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Transcript of Developing Critical Thinking Skills through Distance Education Developing Critical Thinking Skills...
Developing Critical Thinking Skills through Distance Education
Walden University
EDUC-7102 Principles of Distance Education
Tiffany Wilkinson
What is Critical Thinking?
Schafersman (1991) describes it as:– thinking in pursuit of relevant and
reliable knowledge– reasonable, reflective, responsible, and
skillful thinking
Why is critical thinking in education important?
It is our goal teach students to:– ask appropriate questions– gather relevant information– sort through information– have logical reason
(Schafersman, 1991)
… general skill levels needed are going up…
…skill levels are going down…
… will remain crucial the education of the work force and the economy’s
performance…
… pressure to teach critical thinking skills…
… will fall on educational institutions…
William T. Daily
(Schafersman, 1991)
Can Critical Thinking be Taught through Distance Education?
“We should be teaching students how to think. Instead, we are teaching
them what to think." Clement and Lochhead
(Schafersman, 1991)
Social Presence
Teaching Presence
Cognitive Presence
The Educational Experience
Supporting Discorse
Selecting Content
Selecting Climate
Borris & Hall, 2006
Bloom’s Taxonomy (2009)
Knowledge
Understand
Apply
Analyze
Evaluate
Create
Teaching Strategies that Support Critical Thinking
• Ask questions of students and encourage students to ask questions
• Expect students to formulate answers to questions in their own words
• Motivate students to use effort through grading criteria for participation in discussions
• Stimulate students to give examples of concepts being studied
• Phrase questions to students that require additional independent research or reading
• Reinforce students’ use of critical thinking through positive reinforcement
(Lunney, Frederickson, Spark, & McDuffie, n.d.)
Learning Communities involved in Critical Thinking
Members of learning communities– question one another– request, of each other, reasons for belief– build upon one another's ideas– deliberate amongst themselves– point out possible counter examples to the
hypotheses of others– utilize specific criteria when making judgments– cooperate in the development of rational problem-
solving techniques
(Anderson & Garrison, 1995)
• Asynchronous Learning Tools – Threaded discussions– Blogs –Wikis– Podcasts
(Mandernach, 2006)
Online Activities that Support Critical Thinking
Benefits of Critical Thinking
• Less easily manipulated • Think more independently• Understand the viewpoints of others• Require high standards of thinking
from ourselves as well as others
(Why critical thinking?, n.d.)
Needed
for our
Future
Critical Thinking
Anderson, T. D. & Garrison, D. R. (1995). Critical thinking in distance education: developing critical communities in an audio teleconference. Higher education. Retrieved October 9, 2009, from http://auspace.athabascau.ca:8080/dspace/bitstream/2149/835/1/critical_thinking.pdf
Bloom’s taxonomy of learning domains: the three types of learning. (2009, May). Big dog and little dog’s performance juxtaposition. Retrieved October 15, from http://www.nwlink.com/~Donclark/hrd/bloom.html
Borris, G. & Hall, T. (2006). Critical thinking and online learning: a practical inquiry perspective in higher education. University of Wisconsin-Extention. Retrieved October 30, 2009, from http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/Resource_library/proceedings/04_1288.pdf
Lunney, M., Frederickson, K., Spark, A., & McDuffie, G. (n.d.). Facilitating critical thinking through online courses. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, Volume 12: Issue 3-4. Retrieved October 30, 2009, from http://media.wiley.com/product_ancillary/17/08138160/DOWNLOAD/6%20facilitating%20critical%20thinking%20in%20online%20courses.pdf
Mandernach, B.J. (2006). Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking: Integrating Online Tools to Promote Critical Thinking. InSight: A Collection of Faculty Scholarship. Retrieved October 30, 2009, from http://www.insightjournal.net/Volume1/Thinking%20Critically%20about%20Critical%20Thinking-%20Integrating%20Online%20Tools%20to%20Promote%20Critical%20Thinking.pdf
Schafersman, S. (1991). An introduction to critical thinking. Retrieved October 9, 2009, from http://www.freeinquiry.com/critical-thinking.html
Why critical thinking? (n.d.) York University. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from http://www.yorku.ca/web/index.htm
References