Open-Closed Mindedness and an Inquiry-Oriented Social Studies Methods Course

Abstract

A social studies methods course focused on preparing teachers to teach students skills of critical thinking was studied. The course concentrated on the examination of assumptions underlying social studies curricular decisions and on critical thinking skills. Discussion, rather than lecture, was the primary method of instruction. The Dogmatism, F-, and Rigidity Scales were administered as measures of open-closed mindedness. Correlations were run to determine if scores on the three scales were related to ratings of the instructor by the students, using the University of Washington Survey of Student Opinion of Teaching, or to achievement in the course. Scores on the personality measures showed no consistent relationship with ratings of the instructor. There also were no significant relationships between the personality measures and the measures of learning. With a larger sample, many of the correlations would have been statistically significant, even though the relationships were educationally trivial.