The Effectiveness of De Bono's Six Thinking Hats Technique in the Development of Critical Thinking and Numerical Sense in Mathematics Education in Oman

Abstract

The primary goal of education is to develop the students' minds, including critical thinking and numerical sense. To develop these skills, a teacher is well-advised to use modern techniques and one of these is De Bono's Six Thinking Hats technique. We hypothesized that De Bono’s technique applied to teaching math would substantially increase the skills of students. Participants in the experimental group (N = 34) received a treatment based upon the Six Thinking Hats technique, and participants in the control group (N = 35) received an alternative treatment. Data were analyzed using means, standard deviations, t-tests, and effect sizes. Skills increased much more for the experimental group. It is clear that the Six Thinking Hats technique was highly effective in developing math skills, and various reasons were discussed. It is recommended to consider extending the use of the Six Hats technique to the teaching of all the mathematics courses in secondary education, and focus on preparing activities that enable students to practice critical thinking skills and numerical sense.