Ted talks and thinking skills

Abstract

The present study intends to cover research with the topic “Ted talks and Thinking Skills”, which aims to determine a relationship between the use of Ted Talks and the influence on Thinking Skills in students of 9th semester of the Languages Career at Universidad Técnica de Ambato. The information needed in this project was gathered by quali-quantitative approach as well as experimental research. Pre and post-tests were applied based on the international exam “Thinking Skills Assessment” (TSA) developed by Cambridge and as its name refers to this type of test measures thinking skills. The same test was applied at the beginning and in the end of the study. The original test of Thinking Skills is composed of 50 questions divided into two categories that evaluate Problem-Solving and Critical-Thinking abilities. In the experiment, it was adapted to 20 questions of the two categories. The population did not present a control group but an experimental group of 22 participants formed of 14 women and 8 men who were exposed to four sessions planned around the use of Ted talks. Furthermore, the statistical test T-student was applied in order to establish the hypothesis. Regarding the results of the investigation, it has been concluded that the use of Ted talks has no significant relationship with Thinking Skills. However, the students had a better performance in the Problem-Solving section