Critical Thinking and Environmental Problem Solving: Evaluation of an Educational Intervention in a Rural School

Abstract

The development of critical thinking in rural education is essential for bridging cognitive gaps and fostering active citizenship in the face of territorial biophysical crises. The objective of this article was to evaluate the impact of a teaching intervention based on solving environmental problems to enhance critical thinking among rural lower secondary students in the department of Caquetá, Colombia. Methodologically, a quantitative approach was implemented using a pre-experimental pretest-posttest design with a census sample of 41 students in sixth and seventh grades. The variable was operationalized according to Tamayo’s taxonomy, measuring four progressive levels (descriptive, simple explanatory, explanatory with justification, and critical-propositional) using a validated psychometric questionnaire (α = 0.957) structured around five environmental thematic areas. The results revealed a statistically significant cognitive shift following the intervention (p<0.001 according to the Wilcoxon test) in all areas assessed. Students progressed from baseline levels that were predominantly “explanatory with justification” and “simple explanatory” toward the highest level, “critical-propositional,” with the theme of climate change standing out as the area of greatest analytical advancement and sustainable production as the area of greatest metric precision. It is concluded that the systematic and flexible inclusion of local issues in curriculum design—moving beyond isolated workshops—serves as an efficient driver of pedagogical transformation. This strategy reduces conceptual abstraction and optimizes students’ argumentative and propositional skills, overcoming the structural and technological limitations of the rural environment..