Abstract:

The aim of the study is to examine the relationship between 21st century skills and digital literacy levels of 5th grade students and critical thinking tendencies in terms of various variables. In order to determine the relationship between these variables, relational screening model was used in the research. The sample of the research consists of 126 students studying at the 5th grade level in Malatya Atatürk Secondary School. “21st Century Skills Scale for Secondary School Students”, “Digital Literacy Scale” and “Critical Thinking Tendency Scale” were used to collect the data of the research. In the analysis of the obtained data, t-test, One-Way Analysis of Variance, Tukey HSD Test analyses were used. As a result of the research, it was determined that the 21st century skill levels were not very high and the digital literacy and critical thinking tendency levels were high. In addition, it was found that there was a significant difference between 21st century skills and mother’s education status, father’s education status, and regular reading of books; there was a significant difference between digital literacy levels, gender, and the duration of daily use of technological devices; It was found that there was a significant difference between critical thinking tendencies and gender, father's education status, and daily technological device usage time. As a result of the correlations, it was found that there is a significant relationship between the 21st century skills and digital literacy levels of fifth grade students and their critical thinking tendencies, it was also determined that there was no significant relationship between 21st century skills and digital literacy levels and critical thinking tendencies.

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