Abstract

Improving critical thinking capacity for long-term training students at the Military Technical Academy is a core requirement in building a revolutionary, regular, elite, and modern military force in Vietnam’s current era of national advancement. This study conceptualizes the improvement of critical thinking capacity as a purposeful, organized intervention by educational subjects aimed at the synchronous development of four constituent elements: knowledge, skills, attitudes, and personal qualities of students. The process enables students to receive, process, and evaluate information in an objective, logical, and dialectical manner, thereby enhancing the quality of learning, scientific research, and comprehensive training while meeting the Academy’s output standards for military officers-engineers.
The research identifies three basic factors that determine the effectiveness of this improvement process: (1) the quality of education, training, and development provided by the Academy (including curriculum, teaching methods, assessment, and practical activities); (2) the military pedagogical cultural environment (democratic academic atmosphere, discipline, political orientation, and interpersonal relationships); and (3) subjective factors of the students themselves (initial knowledge level, learning motivation, self-study awareness, and personal qualities such as intellectual independence and responsibility). These factors exist in a dialectical relationship, interact with one another, and collectively shape the quality of critical thinking development.
The study clarifies conceptions, contents, forms, and methods of improvement, emphasizing the integration of theoretical education with practical military training. It highlights that enhancing critical thinking capacity not only serves as an important educational outcome but also acts as a decisive means for training high-quality military engineers who possess intellectual fortitude, creativity, and the ability to fulfill command, management, and technical missions in the new situation.