Thinking Skills and Creativity 53 (2024) 101584 Available online 30 June 2024 1871-1871/© 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. An action research to develop critical thinking skills in the context of citizenship education in higher education Arzu Saldıray a, * , Ahmet Do˘ ganay b a Nevs¸ehir Hacı Bektas¸ Veli University, Faculty of Education, Nevs¸ehir, Turkiye b Çukurova University, Faculty of Education, Adana, Turkiye A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Critical thinking skills Critical citizenship approach Distinguishing the argument Writing pedagogy Online group discussions ABSTRACT This article aims to demonstrate how critical thinking skills can be developed as a citizenship competence in higher education. Critical thinking skills are necessary for citizens to participate in democratic processes effectively and consciously. The participants of this “action research” based study are the researcher who conducts the undergraduate course Contemporary World Issues and 30 preservice social studies teachers taking this course. Action research was conducted through distance education at a university during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected through Zoom lessons, student products, semi-structured interviews, semi-structured focus group in- terviews, and WhatsApp text conversations. Descriptive and content analyses were conducted using MAXQDA 2020 software. According to the research findings, a curriculum based on dis- tinguishing arguments, writing pedagogy, and online group discussions improved students’ critical thinking skills. Students used distinguishing arguments as a cognitive framework for solving social and political problems and thus developed citizenship competence. Throughout the process, feedback was found to be quite functional. The curriculum used in the action research process can be recommended for use in the development of critical thinking skills as a citizenship competency in higher education. 1. Introduction and context With an increase in international migration, population movement, and globalization, heterogeneous societies have developed multi-ethnic and multicultural characteristics, requiring the consideration of citizenship education from new perspectives (Darmanin & European Students’ Union, 2020). While modern society is progressing toward individualization, life lived within the framework of rules is moving away from being linear, and life itself has come to involve questioning what the rules are Veugelers, (2007). Indi- vidualization, in which individuals are expected to make increasingly many choices in a globalized world, continues to clash with globalization. Current pedagogical practices associated with citizenship in educational institutions must be addressed and imple- mented to respond to contemporary concerns. The contribution of civic education and critical thinking skills is more crucial than ever these days when complexity and continuous uncertainty are experienced more intensely in everyday life as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, (2022). There is widespread acceptance of the necessity and importance of critical thinking regarding citizens’ participation in democracy This study is based on the findings of the first author’s doctoral dissertation prepared under the supervision of the second author. * Corresponding author at: Department of Educational Sciences, Nevs¸ehir Hacı Bektas¸ Veli University, 50300, Nevsehir, Turkey. E-mail address: arzusaldiray@nevsehir.edu.tr (A. Saldıray). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Thinking Skills and Creativity journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tsc https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2024.101584 Received 13 April 2023; Received in revised form 26 June 2024; Accepted 27 June 2024