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