Critical Thinking for Cadets: Military Officer’s Perceived Definitions and its Importance

Afifah Quraishah  Abdul Nasir; Norshima Zainal  Shah; Erda Wati  Bakar; Nur Khadirah  Ab. Rahman; Emily  Abd Rahman

In the military, officers not only use critical thinking (CT) in their military mission, but they are also required to have CT to complete their tasks at work and in professional military education. Improving the learning process of CT for military intelligence personnel directly benefits both the military and the people that they protect, allowing them to be more effective in their duties and decision-making. However, graduates of military education institutions often lack CT and problem-solving. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the need for critical thinking skills among military officer cadets. Specifically, the objective is to identify the military officers’ perceived definition of CT and the importance of teaching CT to officer cadets. A semi-structured interview was conducted with thirteen (13) in-service military officers of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF). Four main themes emerged from the feedback given by the officers. They are i) analytical thinking, ii) evaluation of information, iii) problem-solving, and iv) decision-making. The results also show the importance of CT skills being implemented from the beginning (cadet level). The results suggest that there is a need to develop a critical thinking module for cadets that is practical for them.

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(Nasir et al., 2024)
Nasir, A. Q. A., Shah, N. Z., Bakar, E. W., Rahman, N. K. A., & Rahman, E. A. (2024). Critical Thinking for Cadets: Military Officer’s Perceived Definitions and its Importance. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 14(6), 1028–1040.

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Critical Thinking for Cadets: Military Officer’s Perceived Definitions and its Importance

Afifah Quraishah Abdul Nasir, Norshima Zainal Shah, Erda Wati Bakar, Nur Khadirah Ab. Rahman, Emily Abd Rahman

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