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Online discussion forums offer a great opportunity for students to engage in critical thinking since they have time to reflect and prepare responses.  However, students do not always engage in higher-level critical thinking in asynchronous discussions. As course instructors, we have the responsibility to facilitate critical thinking in the forums.

This presentation will discuss levels of critical thinking and research- based instructor responses that can promote or hinder critical thinking skills.  Bridging the gap between lower level and higher level critical thinking skills is also described.  Questioning strategies, such as using Bloom's Taxonomy, will be covered to emphasize critical thinking in discussion forums.  Shelley explains how to be proactive by setting expectations and she shows examples of instructor responses and a critical thinking rubric that you may use or adapt for your classroom.  Lastly, assessment is examined to ensure that as instructors, we provide specific feedback to guide students toward exhibiting higher-level critical thinking skills in their posts.          

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