only FFA activity that was an indicator of FFA members’ critical thinking ability was the State Leadership Development (LDE) contest. Gender was an indicator of FFA members’ critical thinking ability.