Chronotype Differences in Critical Thinking Skills Among Senior High School Students

The ultimate goal of K-12 program of the Department of Education is to provide every Filipino child with the education he needs and eventually to compete in the global context; whereas, critical thinking skills are reiterated as one of the vital solutions to diagnose the lapses in the Philippine educational system. However, according to many researchers, there are notable factors that can affect the development of critical thinking skills of students such as chronotype or the time preference of individuals. Accordingly, differences in sleep patterns are accompanied by the differences in the timing of peak cognitive performance which is also a manifestation of maximum activation of critical thinking skills of a learner. The significance of this study therefore lies on its intention to provide an inquiry-based data in understanding the academic performance of senior high school students through their perceived critical thinking skills with regards to their school-rhythms or their most favorable time-of-day for learning. If teachers and program developers are able to assess their student’s chronotype, then there would be high possibility in achieving the genuine teaching-learning process in the department. In the light of the findings of the study, the following conclusions are presented: (1) The grade 11 senior high schools’ students are morning-type. (2) Students who often manifest inquisitiveness may have a good level of interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, explanation, and self-regulation as dimensions of critical thinking skills. (3) The students have the same perceptions on the level of different dimensions of their critical thinking skills regardless of their senior high school track affiliation. Moreover, (4) the chronotype or time preference of Grade 11 senior high school students does not affect the level of their critical thinking skills.