Yavuz-Konokman, G. (2020). Integration of media and 

critical literacy into curriculum through thinking 

education: From teacher training perspective. 

International Online Journal of Education and 

Teaching (IOJET), 7(4). 1839-1866. 

http://iojet.org/index.php/IOJET/article/view/1011  

Received:   30.07.2020 

Received in revised form: 10.08.2002 
Accepted:   01.09.2020 

 

 

INTEGRATION OF MEDIA AND CRITICAL LITERACY INTO CURRICULUM 

THROUGH THINKING EDUCATION: FROM TEACHER TRAINING 

PERSPECTIVE 

Research article 

 

Gamze Yavuz-Konokman   

Ankara Music and Fine Arts University 

gamzekonokman@mgu.edu.tr  

 

Gamze Yavuz-Konokman works as an assistant professor at Educational Sciences 

Department at Ankara Music and Fine Arts University. She has made many scientific studies 

on teacher education, technology supported instruction, scale development, and curriculum 

development. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright by Informascope. Material published and so copyrighted may not be published 

elsewhere without the written permission of IOJET. 

mailto:gamzekonokman@mgu.edu.tr
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2272-1549


International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2020, 7(4), 1839-1866. 

 

1839 

INTEGRATION OF MEDIA AND CRITICAL LITERACY INTO 

CURRICULUM THROUGH THINKING EDUCATION: FROM 

TEACHER TRAINING PERSPECTIVE 

 

Gamze Yavuz-Konokman 

gamzekonokman@mgu.edu.tr 

 

 

Abstract 

This research has pointed out the effects of thinking education on the prospective teachers’ 

critical and media literacies.  The research, designed as mixed method with sequential 

triangulation, has enlightened the efficacy of thinking education on the prospective teachers’ 

literacies. The study group, selected by the sampling criteria, one of the purposive sampling 

methods, composed of 40 social studies prospective teachers, having been trained in terms of 

thinking critically on media messages and texts, at Education Faculty, Bartin University 

during the 2016‐2017 academic year. It is concluded that post-test media literacy and critical 

literacy scores of the trained prospective teachers have increased. Moreover, the positive 

effects of thinking education on the prospective teachers’ media and critical literacies are 

expressed in detail within the framework of various qualitative data and it is inferred that 

thinking education reached the goal of training critical literate and media literate individuals. 

Furthermore, how to integrate media literacy and critical literacy into any curriculum in 

teacher education has been exemplified through this research. Therefore, these literacies 

should be taught independently from any subject or a discipline as the objectives of teacher 

education curriculum. 

Keywords: thinking education, critical literacy, media literacy 

 

1. Theoretical Information on Thinking Education, Media and Critical Literacies  

Thinking is a cognitive activity, everyone has experienced in every part of life as a 

student, as a citizen, as a friend, as an adult without realizing how to think. Paul and Elder 

(2002) emphasized that much thoughts are biased, distorted, partial or uninformed and 

excellence in thought must be provided in a systematic way. Systematically cultivation of 

accurate, consistent and logical thoughts with lack of bias, is possible through thinking 

education focusing on such questions as what does  thinking mean?, how does the brain 

process information?, how are thoughts analyzed, evaluated and reconstructed?, how are 

thoughts analyzed in terms of standards such as clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, 

logic, breadth, significance, fairness? What are the elements of thought? How are the 

thoughts analyzed in terms of such elements as point of view, purpose, information, 

interpretation and inference, concepts, assumptions, implications and consequences? That is 

to say, separating the elements of thinking and scrutinizing the use of each part as well as 

evaluating thoughts in terms of such standards as clarity, accuracy, etc. can be experienced in 

thinking education. Because the analysis and assessment of thinking belong to a clear 

understanding of the parts of thinking and applying the standards for thinking to those parts 

(Paul and Elder, 2002). Paul and Elder (2002) emphasized that a clear understanding of the 

parts of thinking, applying the standards for thinking to those parts, above all thinking with 

regard to these factors on a daily basis will improve the quality of human life significantly. 

mailto:gamzekonokman@mgu.edu.tr


Yavuz-Konokman 

    

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According to Paul and Elder (2002), beginning to learn how to think critically is like the first 

step in learning how to play tennis, basketball, etc. in such a way that the first step is to learn 

the most fundamental elements for both of them. Assessment of any thought relates to 

analyzes of the parts of thinking. The parts of thinking are summarized in just two sentences: 

“Whenever you are thinking, you are trying to accomplish some purpose, within a point of 

view, using concepts or ideas. You are focused on some issue or question, issue, or problem, 

using information to come to conclusions, based on assumptions, all of which have 

implications.” (Paul and Elder, 2002).  

From Paul and Elder’s points of view, how to analyze someone’s thinking with regard to 

elements of thought can be explained in such a way: Capturing the purpose or goal of 

someone’s thinking, namely searching for the answer to this question “What is the 

fundamental purpose of someone’s thinking?” is the first step. It is followed by capturing 

someone’s point of view as a critical thinker, familiar with the fact that thinking has some 

comprehensive focus or orientation, and trying to answer the question “what is someone’s 

point of view with respect to the issue? Then, “what is the key question in someone’s 

thinking?” and “what is the most basic concept in someone’s thinking?” are the questions 

tried to be answered in the process of analysis of thinking.  Realizing concepts in thinking 

means generally thinking within the framework of categories or ideas obtained as a result of 

analysis of information in someone’s thinking. The answer to the question such as “What 

information is needed to answer the question in someone’s thinking?” makes it clear that 

someone’s thinking is based on some set of facts or information. That is to say, the factual 

basis for thinking become significant. Not only are conclusions and inferences taken into 

account in the process of thinking but also implications are the other elements to be 

considered. Fisher (2001) also emphasizes what someone has done upon thinking critically. 

These are identifying the elements in a reasoned case, especially reasons and conclusions; 

evaluating assumptions; clarifying and interpreting expressions and ideas; questioning the 

acceptability, especially the credibility of claims; evaluating arguments of different kinds; 

analyzing and producing explanations; making decisions, drawing inferences and generating 

arguments. Fisher’s explanation on any critical thinker’s behaviors indicates that the parts of 

thought, stated by Elder and Paul (2002) is analyzed upon thinking critically. 

Interrelation among the elements of thought are emphasized by Paul and Elder (2002) 

making analogy between the elements of thought and the essential parts of the human body. 

Their way to explain these interrelationships is that: “Our purpose affects the manner in 

which we ask questions; The manner in which we ask questions affects the information we 

gather; The information we gather affects the way we interpret it; The way we interpret 

information affects the way we conceptualize it; The way we conceptualize information 

affects the assumptions we make; The assumptions we make affect the implications that 

follow from our thinking; The implications that follow from our thinking affect the way we 

see things, our point of view”. That is to say, consideration on the elements of thinking makes 

someone be aware of thinking process and think critically on someone’s own thoughts and 

others’ thoughts. In this case thinking critically means assessing one’s own thinking or 

others’ thinking.  In addition to analysis of the parts of thinking, assessment of one’s thinking 

also includes applying such logic standards as clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, 

breadth, logicalness, and significance to the parts of thinking (Paul and Elder, 2002). This 

research is designed with instructional activities in which one’s own thoughts or others’ 

thoughts are analyzed in terms of the parts of thinking and logic standards. Thinking 

education has become indispensable for all of us with the goal to develop the skills of inquiry 

and expression required for being critical thinker and media literate. That is to say, students 

are enabled to be equipped with these skills through having chance to interpret the media 



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messages and texts in terms of the parts of thoughts such as point of view, assumption, 

inference, conclusion, etc. and such standards as clarity, accuracy, precision, etc.  

The definition of media literacy in a broader scope points out a critical interpretation of 

information on media. According to Mizukosi (1999 cited in Shibata, 2002), media literacy 

means multiple abilities including an interpretation of media information and an expression 

of feelings and opinions on these media information. Suzuki (1997 cited in Shibatai 2002) 

also defines media literacy as critical analysis and evaluation of media in a social context. 

Similarly, media literacy is defined as intersection of skills, giving people chance to think 

critically on information through the media such as the internet, newspaper, etc. and to 

express themselves in a creative way (Ichikawa, 1999 cited in Shibata, 2002). Scheibe and 

Rogow (2008) also emphasizes that being media literate depends on having skill of 

questioning, required to be critical thinker. Indah (2016) explains the importance of critical 

thinking in such a way that media texts have values, goals and point of view which belongs to 

conceptual framework requiring critical thinking. Worsnop (2004) gives importance to 

thinking critically on media text to get the meaning of the text by being aware of not only the 

values of the audience but also the values of texts.  The most common word, used for the 

definition of media literacy is “thinking critically”.  It can be inferred that media literacy 

includes critical thinking. In this context, thinking critically in each part of life is an 

indispensable feature to be media literate. Feuerstein (1999) finds out that primary school 

students, having trained in terms of media literacy, became capable of thinking critically on 

TV series and newspaper advertisements. Indah (2016) reveals the difference between trained 

learners on media literacy and those, lack of media literacy training in terms of the use of 

higher order of critical thinking. The similar inference are made by Kubey (2002) stating 

students will have higher order critical thinking skills such as critical interpretation, analysis 

and evaluation in case they have been trained on media literacy. As identified by Ruggiero 

(2015), the students become aware of how to apply their critical thinking skills upon 

watching or reading media messages and texts as a result of specific exercises. The 

importance of media literacy in support of critical thinking is expressed by Feuerstein (1999) 

in such a statement “Media literacy aims to develop metacognitive reflective strategies by 

means of study and critical responses towards the content of the media and its messages.” 

Moreover, it is aimed to “develop students’ habits of inquiry and skills of expression they 

need to be critical thinkers, effective communicators and active citizens in today’s world” 

(Facione, 1990). In a broader scope it can be concluded that these studies are the indicators of 

the relation between the education with the goals to develop media literacy skills and the 

development of critical thinking skills. According to Willingham (2019), the means of critical 

thinking is that “You are thinking critically if (1) your thinking is novel—that is, you aren’t 

simply drawing a conclusion from a memory of a previous situation and (2) your thinking is 

self-directed—that is, you are not merely executing instructions given by someone else and 

(3) your thinking is effective—that is, you respect certain conventions that make thinking 

more likely to yield useful conclusions. These would be conventions like “consider both sides 

of an issue,” and “offer evidence for claims made,” and “don’t let emotion interfere with 

reason.” 

Scheibe and Rogow (2008) explain basic ways to integrate media literacy and critical 

thinking into any curriculum. One of the ways is to give chance to students to be experienced 

in observing, critical thinking and perspective taking. According to them, this can be possible 

through such some instructional practices as (1) asking questions enabling students to think 

critically about information on media; (2) pointing out the possibility of different 

interpretation of media messages by people with different points of view; (3) discussing both 

printed and image or sound based texts on media; (4) enabling students to determine and 



Yavuz-Konokman 

    

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make comment on the latent elements of media messages such as the technique used to attract 

attention, the properties of individuals producing the media text, etc. (5) being model as a 

teacher presenting how to think critically on media texts. Another way for integration of 

media literacy and critical thinking into any curriculum is to enable students to search for 

information about the topic of   any media text. Because searching for various information 

and facts are compulsory to think critically on media messages or texts.  The other ways are 

exemplified as “identifying how students’ prior ideas about a topic have been influenced by 

media messages, using media as a pedagogical tool, identifying sources for erroneous beliefs 

about a topic, develop an awareness of issues of credibility and perspective, comparing the 

ways different media present information about a topic, using media as an assessment tool, 

facilitating the use of various media formats for transfer of opinions, etc.” (Scheibe and 

Rogow, 2008). In similar, media literacy and critical literacy can be integrated into a 

curriculum in teacher education in such a way that the prospective teachers have a chance to 

practice thinking critically on media messages, interpreting the latent elements of media 

messages, following the process of thinking critically, modelled by their teachers and 

searching for information on the topic of media texts, questioning media messages by 

regarding such standards as clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, logic, breadth, 

significance, fairness, comparing the ways different media  present information about a topic, 

discussing the different points of view of various media texts, analyzing media content in 

terms of misleading information on media texts. Therefore, it can be concluded that 

integration of media literacy and critical literacy into any curriculum can take place regarding 

the instructional points stated above. Moreover, equipped the students with these cognitive 

skills has become the educational goals from primary education to higher education. 

Therefore, the need for the integration of media literacy and critical literacy into any 

curriculum with being linked with any course or without depending on the content of any 

course has emerged.  

Skolverket (2011 cited in Ekvall, 2013) lists the goals of education as equipping the 

students with such properties as being creative, competent and responsible and developing 

“their ability to examine facts and relationships critically”. That is to say, Skolverket’s views 

on the goals of education point out critical literacy, each individual should have to read and 

write critically. Luke (2012) defines the aim of critical literacy as criticizing ideologies, 

cultures, institutions and political systems and he adds that “as a practical approach to 

curriculum, it melds social, political and cultural debate and discussion with the analysis of 

how texts and discourses work, where, with what consequences, and in whose interests” 

(Luke, 2012).  According to Comber and Simpson (2001), one of the domains in which 

critical literacy has been applied to curriculum is media. Moreover, it is offered by Sperry 

and Baker (2016) to increase students’ awareness to critical literacy and teach them how to 

question media texts and messages critically. They add that questioning, analyzing texts, 

identifying points of view, making inferences and drawing conclusions are some learning 

outcomes obtained as a results of students’ decoding content-rich texts (Sperry and Baker, 

2016) . Media is considered to provide content rich texts written in multiple perspectives. 

Media products such as newspapers, reflecting their own political ideologies, need to be read 

critically (Wolk, 2003). Because of widespread use of media in our technological modern 

society today, Goodman (2005) adds that the ability to analyze, interpret, evaluate, and 

produce different forms of communication, such as media should be included in the 

definitions of critical literacy. Moreover, he emphasizes that “the students with their critical 

literacy skills investigate power relations within the social and historical context of their lived 

experience and within the broader frame of their mediated culture” (Goodman, 2005). 

Moreover, being literate depends on students’ critical thinking skills and their reading 

between the lines to find the latent meanings (Tohidian & Khorsandi Taskoh, 2020). From 



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Kunnath and Jackson’s points of view (2019), critical literacy means questioning the purpose 

and reliability of information, considering with multiple perspectives and taking action. 

Capturing the latent message, reading between the lines, questioning texts and messages, 

considering the context in which an information emerges, searching for additional 

information are possible for the individuals being critical literate (McLeod & Vasinda, 2008). 

As a result, critical literate students will become capable of interpreting media messages and 

using different media formats to express themselves.   

Despite such an important educational goal, critical literacy is difficult to be integrated 

into curriculum (Kunnath and Jackson, 2019). Behrman (2006) explains the reason of the 

difficulty in integration as lack of instructional methods and strategies. According to 

Goodman (2005), critical literacy can be thought through such instructional practices and 

principles as teaching multiple literacies, teaching continuous inquiry and teaching reflection. 

It ıs inferred from Goodman’s expressions that learning how to analyze, evaluate, interpret 

and generate texts in different forms such as oral, visual or textual is possible with the 

practices with the goals to teach multiple literacies. Another practice, suggested by Goodman 

(2005), is to have students question about their experiences and the social, cultural and 

historical conditions of these experiences and how the media represents these conditions and 

experiences. As a reflective activity, the students should have chance to reflect what the have 

learned, for example their own media products.  

Behar-Horenstein and Niu (2011) emphasize ability to think critically is among higher 

education goals to build responsible citizens and add that “a society requires individuals to 

base their judgments and decisions on careful evaluation of evidence”. Equipped the 

individuals with cognitive skills, including media literacy and critical literacy make their 

adaptation to the modern society easier because of learning how to analyze, interpret, 

evaluate an information critically based on facts.   

Critical thinking and critical literacy are defined as a related concept, including critical 

reading and the difference in the meanings of these concepts is expressed as “critical thinking 

is a process, critical reading is an application, and critical literacy is an ability” (Jeong, 2012). 

To sum up, critical thinking is a process to be followed by both critical and media literate 

individuals. Namely, with an analogic point of view, critical thinking is an indispensable way 

to critical literacy and media literacy. These skills are the learning outcomes, aimed to be 

gained through curriculum in the field of teacher education in Turkey. Both educators and 

policy makers have emphasized each one should have life skills such as being media literate 

and critical literate. In the teacher education programs, such elective courses as “media 

literacy” and “critical and analytical thinking” aim to teach prospective teachers to be media 

literate and be critical thinker in each part of life and to be aware of the vital importance of 

such skills. Occurrence of media literacy course in teacher education programs is the 

evidence of media literacy education in Turkey. Therefore, media literacy becomes a skill, 

thought in its’ own curriculum, not needing to be thought in other courses’ curriculum. This 

shows the importance of media literacy education with its own curriculum in higher 

education in Turkey. Although there is a consensus on which media literacy is a skill that 

should be gained through school education, whether it is thought in its’ own curriculum or 

other courses’ curriculum is on debate in the world. For example, media literacy is usually 

taught in the “English” curriculum by teachers of English in Ontario, Canada (Shibata, 2002). 

That is to say, media education, the aim of which is to develop students’ media literacy, is 

generally taught within the class hours allotted to other courses’ curriculum, along with these  

courses’ contents required to be taught. This means the frequency of media education in class 

depends on the teacher’s decision on time allocated to instructional activities on media 

literacy. This can cause to move away from standardization. Because it is possible 



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enthusiastic teachers on media literacy separate much more time for teaching media literacy 

than less eager ones. Therefore, the component skills such as critical literacy and media 

literacy should be acquired independently from the curriculum of any course. Similar debate 

has occurred whether critical thinking should be thought in stand-alone subjects or whether it 

should be thought within any subject or discipline. The emergence of this debate depends on 

how to interpret critical thinking. While ones defining critical thinking as a generic set of 

skills associated with reasoning emphasize that critical thinking should be thought 

independently from any discipline (De Bono, 1973; Ennis 1987; Feuerstein, et all, 1980; 

Robinson, 2011), others relating critical thinking to any subject or discipline, believe that 

critical thinking should be thought within any subject or discipline (McPeck, 1981). 

Moreover, many studies indicate that critical literacy is thought being integrated in any 

course curriculum (Ekwall, 2013; Jeong, 2012; Park, 2012; Tohidian and Khorsandi Taskoh, 

2020). 

Considering Goodman’s statement “Critical literacy aims to teach students the skills and 

capacity to read critically at this most developed level—in between the lines and beyond the 

lines—whether those lines are alphabetic, painted, videotaped, or spoken.”, media texts, 

including different goals, points of view and values with various formats such as oral, written 

and visual, are appropriate to be thought critically on. Therefore, various media texts and 

messages were brought to class to be analyzed, evaluated and interpreted critically to develop 

prospective teachers’ not only critical literacy but also media literacy through this study. 

Within this theoretical framework, the effects of thinking education on the prospective 

teachers’ critical literacy and media literacy is purposed to be determined through both 

qualitative and quantitative data in this research.  

2. Research Method 

The study was conducted to determine the effects of thinking education, the course taken 

by the prospective teachers being trained at Education Faculty, Bartin University. In 

particular the effects of thinking education on the prospective teachers’ such skills as critical 

literacy and media literacy were aimed to be presented via mixed method. Preference of 

mixed method is related to the purposes of the research, such as triangulation and 

complementation. According to Morse,  (1991, as cited in Tashakkori & Teddue, 2003) 

mixed methods are classified as concurrent triangulation and sequential triangulation in terms 

of the sequence of data collection and the dominance of data sets. In this study sequential 

triangulation, gathering both qualitative and quantitative data sequentially, is used. Moreover, 

quantitative data was firstly gathered to give information on the prospective teachers’ critical 

and media literacy skills before and after the research. Then, qualitative data was gathered to 

explain the phenomenon deeply. The prospective teachers’ views on the classroom activities 

and the results of the activities on their skills were presented with the help of qualitative data. 

In contrast to other research methods, superiority of mixed method is emphasized by 

Tashakkori and Teddue (2003) stating the advantages of mixed method such as presenting 

different views, making strong inferences, answering to research questions not being able to 

be answered by other research methods.  

The study group was selected by the sampling criteria, one of the purposive sampling 

methods. Voluntary participation in the study and doing the homework and worksheets 

regularly were the selection criteria of the study group. Therefore, the study was conducted 

with the participation of 40 social studies prospective teachers, taking selective course 

“Thinking Education” at Education Faculty, Bartin University during the 2016‐2017 

academic year. The participants haven’t taken any course before, aiming to train students to 



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1845 

get thinking skills.  The research was continued during 14 weeks. Weekly research design is 

presented below:  

1st Week: The aim of the course named “Thinking Education” was presented and the 

participants were informed on the content and instructional methods. Critical Literacy scale 

and media literacy scale were applied to get quantitative data on the prospective teachers’ 

literacy levels.  

2nd and 3rd Weeks: Theoretical information on thinking, thinking process  and skills, thinking 

obstacles were given. Articles on thinking process and skills were examined. They were 

asked to define critical thinking with their own words. Moreover, their opinions on thinking 

obstacles and their suggestions on how to overcome these obstacles were taken. The fields in 

which they can think critically and not were defined.  

4rd and 5th Weeks: What is critical reading and how to read and think as regards logic 

elements was explained. The participants had experiences in reading and thinking as regards 

logic elements (aims, questions related to subject, assumptions, information, practice and 

results, concepts, viewpoint, inferences). The researcher became model on how to think on 

“being academician” in terms of logic elements. The participants were asked to define the 

effects of this activity on their critical literacy and media literacy.  

6th and 7th Weeks: The students were asked to evaluate “thinking education course” in terms 

of logic elements. Then, they were asked to select any news, published on the newspaper or 

on the internet and evaluate it in terms of logic elements. Moreover, the news were analyzed 

in terms of the standards such as accuracy, clearness, logic, importance, relevance, etc.). The 

participants were asked to define the effects of this activity on their critical literacy and media 

literacy. 

8th Week: The news, presenting an event from different point of views were compared. The 

students were asked to find such news and compare them in terms of their viewpoint. Then, 

they shared the news and their evaluation on the news with other participants. The 

participants were asked to define the effects of this activity on their critical literacy and media 

literacy through the figure. They chose the figure, symbolizing their critical and media 

literacy most correctly and explained the reason of their choices.  

9 th Week: What is “disinformation” in media was explained and examples of disinformation 

were examined. The students were asked to give an example of disinformation and analyze it. 

Then, they shared their examples and their thoughts on the news in terms of disinformation 

with other participants. The participants were asked to define the effects of this activity on 

their critical literacy and media literacy.  

10th-11thWeeks: The participants were asked to find news, written prejudicially. The news 

were analyzed in terms of prejudice and perspective. They were asked to write the text again 

objectively. The participants were asked to define the effects of this activity on their critical 

literacy and media literacy. 

12th -13th Weeks: How to think critically on advertisements was studied. Some advertisements 

were analyzed. The participants were asked to choose an advertisement to be analyzed. After 

having analyzed it, they shared their studies with other participants. Therefore, their criteria 

in analyzing advertisements, their views on advertisement before and after the activity, the 

effects of the activity on their critical literacy and media literacy were questioned.  

14th Week: Thinking education was evaluated by the participants in terms of learning 

outcomes, instructional methods and the instructional activities. Then, the effects of thinking 

education on their critical literacy and media literacy were questioned.  They made 



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suggestions on thinking education. At the end of the education critical literacy scale and 

media literacy scale were applied to get quantitative data on the prospective teachers’ literacy 

levels.  

2.1. Data Collection Tools 

2.1.1. Quantitative Data 

The prospective teachers’ media literacy was determined before and after “Thinking 

Education” with the help of “media literacy scale” developed by Karaman and Karatas 

(2009). The scale was designed as a 5-category Likert-type scale. The scale was scored as 

“(1) never”, “(2) rarely”, “(3) sometimes” “(4) frequently” and “(5) always”. Exploratory 

factor analysis indicates that the scale has a structure of 3 factors consisting of 17 items. The 

first factor that consists of 7 items is named “having knowledge”; the second factor that 

consists of 6 items is named “analyzing and giving reaction”; the third factor that consists of 

4 items is named “judging and getting an implicit message”.  Three factors altogether explain 

42,5 of the total variance. Cronbach’s Alpha of reliability for the whole scale is .840 and the 

factors’ reliability values are.721, .705 and .680 respectively.   

Critical Literacy Scale developed by Yilmaz (2013) was applied to the prospective 

teachers before and after education. The scale designed as a 5-category Likert-type scale was 

scored as “(1) never”, “(2) rarely”, “(3) sometimes” “(4) frequently” and “(5) always”. 

Exploratory factor analysis indicates that the scale has a structure of 2 factors consisting of 14 

items. The first factor, consisting of 7 items, is named as “critical reading”; the second factor, 

composed of 7 items is named as “critical writing”. Two factors altogether explain 50,937 of 

the total variances. Cronbach’s alpha of reliability for the whole scale is .82, and Cronbach’s 

alphas for the scale’s factors are .76 and .71 respectively, indicating the scale’s reliability. 

2.1.2. Qualitative Data 

Journals, including open-ended questions, were collected from the prospective teachers 

during 14-week research. Journals, in which the questions were asked to get knowledge on 

the prospective teachers’ media and critical literacy, were gathered before and after 

“Thinking Education”. Moreover, the data about the effects of each instructional activity on 

the prospective teachers’ both critical and media literacy were gathered after each 

instructional activity through journals. The prospective teachers also evaluated their critical 

literacy and media literacy both at the beginning and at the end. Moreover, the prospective 

teachers’ general evaluation on each instructional activity (goals and objectives gained after 

an activity, instructional methods, etc.); the effects of an activity on their critical and media 

literacy; the problems, encountered in an activity; suggestions on how to overcome the 

problems were emphasized through journals. These types of questions were asked at the end 

of each instructional activity. Therefore, journals were expected to show the prospective 

teachers’ improvement in media literacy and critical literacy from first to last. The questions 

in the journals were evaluated by an expert, a professor in the department of curriculum and 

instruction studying on critical thinking, in terms of such criteria as understandability, 

clearness, content validity, number of question, etc. 

2.2. Data Analysis 

SPSS 22 program was used to analyze quantitative data.  Pre and post-test mean scores 

gained from both critical literacy scale and media literacy scale were tested to indicate 

whether there is any statistically meaningful difference in the prospective teachers’ critical 

and media literacy level before and after thinking education. Paired sample t test was applied 

to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference in pre-test and post-test 

scores gained from critical literacy scale. The same process was followed for analysis of the 



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1847 

quantitative data obtained from media literacy scale. Paired sample t test was applied to 

present whether difference between pre and post-test scores of critical literacy occurred or 

not.   

The qualitative data was analyzed through content analysis method in seven phases. (i) 

Organizing the data, (ii) immersion in the data, (iii) generating categories and themes, (iv) 

coding the data, (v) offering interpretations through analytic memos, (vii) searching for 

alternative understandings and (viii) writing the report for presenting the study. The data 

were reread and notes were taken to organize data. The data were also organized according to 

what was gathered and when, where, how, from whom the data were gathered. Then, 

Schemas for recording data were used to manage data and guard against losing the findings. 

Categories and themes were generated. Then, the data were coded. Generated themes and 

codes were interpreted. In other words, interpretation means making sense of the findings, 

drawing conclusions and making inferences. Then, all generated codes and themes were 

searched for alternative understandings again.  

2.3. Reliability and Validity Studies  

The prospective teachers’ voluntarily participation in the research and their responsible 

behaviors in keeping journals during the research are the factors, providing internal validity 

of the study. Moreover, statistical analysis of data collection tools such as Cronbach’s Alpha 

Reliability values and exploratory factor analysis findings, supports reliability and validity of 

the study. The course syllabus was designed by both researcher and a professor studying on 

how to design critical thinking activities and they together instructed the prospective teachers. 

The course and the data gathered after each instructional activity were evaluated at each 

week. Reformation on the following instructional activities was done regarding these 

evaluations.  

Strategies to provide internal validity for qualitative side of the research were external 

audits, rich explanations, a set of evidence and triangulation. (Creswell, 2003). In this sense, 

detailed description of instructional process, presenting findings together with quotations, 

gathering both qualitative and quantitative data to explain the findings in detail are the 

strategies for the internal validity of the study. In addition, themes, codes and qualitative data 

together were reviewed by an expert and the reliability of coding was proved by Miles and 

Huberman's reliability formula (1994) [Reliability=Agreement/(Agreement+Disagreement)]. 

Also, agreement score was found as 94.5 The calculated intercoded reliability are thought to 

prove the internal validity of the study. 

3. Findings 

3.1. Findings of Quantitative Data 

The results of paired samples t-test for determining whether pre and post-test mean scores 

for media literacy differed statistically or not are presented in Table 1. 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Yavuz-Konokman 

    

1848 

Table 1. Comparison of Pre and Post Test Scores for Media Literacy: Paired Samples T-Test 

Results 

 Factors 
Test 

Time 
n 

Paired Samples 

Correlations Mean sd df t p 

Correlation p 

M
e
d

ia
 L

it
e
r
a
c
y
 

Having 

Knowledge 

Pre-test 38 ,244 ,140 29,57 3,19 37 2,835 ,007 

Post-test 38   36,46 15,44    

Analyzing and 

Giving Reaction 

Pre-test 38 ,262 ,112 24,76 9,29 37 1,818 .077 

Post-test 38   29,06 13,95    

Judging an 

Implicit 

Message 

Pre-test 38 ,376 ,020 14,89 2,54 37 4,390 .00 

Post-test 38   16,81 2,25    

The Whole 

Scale 

Pre-test 38 ,276 ,094 69,22 11,82 37 3,543 .001 

Post-test 38   82,33 23,04    

Note. p<.05 

The difference between pre-test and post-test mean scores gotten from media literacy scale 

was observed statistically (t37 =3,543; p=.001). Pre-test mean score for media literacy was 

calculated to be 69,22 with a standard deviation of 11,82; post-test mean score was 82,33 

with a standard deviation of 23,04. Moreover, pretest mean scores for such factors of the 

scale as “having knowledge” and “judging and getting an implicit message” differs from 

post-test mean scores statically (t37 =2,835, p=.007; t37 =2,835, p=.00). For the first factor 

named “Having Knowledge”, pre-test mean score was calculated as 29,57 with a standard 

deviation of 3,19; post-test mean score was 36,46 with a standard deviation of 15,44. That 

pre-test mean score on the factor of “judging and getting an implicit message” was higher 

than post-test mean score proves the statistical difference between the test scores. It can be 

inferred from these findings that the prospective teachers’ post-test media literacy scores 

have increased compared to their pre-test scores. Furthermore, their post-test mean scores 

have increased in having knowledge, judging and getting an implicit message. It was also 

observed that pre and post-test scores of the second factor, informing how the prospective 

teachers can analyze and give reactions, didn’t differ statistically. Compared to second factor 

named “Judging and Getting an Implicit Message”, there isn’t any statistically meaningful 

correlation between pre and post-test scores.  

The findings on the difference of pre and post-test mean scores for critical literacy, 

attained through paired samples t test, are presented in Table 2. 

Table 2. Comparison of Pre and Post-Test Scores for Critical Literacy: Paired Samples T-

Test Results 

 

Factors 
Test 

Time 
n 

Paired Samples 

Correlations Mean sd df t 

 

p 

Correlation p 

C
r
it

ic
a
l 

L
it

e
r
a
c
y
 

Critical 

Reading 

Pre-test 38 ,212 ,202 26,59 2,81 37 2,464 ,019 

Post-test 38   31,39 12,29    

Critical 

Writing 

Pre-test 38 -,033 ,846 25,32 5,73 37 2,256 ,030 

Post-test 38   25,32 16,40    

The Whole 

Scale 

Pre-test 38 ,036 ,831 51,91 6,87 37 3,275 ,002 

Post-test 38   63,14 20,23    

Note. p<.05 

Upon viewing Table 2, a statistically significant difference is observed between pre and 

post-test mean scores for critical literacy (t37 =3,275; p=.002). While pre-test mean score for 



International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2020, 7(4), 1839-1866. 

 

1849 

critical literacy was calculated to be 51,91 with a standard deviation of 6,87; post-test mean 

score was 63,14 with a standard deviation of 20,23. Pre-test mean score for critical reading 

was calculated as 26,59 with a standard deviation of 2,81 and post-test mean score for critical 

reading was 31,39 with a standard deviation of 12,29. Thus, it is proven that pre-test mean 

scores for critical reading differed from posttest mean scores statistically.  The similar 

findings were observed for critical writing. In a short, pre-test mean scores for both critical 

reading and writing differed from post-test mean scores statistically.  Moreover, these 

findings are supported with the correlation values between pretest and post-test mean scores 

for both critical writing and reading. 

3.2. Findings of Qualitative Data 

The results of qualitative data analysis on learning outcomes of thinking education are 

presented in Table 3.  

Table 3.  The Results of Qualitative Data Analysis on Learning Outcomes of Thinking 

Education  

Themes Codes 
Frequency 

(f) 

L
e
a
r
n

in
g
 O

u
tc

o
m

e
s 

K
n

o
w

le
d

g
e
 Realizing that media messages can be biased 3 

Realizing that an event or situation may have hidden causes 3 

Understanding what thinking means 2 

Knowledge of thinking skills 1 

Understanding what media literacy means 1 

Understanding what critical literacy means 1 

A
ff

e
c
ti

v
e
 F

e
a
tu

r
e
s 

Having positive attitudes towards the course because of an interactive 

learning environment 

4 

Avoiding from making a judgement with lack of knowledge 3 

Having positive attitudes towards making research 3 

Believing improvable thinking skill through education 1 

Accepting the importance of listening  1 

Opposing the acceptance of information without being questioned 1 

Recognizing the importance of moving away from prejudices 1 

Caring about different thoughts 1 

S
k

il
ls

 

Critical thinking 28 

Questioning media messages 9 

Questioning social media messages  4 

Being objective 3 

Reseach skills 3 

Emphathy 3 

Cooperation  2 

Creative thinking 2 

Awareness of the thinking process 1 

When Table 3 is examined, it is seen that the learning outcomes are defined under the 

themes which are knowledge, affective features and skills. Under the theme knowledge; the 

most frequently expressed codes are “realizing that media messages can be biased” (f=3) 

and “realizing that media messages as well as events or situations may have hidden causes’’ 

(f=3). Some of the opinions of the participants about affective features include ‘’having 

positive attitudes towards the course because of an interactive learning environment’’ (f=4); 

‘’avoiding from making a judgement with lack of knowledge” (f=3) and ‘’having positive 

attitudes towards making research’’ (f=3). In addition, it is clear that ‘’critical thinking 



Yavuz-Konokman 

    

1850 

skills’’ (f=28) is the most expressed code by the participants under the theme skills. The 

following excerpts are related to the themes and codes above. 

‘’My ability to evaluate circumstances from a different point of view, empathize, think 

critically and distinguish my feelings and logic has increased.’’ (prospective teacher 18) 

‘’After class, I really find out that thinking can be taught and I am unprejudiced about 

thinking education now.’’ (prospective teacher 8) 

‘’I am more critical of the news or advertisement texts I encounter on TV or social 

networking sites.’’(prospective teacher 11) 

 ‘’While I was reading a text in this course, I realized that I had to think  thoroughly. I 
have learned to empathize and think by considering different feelings and thoughts. I 

think I have gained critical thinking skills. First of all, I start giving importance to be 

knowledgeable.’’ (prospective teacher 7) 

 ‘’I have realized what thinking is. I have learned that purposeful thinking is real 

thinking and everything we watch in media is not true. Now, I am able to discover the 
message in advertisements of companies branded with advertising analysis. Also, I 

question the reliability of the products.’’ (prospective teacher 1) 

The qualitative data analysis results related to the positive effects of thinking education on 

the prospective teachers’ critical literacy are presented in Table 4.  

Table 4. The Effects of Thinking Education on the Prospective Teachers’ Critical Literacy: 

Qualitative Data Analysis Results 

Themes Codes f 

 

P
o
si

ti
v
e
 E

ff
e
c
t 

C
r
it

ic
a
l 

L
it

e
r
a
c
y
 

 

Feature Questioning everytime 13 

Being a researcher 6 

Doubting the accuracy of the information 5 

Examine any text from different perspectives 5 

Using different sources of information 1 

Transferability Being a critical thinker in all areas of life 3 

Affective 

Feature 

Gaining critical literacy awareness 18 

Understanding the importance of critical literacy 3 

Media 

Literacy 

 

Thinking on media messages critically  12 

Analyzing media messages in detail  10 

Noticing the implicit media messages 7 

When Table 4 is analyzed, it is seen that thinking education has a positive effect on the 

prospective teachers' critical literacy. The participants state that thinking education affects 

them under the theme feature in terms of “questioning everytime” (f=13); “being a 

researcher” (f=6); “doubting the accuracy of the information” (f=5); “examining any text 

from different perspectives” (f=5) and ‘’using different sources of information’’ (f=1). In 

addition, they are of the opinion that as a critical thinker in all areas of life they have the 

ability to transfer the acquired critical thinking skills into daily life under the theme 

transferability.  It is evident that they acquire positive features related to critical literacy such 

as “gaining critical literacy awareness” (f=18) and “understanding the importance of 

critical literacy” (f=3) under the theme affective feature. It is found out that the participants 

gain some skills under the theme media literacy such as “thinking on media messages 

critically” (f=12); “analyzing media messages in detail” (f=10) and “noticing the implicit 

media messages” (f =7). It is concluded that thinking education course contributes to the 

participants’ media literacy level. Direct quotations on these themes and codes are given 

below. 

https://tureng.com/tr/turkce-ingilizce/thoroughly
https://tureng.com/tr/turkce-ingilizce/be%20knowledgeable%20about
https://tureng.com/tr/turkce-ingilizce/be%20knowledgeable%20about


International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2020, 7(4), 1839-1866. 

 

1851 

 ‘’Although I used to get the information without questioning and thinking enough, now, I 

think more critically thanks to the activities in this course.’’ (prospective teacher 23) 

 ‘’The ad analysis, activities and assignments we have done in the course have improved 

my critical perspective by enabling me to be more inquisitive to events, situations and 

advertisements, to learn the actual reasons of events, and to find out positive and 

negative aspects of ads and events.’’ (prospective teacher 26) 

 ‘’I used to read the news superficially and unquestioningly, but now I evaluate the news, 

events and texts in terms of some criteria. I make comments and inferences by examining 
the accuracy, importance and reliability of the news within the framework of logic 

components.’’ (prospective teacher 3) 

 ‘’I care about accessing different sources. Questioning information presented from 
different perspectives from different sources has increased my critical 

literacy.’’(prospective teacher 7) 

‘’I learned what critical literacy is and why it is necessary. I can easily use these skills in 

my life.’’ (prospective teacher 18) 

 ‘’I have realized that critical literacy is important in my life. I constantly encounter 
news and new information in my daily life. I accepted new information without 

questioning before taking this course. After this course, I have started thinking 
systematically. I have learned how to become a critical literate.’’ (prospective teacher 

21) 

The qualitative data analysis results related to the positive effects of thinking education on 

the prospective teachers’ media literacy are presented in Table 5.  

Table 5. The Effects of Thinking Education on the Prospective Teachers’ Media Literacy: 

Qualitative Data Analysis Results 

Themes Codes f 

P
o
si

ti
v
e
 E

ff
e
c
t 

M
e
d

ia
 L

it
e
r
a
c
y
 

Critical 

thinking 

Questioning media messages  17 

Noticing the implicit media messages 2 

Examining media messages from different perspectives 2 

Affective 

Feature 

Awareness of being a media literate 

 

13 

Objectivity Discovering bias of media messages  (ideology, etc.) 7 

Reading media messages objectively 3 

Access to 

Information 

Sources 

Evaluating media messages using different sources of information 5 

Being a researcher 1 

Theoretical 

Knowledge 

Having theoretical knowledge about media messages analysis 

 

3 

According to Table 5, it is understood that the effects of thinking education on the 

prospective teachers’ media literacy are positive. The participants state their opinions related 

to their improvement in media literacy under the theme critical thinking and affective feature 

as follows respectively; ‘’questioning media messages’’ (f=17); ‘’noticing the implicit media 

messages’’ (f=2); ‘’examining media messages from different perspectives’’ (f=2) and 

‘’awareness of being a media literate’’ (f=13). The codes under the theme objectivity are 

‘’discovering bias of media messages’’ (f=7) and ‘’reading media messages objectively’’ 

(f=3). The participants’ opinions under the theme access to information sources and 

theoretical knowledge include ‘’evaluating media messages using different sources of 

information’’ (f=5); ‘’being a researcher’’ (f=1) and ‘’having theoretical knowledge about 

https://tureng.com/tr/turkce-ingilizce/unquestioningly


Yavuz-Konokman 

    

1852 

media messages analysis’’ (f=3). Below are some responses of the participants regarding the 

themes and codes above. 

 ‘’I had a superficial perspective while following media. After the course, I’m more concerned 
with the authenticity of the text in media. While I was at the stage of conducting ideas from a 
single source, now I have learned that evaluation of opinions from different sources is 

necessary.’’ (prospective teacher 2) 

 ‘’Thinking education course has enabled us to evaluate news, ads etc. from a more in-depth 

and questioning perspective.’’ (prospective teacher 23) 

 ‘’I realize that I can not read, watch, and understand media and I can not notice the implicit 

media messages.’’ (prospective teacher 24) 

 ‘’I find out that I should not believe ads blindly. I learn to question the accuracy of them.’’ 

(prospective teacher 26) 

 ‘’I hardly knew the systematic conceptual and theoretical information I needed for media 

literacy. Thanks to this course, I learn how to become a conscious media literate and I can use 

it in my life.’’ (prospective teacher 5) 

 ‘’I do not believe in every news in media, I do a deep research and evaluate it within the 

context of logic components.’’ (prospective teacher 9) 

The results of quantitative data analysis on why thinking education is recommended by the 

prospective teachers is presented in Table 6. 

Table 6. The Results of Quantitative Data Analysis on Why Thinking Education is 

Recommended  

According to Table 6, it is clear that all of the prospective teachers make 

recommendations for taking the thinking education course. ‘’Learning and teaching 

process’’, ‘knowledge’’, ’’skill’’, ‘’affective features’’ and ‘’transferability’’ are the themes 

that emerged regarding the recommendations of thinking education. Under the theme 

learning and teaching process, the reasons of the participants to recommend thinking 

education course include ‘’use of instructional methods and techniques’’ (f=5); ‘’interactive 

participation’’ (f=2); ‘’analysis of case studies’’ (f=2) and ‘’homeworks facilitating 

learning’’ (f=1). The most frequently produced codes under the themes knowledge and skill 

are as follows respectively; ‘’discovering thinking skills’’ (f=2); ‘’being a critical literate’’ 

Themes Codes       f 

R
e
a
so

n
s 

fo
r
 R

e
c
o
m

m
e
n

d
a
ti

o
n

 

Learning and 

Teaching Process 

Use of instructional methods and Techniques (discussion, 

brainstroming, case study, etc.) 

5 

Interactive participation 2 

Analysis of case studies 2 

Homeworks facilitating learning 1 

 L
e
a
r
n

in
g
 O

u
tc

o
m

e
s 

Knowledge Discovering thinking skills  2 

Skill Being a critical literate  9 

Considering different perspectives 7 

To obtain questioning skills 6 

Being a media literate 3 

Affective 

Feature 

Positive attitude towards thinking education ( usefulness, 

necessity, motivation, etc.)  

14 

Awareness 3 

Objectivitiy  2 

Research awareness 2 

Being curious 1 

Transferability  Transfering to daily life 4 



International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2020, 7(4), 1839-1866. 

 

1853 

(f=9) and ‘’considering different perspectives’’ (f=7).  Contributions of thinking education 

are expressed by the codes under the theme affective features such as ‘’positive attitude 

towards thinking education’’ (f=14) and ’’awareness’’ (f=3).‘’Transferring to daily life’’ 

(f=4) is the only code under the theme transferability. The opinions of the participants in this 

regard are as following: 

 ‘’I suggest that all of my friends should take the thinking education course as it allows 
me to think more, think consciously, question, and evaluate critically.’’ (prospective 

teacher 26) 

 ‘’This course positively adds value to my worldview and increase my awareness level in 

response to events.’’ (prospective teacher 11) 

‘’It is a necessary course to develop thinking skills. In addition, it is a course that allows 
to gain thinking skills by getting rid of stereotypes and routine perspectives.’’ 

(prospective teacher 5) 

‘’It was interesting to do critical thinking studies on news and ad texts. I think everyone 

should experience this.’’ (prospective teacher 7) 

It is observed that the prospective teachers define their critical literacy levels by using 

negative adjectives before thinking education. The produced adjectives provide information 

regarding the prospective teachers' thinking actions, ways of thinking and competency levels. 

Before thinking education, the prospective teachers produce adjectives which emphasize that 

they are not competent in critical thinking and questioning. Some of these adjectives are “not 

thinking”, “not questioning”, “not researching”, “not criticizing” and “superficial”. It is 

seen that the prospective teachers produce adjectives that describe their critical literacy levels 

as beginner, weak, inadequate, limited, few, etc. These adjectives mean that they are not 

competent to be critical literate. In addition, the prospective teachers define their critical 

literacy levels by using some adjectives such as stereotype, narrow-minded, simple, biased 

and non-objective. After thinking education, it is observed that they define their critical 

literacy levels by using positive adjectives. They define critical thinking processes by using 

some adjectives such as criticizing, questioning, researching, thinking, examining, etc.  In 

addition, it is understood from the adjectives used by the prospective teachers that their 

critical literacy competency perceptions have increased. Some of these adjectives are 

adequate, active, skillful, very, strong, advanced, etc. Also, it is clear that the prospective 

teachers define their critical literacy as neutral, deep thinking, different perspectives, 

objective, realistic and detailed. These adjectives emphasize the depth and neutrality of the 

prospective teachers related to thinking education. 

It is observed that the prospective teachers define their media literacy levels by using 

negative adjectives that symbolize their thinking actions, thinking types, competency levels 

and attitudes before thinking education. It is seen that adjectives used show that they do not 

have thinking skills before thinking education. For instance, not questioning, not researching, 

not examining, not thinking, etc. among these adjectives. It is seen that the prospective 

teachers produce adjectives that describe their media literacy levels as beginner, weak, 

inadequate, limited, few, etc. These adjectives mean that they are not competent to be media 

literate. Adjectives produced in this context are biased, subjective, narrow-minded and 

superficial. It is understood from the adjectives produced before thinking education that the 

importance of media literacy is questioned. These adjectives are unplanned, aimless, random, 

unnecessary, careless, etc.  After thinking education, it is clear that some thinking skills such 

as criticism, scrutiny, inference, comparison, etc. are acquired. The adjectives produced by 

the prospective teachers are researching, questioning, criticizing, deducing, comparing, 

discussing, etc. It is understood from these adjectives that they develop positive competence 



Yavuz-Konokman 

    

1854 

perceptions regarding media literacy after education. The prospective teachers define their 

media literacy as objective and in-depth, which means that media literacy contributes them to 

be objective and adopt a deep-thinking approach. It is concluded that, after thinking 

education, adjectives emphasizing the importance of media literacy and the desire to be 

media literate are produced by the prospective teachers. These are necessary, important, 

purposeful, caring, willing to think, etc. 

The qualitative data analysis results related to figures symbolizing the prospective 

teachers’ self-efficacy on critical literacy after thinking education are presented in Table 7. 

Table 7. Qualitative Data Analysis Results of Figures: Symbolizing the Prospective 

Teachers’ Self-efficacy on Critical Literacy  

Theme Codes 
Frequency 

(f) 

F
ig

u
r
e
 

A
 (

f=
1
) 

   you                 critical literacy 

     

 

Not needing 1 

F
ig

u
r
e
 B

  

(f
=

8
) 

 

   you                critical literacy 

           

Need for different experiences 4 

First experience 2 

Need for specialization 1 

Not being knowledgeable enough 1 

Habits 1 

F
ig

u
r
e
 

C
 (

f=
9
)           you          critical literacy Being critical 2 

Concept knowledge 1 

Being able to solve problem 1 

Evidence search 1 

F
ig

u
r
e
 D

 

 (
f=

2
0
) 

 

 

 

 
you 

critical literacy  

Obtaining critical literate identity 10 

Learning how to read critically 7 

Content knowledge 2 

Getting experience 2 

Reinforcement of Information 1 

Gaining self-confidence 1 

Independence from prejudices 1 

Having a positive attitude 1 

When Table 7 is analyzed, most of the prospective teachers (f =20) stated that the figure 

that symbolizes their critical literacy level is “D” after the course. Figure ’D’ emphasizes the 

intersection of the participants’ competencies and critical literacy. It is understood that the 

participants who chooses this figure consider themselves completely competent in terms of 

critical thinking. The reasons for choosing this figure include “obtaining critical literate 

identity” (f = 10); “learning how to read critically’’ (f=7); “content knowledge” (f=2); 

“getting experience” (f=2); “reinforcement of information” (f=1); “gaining self-confidence” 

(f=1); “independence from prejudices” (f=1) and ‘’having a positive attitude” (f=1). 

Secondly, the participants (f=9) choose the figure ‘C’ that symbolizes their critical literacy 

level. Figure ‘C’ symbolizes the intersection of the participants’ competencies and critical 

literacy. It is understood that the participants who chooses this figure consider themselves 

competent in terms of critical thinking. The reasons for choosing this figure include “being 

critical” (f=4); “concept knowledge” (f =1); “being able to solve problem” (f =1) and 

‘’evidence search’’ (f=1).  

    



International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2020, 7(4), 1839-1866. 

 

1855 

The participants (f=8) choose figure ‘B’ that symbolizes their partial critical literacy. 

Figure ‘B’ symbolizes the partial intersection of the participants’ competencies and critical 

literacy. The reasons for choosing this figure include ‘’need for different experiences’’ (f=4); 

“first experience’’ (f=2); ‘’need for specialization’’ (f=1); ‘’not being knowledgeable 

enough’’ (f=1) and ‘’habits’’ (f=1). Below are some responses from different participants. 

 ‘’While figure A symbolizes me before the course, figure C symbolizes me better after 
the course. Now, I question what I read by getting rid of prejudices.’’ (prospective 

teacher 16) 

 ‘’Figure B symbolizes me, because I'm just learning and experiencing critical literacy. I 

believe I will improve myself in time.’’ (prospective teacher 27) 

 ‘’Figure B is suitable for me, because I think that I am a critical thinker thanks to the 
activities in thinking education course. However, there are still situations where we are 

affected by our environment. We cannot be sufficiently a critical literate because of our 

upbringing.’’ (prospective teacher 24) 

 ‘’Figure D symbolizes me. Critical literacy has became a part of my life after this 

course. I can be a critical literate in every area of my life with the concepts I have 

learned.’’ (prospective teacher 21) 

 ‘’Figure D symbolizes me. I was interested in this subject and tried to improve myself in 
the past. I have gained necessary systematic information on this subject thanks to this 

course and I have learned critical thinking to the full. This skill is reinforced by different 

activities during the course.’’ (prospective teacher 5) 

 ‘’Figure C symbolizes me. I think that I have learned to be a critical literate after this 

course. Now, I examine what I read in more detail. I care about making inferences by 

accessing different sources.’’ (prospective teacher 7) 

           ‘’Figure D has become a phenomenon that constitutes my critical thinking self after taking 

the course.’’ (prospective teacher 3) 

The qualitative data analysis results related to figures symbolizing the prospective 

teachers’ self-efficacy on media literacy after thinking education are presented in Table 8. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Yavuz-Konokman 

    

1856 

Table 8. Qualitative data Analysis Results of Figures: Symbolizing the Prospective Teachers’ 

self-efficacy on Media Literacy After Thinking Education 

Theme Codes 
Frequency 

(f) 

F
ig

u
re

 A
 

(f
=

1
) 

   you media literacy 

     

 

Not needing 1 

F
ig

u
re

 B
  

(f
=

3
) 

   you              media literacy 

         

           

Need for specialization 1 

Need for experience 1 

Carefully review media messages 1 

F
ig

u
re

 C
 

(f
=

1
3
) 

               
       you          media literacy 

Questioning 5 
Discovering the bias of the media 3 

Being curious 1 

Media literacy awareness 3 

F
ig

u
re

 D
 

 (
f=

1
7
) 

 

 

 

 

you 

media literacy 

Obtaining media literacy identity 6 

Gaining self-confidence 1 

Researching for media resources 3 

Questioning 3 

Observing different perspectives 1 

Following media 1 

Having experiences 1 

Need  1 

Noticing media meassages 1 

Being critical 1 

Continuous interaction with the media 1 

According to Table 8, it is seen that the prospective teachers express their media literacy 

levels with figure ‘’C’’ (f=13) and figure ‘’D’’ (f =17) after the course. Figure ‘’D’’ 

emphasizes the complete intersection of the participants’ competencies and media literacy. 

Figure ‘’C’’ symbolizes this intersection to a great extent. In this context, it can be thought 

that media literacy competency perceptions of the participants who choose figure ‘C’ and ‘D’ 

are high. The reasons for choosing figure ‘’D’’ include ‘’obtaining media literacy identity’’ 

(f=6); ‘’researching for media resources’’ (f=3); ‘’questioning’’ (f=3); ‘’gaining self-

confidence’’ (f=1); ‘’observing different perspectives’’ (f=1); ‘’following media’’ (f=1); 

‘’having experiences’’ (f=1); ‘’need’’ (f=1); ‘’noticing media messages’’ (f=1); ‘’being 

critical’’ (f=1) and ‘’continuous interaction with the media’’ (f=1). The reasons for choosing 

figure ‘’C’’ include ‘’questioning’’ (f=5); ‘’discovering the bias of the media’’ (f=3); ‘’media 

literacy awareness’’ (f=3) and ‘’being curious’’ (f=1). The participants (f=?) choose figure 

‘B’ that symbolizes their partial critical literacy. Figure ‘B’ emphasizes the partial 

intersection of the participants’ competencies and media literacy. The reasons for choosing 

figure ‘’B’’ include ‘’need for specialization’’ (f=1); ‘’need for experience’’ (f=1) and 

‘’carefully review media messages’’ (f=1). In this regard, the opinions of the participants are 

reflected by the following comments: 

 ‘’Figure B symbolizes me. I try to examine the news in media by accessing information 

sources from now on.’’ (prospective teacher 26) 

 ‘’I choose Figure D. I can notice the implicit media messages.’’ (prospective teacher 

30) 

 



International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2020, 7(4), 1839-1866. 

 

1857 

 ‘’Figure B symbolizes me. I cannot see myself fully enough. However, my perspective 

has changed positively compared to before I took the course.’’ (prospective teacher 7) 

 ‘’Figure D symbolizes me. I review media from a questioning perspective. I access 

different sources before believing in news.’’ (prospective teacher 10) 

 ‘’Figure D symbolizes me. I evaluate news in media in a critical approach.’’ 

(prospective teacher 35) 

 ‘’Figure C symbolizes me. I think I am a better media literate than before.’’ (prospective 

teacher 25) 

 ‘’Figure D symbolizes me. I read a lot of news and try to follow media. I do not accept 

every new information without questioning. Thanks to this course, I actually discover 

how this questioning process works. I also learn to think within the framework of logic 

components and standards.’’ (prospective teacher 21) 

Critical and media literacy self-evaluation results of the prospective teachers after media 

message reading and evaluation activity are presented in Table 9. 

Table 9. Critical and Media Literacy Self Evaluation Results After Media Message Reading 

and Evaluation Activity 

Themes Codes 
Frequency 

(f) 

C
o
m

p
e
te

n
c
y
 P

e
rc

e
p
ti

o
n
 o

n
 M

e
d
ia

 a
n
d
 C

ri
ti

c
a
l 

L
it

e
ra

c
y
 V

e
ry

 c
o
m

p
e
te

n
t 

o
r 

c
o
m

p
e
te

n
t 

 (
1
8
) 

Following different media sources 7 

Learning how to question media messages  7 

Discovering the bias of media messages 5 

Making inferences  3 

Evaluating as regards logic components 3 

Being objective 2 

Getting rid of prejudices 1 

Being curious 1 

Being researcher 1 

P
a
rt

ia
ll

y
 

c
o
m

p
e
te

n

t 
(6

) 

Influence of belief / value / ideologies 2 

Media bias 2 

Lack of knowledge 1 

Striking media messages  1 

N
o
t 

c
o
m

p
e
te

n
t 

(6
) 

Biased media mesaages 2 

Not following media 1 

Ideological commitment 1 

Education system as an obstacle 1 

Lack of knowledge/not researching 1 

When Table 9 is examined, it is clear that the participants generally find themselves 

competent in terms of critical and media literacy in the process of examining and analyzing 

media messages. Indicators of their competences are defined by the codes under the theme 

very competent or competent which include “following different media sources’’ (f=7); 

‘’learning how to question media messages’’ (f=7); ‘’discovering the bias of media 

messages’’ (f=5); ‘’making inferences’’ (f=3); ‘’evaluating as regards logic components’’ 

(f=3); ‘’being objective’’ (f=2); ‘’getting rid of prejudices’’ (f=1); ‘’being curious’’ (f=1) and 

‘’being researcher’’ (f=1). The participants consider themselves partially competent in terms 

of critical and media literacy because of some factors such as ‘’influence of belief/value/ 

ideologies’’ (f=2); ‘’media bias’’ (f=2); ‘’lack of knowledge’’ (f=1) and ‘’striking media 

messages’’ (f=1) which are the codes expressed under the theme partially competent. In 

addition, the reasons why they do not consider themselves competent are explained by the 



Yavuz-Konokman 

    

1858 

codes under the theme not competent which are “biased media messages” (f=2); “not 

following media” (f=1); “ideological commitment” (f=1); “education system as an obstacle” 

(f=1) and “lack of knowledge/not researching” (f =1). Direct quotations of the participants 

are as follows: 

 ‘’…While watching or listening to media, I try to question events from different 

perspectives as much as possible.’’(prospective teacher 33) 

 ‘’I follow written and visual media. I access and evaluate different sources to understand 

the accuracy of information.’’ (prospective teacher 19) 

Qualitative data analysis results on the effect of ad analysis on media and critical literacy 

are presented in Table 10. 

Table 10. Qualitative Data Analysis Results on The Effect of Ad Analysis on Media and 

Critical Literacy  

P
o
si

ti
v
e
 E

ff
e
c
t 

Themes Codes  Frequency 

(f) 

 

C
ri

ti
c
a
l 

L
it

e
ra

c
y
 

   

Questioning 15 

Critical thinking 10 

Reviewing ads with different perspectives 2 

Researcher identity 1 

Understanding hidden message of advertisements  5 

Questioning the purpose of the advertising elements 1 

Accessing information sources 1 

Incident, situation, etc. analysis with logic components 1 

 

M
e
d
ia

 L
it

e
ra

c
y
 

  

Understanding hidden message of advertisements 10 

Questioning messages of advertisements 9 

Being a media literate 8 

Change in ads perception 5 

Paying attention to ads messages  5 

Having experience in ads analysis  4 

Analyzing ads regarding criteria  4 

Exploring the purpose of advertising elements 2 

Reviewing ads with different perspectives 2 

The qualitative analysis results in Table 10 show that the participants’ ad analysis 

experiences positively affect their critical and media literacy. The positive contribution of ad 

analysis to critical literacy of the participants is explained by some codes. These codes show 

the participants’ competences in terms of critical literacy after ad analysis. The most 

frequently expressed codes under the theme critical literacy include ‘’questioning’’ (f=15); 

‘’critical thinking’’ (f=10); ‘’understanding hidden message of advertisements’’ (f=5) and ‘’ 

reviewing ads with different perspectives’’ (f=2). Other codes are as follows; ‘’researcher 

identity’ (f=1); ‘’questioning the purpose of the advertising elements’’ (f=1); ‘’accessing 

information sources’’ (f=1) and ‘’incident, situation, etc. analysis with logic components’’ 

(f=1).  The codes under the theme media literacy showing positive contribution of ad analysis 

to the media literacy of the participants include ‘’understanding hidden message of 

advertisements’’ (f=10); ‘’questioning messages of advertisements’’(f=9); ‘’being a media 

literate’’ (f=8); ‘’change in ads perception’’ (f=5); ‘’paying attention to ads messages’’ 

(f=5); ‘’having experience in ads analysis’’ (f=4); ‘’analyzing ads regarding criteria’’ (f=4); 

‘’exploring the purpose of advertising elements’’ (f=2) and ‘’reviewing ads with different 

perspectives’’ (f=2). The following excerpts are related to these themes and codes.  

 ‘’From now on, I can evaluate the ads from a critical perspective. I am aware of the fact 

that each ad has a purpose and includes hidden messages for this purpose. I realize that 



International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2020, 7(4), 1839-1866. 

 

1859 

the use of the features such as color, light etc. is related to the purpose of 
ad.’’(prospective teacher 18) 

 ‘’Advertising is the most important message tool for the promotion of a product. 
Experiencing ad analysis has had a positive impact on media and critical literacy. I have 

gained different perspectives. I realize that I need to review information more critically 

and have knowledge about subject thanks to ad analysis. Thus, I have become a real 
researcher.’’ (prospective teacher 2) 

 ‘’Ads that have not caught my attention interest me now. I think my media literacy has 
improved as I make ad analysis.’’ (prospective teacher 27) 

 ‘’I have gained the ability to think consciously and I often practice what I have learned 

during thinking education course.’’ (prospective teacher 16) 

 ‘’I have started thinking more comprehensively and systematically. I am more conscious 

while thinking.’’ (prospective teacher 25) 
 ‘’After education, I evaluate by using different thoughts and resources and taking into 

account different points of view within the criteria such as accuracy, consistency, etc..’’ 

(prospective teacher 22) 

Qualitative data analysis results on evaluation of thinking education regarding logic 

elements are presented in Table 11. 

Table 11. Qualitative Data Analysis Results on Evaluation of Thinking Education Regarding 

Logic Elements  

Logic 

Elements  

Themes Codes  Frequency 

(f) 

V
ie

w
s 

o
n
 t

h
e
 p

u
rp

o
se

 o
f 

th
in

k
in

g
 e

d
u
c
a
ti

o
n
  

Awareness Awareness of thinking ways 5 

Understanding what thinking means  4 

Needing to think 3 

Awareness of learning ability of critical thinking  2 

Skill Gaining critical thinking skill 13 

Questioning the knowledge  2 

Focusing on research 2 

Thinking skills with logic components  2 

Caring for different perspectives 2 

Personal 

Development 

Providing personal development in thinking skills 4 

A
ss

u
m

p
ti

o
n
s 

a
b
o
u
t 

T
h
in

k
in

g
 E

d
u
c
a
ti

o
n

  Developing a positive attitude towards the course 6 

Learning to think  4 

Acquiring thinking skills 2 

Providing personel development 1 

Learning environment encouraging thinking 1 

Getting different perspectives 1 

Self evaluation on thinking skills  1 

Transfering thinking skills to life 1 

P
ro

c
e
ss

 a
n
d
 R

e
su

lt
s 

Learning and 

Teaching 

Process 

Question and answer 4 

Brainstorming 4 

Six thinking hats 1 

Snowball technique 1 

Concept map 1 

Technology assisted instruction  1 

Case study 1 

Results  Encouraging critical thinking  8 
Encouraging to question  4 

Observing different perspectives 4 

Associating  1 



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1860 

According to Table 11, it is evident that the participants evaluate the thinking education 

course within the logic components which are views on the purpose of thinking education, 

assumptions about thinking education, process and results, possible perspectives on thinking 

education and inferences.  Views on the purpose of thinking education is defined by the 

themes which are awareness, skill and personal development. ‘’Awareness of thinking ways’’ 

(f=5); ‘’understanding what thinking means’’ (f=4); ‘’needing to think’’ (f=3); ‘’awareness 

of learning ability of critical thinking’’ (f=2) are the codes defined under the theme 

awareness. The most frequently expressed code under the theme skill is ‘’gaining critical 

thinking skill’’ (f=13) “Providing personal development in thinking skills’’ (f=4) as the only 

code under the theme personal development.  The most frequently expressed codes related to 

assumptions about thinking education are ‘’developing a positive attitude towards the 

course’’ (f=6); ‘’learning to think’’ (f=4) and ‘’acquiring thinking skills’’ (f=2). Process and 

results is defined by the themes which are learning and teaching process and results. 

‘’Question and answer’’ (f=4) and ‘’brainstorming’’(f=4) are the most frequently expressed 

codes under the theme learning and teaching process. ‘’Encouraging critical thinking’’ (f=8); 

‘’encouraging to question’’ (f=4) and ‘’observing different perspectives’’ (f=4) are the most 

frequently expressed codes under the theme results. The most frequently expressed codes 

related to possible perspectives on thinking education are ‘’being necessary’’ (f=4); ‘’being 

useful’’ (f=4) and ‘’development of thinking skills’’ (f=3). ‘’Positive attitude towards 

thinking education’’ (f=7) and ‘’acquiring critical thinking skills’’ (f=6) are the most 

frequently expressed codes related to inferences. Direct quotations from the participants on 

these themes and codes are given below. 

 ‘’…Thinking education is a necessary and useful course…’’(prospective teacher 1) 

 ‘’This course has contributed to my personal development. Also, it has made me gain a 

different point of view.’’ (prospective teacher 6) 

 ‘’My purpose of taking the course is the same with the purpose of the thinking education 

course. The aim of the course is to raise individuals who think critically and create 

awareness. My aim is to gain different perspectives and develop myself intellectually.’’ 

(prospective teacher 8) 

Making a synthesis 1 

Evaluation 1 

Making inference based on research  1 

Transfering critical thinking to life 1 

Analyzing with logic components 1 

Understanding what thinking means 1 

P
o
ss

ib
le

 

P
e
rs

p
e
c
ti

v
e
s 

o
n
 

th
in

k
in

g
 

e
d
u
c
a
ti

o
n
  

 Being necessary 4 

Being useful 4 

Development of thinking skills  3 

Being effective 2 

Transferability to life 1 

Personel Development 1 

Being unnecessary 1 

In
fe

re
n
c
e
s 

 

 Positive attitude towards thinking education 7 

Acquiring critical thinking skills 6 

Acquiring creative thinking skills 3 

Awareness of what thinking is and how it happens 3 

Experiencing thinking 2 

Acquiring reflective thinking skills 1 

Transferring thinking skills to life  1 



International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2020, 7(4), 1839-1866. 

 

1861 

 ‘’Thinking education leads one to think deeply and in detail. I believe in the importance 

of thinking education.’’ (prospective teacher 9) 

‘’Thinking education has contributed to the development of my thinking skills. It helps 

me to think purposefully and to make in depth analysis by questioning.’’ (prospective 

teacher 16) 

 ‘’Experiencing critical thinking constantly and making evaluations based on our 
experiences have contributed to our ability to gain critical thinking. I think that thinking 

from different perspectives broadens our horizons.’’ (prospective teacher 17) 

4. Conclusion and Discussion  

What is concluded in the research is expressed below and the findings are discussed in the 

context of the literature. It can be inferred from the findings on media literacy that the 

prospective teachers’ post-test media literacy scores have increased after thinking education. 

While the difference between the pre and post-test scores in such factors as having 

knowledge and judging and getting an implicit message is observed, the increase in their 

post-test scores in analyzing and giving reactions isn’t meaningful. These findings indicates 

the efficacy on thinking education on the prospective teachers’ media literacy. This indicates 

the success in thinking education, the goals of which are to train the prospective teachers in 

analyzing, interpreting and evaluating media messages and texts. The prospective teachers, 

having participated in thinking education are equipped with such media literacy skills. Media 

literate prospective teachers also think critically. Feuerstein (1999) finds out that primary 

school students, having trained in terms of media literacy, became capable of thinking 

critically on TV series and newspaper advertisements. Indah (2016) reveals the difference 

between trained learners on media literacy and those, lack of media literacy training in terms 

of the use of higher order of critical thinking. The similar inference are made by Kubey 

(2002) stating students will have higher order critical thinking skills such as critical 

interpretation, analysis and evaluation in case they have been trained on media literacy. As 

identified by Ruggiero (2015), the students become aware of how to apply their critical 

thinking skills upon watching or reading media messages and texts as a result of specific 

exercises. The importance of media literacy in support of critical thinking is expressed by 

Feuerstein (1999) in such a statement “Media literacy aims to develop metacognitive 

reflective strategies by means of study and critical responses towards the content of the media 

and its messages.” Moreover, it is aimed to “develop students’ habits of inquiry and skills of 

expression they need to be critical thinkers, effective communicators and active citizens in 

today’s world” (Facione, 1990). Therefore, being trained in analyzing, interpreting and 

evaluating media messages and texts is a way for the prospective teachers to be both media 

literate and critical thinker.  

In addition to media literacy, increase in post-test mean scores in both critical reading and 

critical writing has been observed. The prospective teachers, having been trained to not only 

read but also write media messages and texts critically, become critical literate is concluded. 

The basic strategies for the integration of media literacy and critical thinking into curriculum, 

offered by Scheibe and Rogow (2008) are implemented through thinking education. As a 

result, thinking education has achieved the goal of training the prospective teachers with 

critical literacy and media literacy skills.  

From the prospective teachers’ points of view, learning outcomes of thinking education 

are stated as realizing the bias of media messages and implicit meaning of media messages, 

having positive attitudes towards thinking education, judging based on facts and information, 

having positive attitudes towards searching for information, questioning media messages and 

having critical thinking skills. These findings show that the prospective teachers have gained 



Yavuz-Konokman 

    

1862 

not only reading and writing critically but also affective features after thinking education.  

Because  the prospective teachers are enabled to be equipped with these skills through having 

chance to interpret the media messages and texts in terms of the parts of thoughts such as 

point of view, assumption, inference, conclusion, etc. and such logic standards as clarity, 

accuracy, precision, etc. According to Paul and Elder (2002), a clear understanding of the 

parts of thinking, applying the logic standards for thinking to those parts, above all thinking 

with regard to these factors will improve critical thinking skills and the quality of human life 

will be significantly improved.  

 The effects of thinking education on the prospective teachers’ critical literacy are 

expressed as questioning everytime, being a researcher, doubting the accuracy of the 

information, examining any text from different perspectives, using different sources of 

information, transferring critical thinking skills into daily life, gaining critical literacy 

awareness, understanding the importance of critical literacy. Moreover, thinking on media 

messages critically, analyzing media messages in detail and noticing the implicit media 

messages are the other views focusing on the positive effect of thinking education on the 

prospective teachers’ reading media messages and text critically. In addition to its’ positive 

effect on their critical literacy, another positive effect is stated to be on the prospective 

teachers’ media literacy. These positive effects are explained as gaining critical thinking 

skills, questioning media messages, noticing the implicit media messages, examining media 

messages from different perspective, having awareness of being a media literate, discovering 

bias of media messages, reading media messages objectively, evaluating media messages 

using different sources of information, being a researcher, having theoretical knowledge 

about media messages analysis. The occurrence of the positive effects of thinking education 

on the prospective teachers’ both critical literacy and media literacy indicates that how to 

think critically has been experienced in thinking education at the classroom and these 

experiences make them equipped with critical thinking skills. According to many researchers 

(Indah, 2006; Scheibe and Rogow, 2008; Worsnop, 2004) media literacy also includes critical 

thinking, required to be critical literate. Critical thinking is an indispensable way to critical 

literacy and media literacy. Therefore, it is expected that the effects of thinking education on 

the prospective teachers’ literacies are similar in terms of critical thinking skills.  

It is observed that before thinking education the prospective teachers define their critical 

literacy levels by using negative adjectives, pointing out their thinking action, ways of 

thinking and their competency in thinking critically. In general produced adjectives before 

thinking education symbolize the prospective teachers’ incompetency in critical thinking and 

questioning. In contrast, at the end of the thinking education the adjectives point out the 

prospective teachers’ awareness of how to read and write critically and their competency in 

critical literacy. In addition, adjectives generated to delineate the prospective teachers’ media 

literacy before thinking education have negative meanings, including incompetency, negative 

attitudes and unawareness of the act of thinking. Furthermore, the adjectives produced after 

thinking education show that some thinking skills such as criticism, scrutiny, inference, 

comparison, etc. are acquired after thinking education. Moreover, adjectives emphasizing the 

importance of media literacy and the desire to be media literate are produced by the 

prospective teachers having been trained in media literacy.  As opposed to the beginning of 

thinking education when the prospective teachers are incompetent in thinking on media 

messages critically, they gain media literacy skills and become aware of the ways and actions 

of media literacy. To sum up, it can be stated that the prospective teachers' awareness to both 

critical and media literacy and their competencies in these field have increased through 

thinking education. 



International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2020, 7(4), 1839-1866. 

 

1863 

The prospective teachers’ mostly choice in Figure D, symbolizing the complete 

intersection of the prospective teachers’ competencies and critical literacy indicates their high 

level of critical literacy after thinking education. The reasons for their high critical literacy 

are stated as obtaining critical literate identity, learning how to read critically, getting 

experience, reinforcement of information, gaining self-confidence, independence from 

prejudices and having a positive attitude. Similarly, that the prospective teachers have mostly 

chosen Figure C and D, symbolizing their high level of competency in media literacy proves 

the efficacy of thinking education. The reasons for their high level of competency in media 

literacy are stated as obtaining media literacy identity, researching for media resources, 

questioning media messages, gaining self-confidence, observing different perspectives, 

following media, having experiences in interpreting media messages, being critical,  having 

continuous interaction with the media, discovering the bias of the media, being curious and 

aware of media literacy. As a result, the prospective teachers has acquired such skills as 

analyzing, interpreting and evaluating media messages and media texts through thinking 

education. Moreover, in addition to media literacy skills, they feel confidence in analyzing 

and criticizing media messages.  

It is concluded that the prospective teachers generally find themselves competent in 

critical and media literacy after media message reading and evaluation activity. Following 

different media sources, learning how to question media messages, discovering the bias of 

media messages, making inferences, evaluating messages as regards logic components, being 

objective and curious, getting rid of prejudices, searching for facts and information are the 

prospective teachers’  behaviors, leading to their self confidence in critical and media 

literacy. In addition, ad analysis activity contributes the prospective teachers’ literacies. The 

prospective teachers are experienced in questioning, thinking critically, capturing hidden 

message of advertisements, reviewing ads with different perspectives, accessing information 

sources and analyzing ads with logic components through ad analysis activity. 

  The results of their evaluation of thinking education within the logic components such 

as views on the purpose of thinking education, assumptions about thinking education, process 

and results, possible perspectives on thinking education and inferences also prove the 

efficacy of thinking education on their critical and media literacies.  From the prospective 

teachers’ points of view, the purposes of thinking education are listed as being aware of 

thinking ways, understanding what thinking means, being aware of learnability of critical 

thinking, gaining critical thinking skills, developing personally in thinking skills. Upon 

reviewing their views on the purposes of thinking education, it can be concluded that thinking 

education has reached the goals of making the prospective teachers develop their critical 

thinking skills. According to the prospective teachers, assumptions about thinking education 

are developing a positive attitude towards thinking education, learning to think and acquiring 

thinking skills. This indicates the efficacy of thinking education on the prospective teachers’ 

not only cognitive skills but also their affective features. Considering their evaluation on 

thinking education in terms of the process and the results, question and answer as well as 

brainstorming are the instructional techniques used in thinking education to analyze, 

interpret, criticize and evaluate media messages. When thinking education is evaluated in 

terms of possible perspectives, it is seen as a necessary training. Moreover, it is inferred by 

the prospective teachers that they have acquired critical thinking skills and a positive attitude 

towards thinking education. 

 Skolverket (2011 cited in Ekvall, 2013) lists the goals of education as equipping the 

students with such properties as being creative, competent and responsible and developing 

“their ability to examine facts and relationships critically”. That is to say, Skolverket’s views 

on the goals of education and the results of this research point out the necessity to be equiped 



Yavuz-Konokman 

    

1864 

with media and critical literacy. Therefore, such courses dealing with media literacy 

education and critical literacy education can be integrated into teacher education programs 

independent from any subject or a discipline. Despite such an important educational goals, 

critical literacy is difficult to be integrated into curriculum (Kunnath  and Jackson, 2019). 

Behrman (2006) explains the reason of the difficulty in integration as lack of instructional 

methods and strategies. However, Scheibe and Rogow (2008) explain basic ways to integrate 

media literacy and critical thinking into any curriculum. These can be exemplified as 

enabling students to think critically about information on media; (2) pointing out the 

possibility of different interpretation of media messages by people with different points of 

view; (3) discussing both printed and image or sound based texts on media; (4) enabling 

students to determine and make comment on the latent elements of media messages (5) being 

model as a teacher presenting how to think critically on media texts (6) developing an 

awareness of issues of credibility and perspective, comparing the ways different media  

present information about a topic, etc. In similar, media literacy and critical literacy can be 

integrated into a curriculum in teacher education in such a way that the prospective teachers 

have a chance to practice thinking critically on media messages, interpreting the latent 

elements of media messages, following the process of thinking critically, modelled by their 

teachers and searching for information on the topic of media texts, questioning media 

messages by regarding such standards as clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, logic, 

breadth, significance, fairness, comparing the ways different media  present information 

about a topic, discussing the different points of view of various media texts, analyzing media 

content in terms of misleading information on media texts. Therefore, it can be concluded 

that integration of media literacy and critical literacy into any curriculum can take place 

regarding the instructional points stated above. Moreover, Equipped the students with these 

cognitive skills has become the educational goals from primary education to higher 

education. Therefore, thinking education or others, named differently but having the goals of 

training critical and media literate individuals, have become indispensable for all of us and 

should be integrated into teacher education programs as a separate lesson. Moreover, critical 

thinking skills, necessary for individuals not only for their daily life but also their working 

place should be learning outcomes of all lessons in teacher education programs. Subject or 

discipline specific content should be studied with critical thinking activities simultaneously 

for each lesson.  

5. Conflict of Interest  

The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.  

 

6. Ethics Committee Approval 

The author confirms that the study does not need ethics committee approval according to 

the research integrity rules in their country.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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1865 

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