Critical thinking (CT) is “reflective thinking that is used to make reasonable and defensive decisions” (McBride, 1992, p. 115). Physical education preservice teachers need to “demonstrate the ability to think critically about physical activity issues” and facilitate student learning outcomes such as CT (NASPE, 2008). CT is fundamental to effective teaching and should be integrated into physical education teacher education (PETE) programs (Elder, 2005; Saxton, Belanger, & Becker, 2012). Teachers’ understanding of CT helps develop their pedagogical teaching skills and influences their future teaching practices (e.g., Minor, 2002; Phan, 2010). Background Voluntary participants were 12 (4 females, 8 males, aged 21-40) preservice PE teachers recruited from a Physical Education Teacher Certificate Program at a major Texas university. Data were collected through four 40-minutes focus group interviews. Data were analyzed using constant comparison (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Trustworthiness was attained through prolonged exposure (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) and peer debriefing (Merriam, 2009). Method Physical Education Preservice Teachers’ Understanding of Critical Thinking Jiling Liu, Susan Wagner, Ping Xiang, & Ron E. McBride, Health & Kinesiology Department Texas A&M University “I think our project for building the curriculum for the year really made us think critically, because we have to think about the different steps involved in planning the whole program. It took a lot of time and a lot of critical thinking to really get that done.” “we learned this in preparing our lesson plans, because we’re thinking of critical questions to ask our students, and just if the activities we’re choosing work or not,.” “So I think that [mentor teacher’s feedback] got me thinking critically about what part of the lesson went well and what didn’t and why they did or didn’t go well.” “I think our project for building the curriculum for the year really made us think critically, because we have to think about the different steps involved in planning the whole program. It took a lot of time and a lot of critical thinking to really get that done.” “we learned this in preparing our lesson plans, because we’re thinking of critical questions to ask our students, and just if the activities we’re choosing work or not,.” “So I think that [mentor teacher’s feedback] got me thinking critically about what part of the lesson went well and what didn’t and why they did or didn’t go well.” “One way that I apply critical thinking is during the closure and I go back over the skills learned with the students and ask them higher-level questions.” “Another way is through the teaching style, divergent teaching style where I pretty much set up the lesson and the students come to their own conclusions.” “We do this [applying CT] through we providing feedback to our students during the lessons that we teach in schools.” “One way that I apply critical thinking is during the closure and I go back over the skills learned with the students and ask them higher-level questions.” “Another way is through the teaching style, divergent teaching style where I pretty much set up the lesson and the students come to their own conclusions.” “We do this [applying CT] through we providing feedback to our students during the lessons that we teach in schools.” The current study examined, (1) how preservice teachers understood and applied CT during their capstone methods course and field-based practices, and (2) what factors they perceived as contributing to their CT development. Purpose “Because in PE you’re trying to keep them active, it’s hard to balance the activity and the time for critical thinking.” “You think it’s a good question but the kids don’t really care about answering questions at the end of the class.” “Because in PE you’re trying to keep them active, it’s hard to balance the activity and the time for critical thinking.” “You think it’s a good question but the kids don’t really care about answering questions at the end of the class.” “I believe it [CT] is reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe and not to believe, and what to do and not to do.” “[CT is] the higher-order of questioning and thinking to be able to understand and evaluate yourself and your teaching. “I believe it [CT] is reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe and not to believe, and what to do and not to do.” “[CT is] the higher-order of questioning and thinking to be able to understand and evaluate yourself and your teaching.