Creating Critical Thinkers
OfflineWhat is the purpose of higher education? What is the responsibility of an online instructor? The answers to these questions vary depending who is asked (and when). However, I think at the heart of every answer lies a common theme: online instructors should help students become critical thinkers so that this skill can help students make the most of their lives.
As any online instructor, at times I struggle with getting my students to think critically. With the excess of information available online, it is too easy to find a site (hopefully not Wikipedia) and form an opinion based on that one site's perspective. Challenging students to go beyond this single point of view and gather information until a decision can be made that is based on accuracy, authority, purpose, and objectivity is my responsibility and one that I do not take lightly.
To stimulate my students, I often employ Socratic questioning in our discussions and in my feedback. By arousing their curiosity and encouraging additional questioning, I have seen some students provide additional thoughts about the topic and at times, change their points of view. In the article "Using Socratic Questioning to Promote Critical Thinking Skills Through Asynchronous Discussion Forums in Distance Learning Environment," the research showed that the online environment was conducive to Socratic questioning since the environment "affords students the time for thoughtful analysis, composition, negotiation, and reflection as their discussion of an issue evolves" (Yang, Newby, & Bill, 2005, p. 179). Since our students are able to access our discussions and feedback every day, why not present them with the additional challenge of developing critical thinking skills?
Reference:
Yang, Y.C., Newby, T.J., & Bill, R.L. (2005). Using Socratic questioning to promote critical thinking skills through asynchronous discussion forums in distance learning environments. American Journal Of Distance Education, 19(3), 163-181. doi:10.1207/s15389286ajde1903_4
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4 Comments
Lisa,
Excellent article. It quickly prompted me to dig deeper. I found the following article with I believe is a great follow-up. See this link -- http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/the-role-of-socratic-questioning-in-thinking-teaching-learning/522
That is an excellent article, Bryan. As Lisa stated, the online discussion forums are certainly conducive to Socratic questioning.
I also believe that we must insist that our students exercise critical thinking in their written assignments. The GCU rubrics call for this, but holding students accountable to demonstrating this critical thinking takes time and persistence. I often find that the first paper students write for me is their worst. Many times students will start the class by presenting a very verbose document, which has very little depth. In fact, truth be told, it may not even demonstrate a surface understanding of the topic at hand, let alone a deep understanding. By leaving questions, rather than comments, throughout a student's paper, I can stimulate their thinking, while at the same time demonstrate the depth of thought I am expecting in their papers. Some may express concern, but in almost all cases, students will rise to the occasion and their second paper will reflect research and that depth of understanding I want them to have.
So, in both the discussion forum, and in the written assignments, I think Socratic questioning is relevant and helpful to leading our students to learning through critical thinking.
Becky
Hi Lisa,
This is a very good strategy. I think that one of the best ways to promote higher-order thinking in the online modality is to employ Socratic questioning. This creates a classroom where students need to dig deeper into a topic and create more substance in their responses. This also prepares them to have the critical thinking skills that help to become successful in the rest of their program.
Rick
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