Facilitating online discussions effectively

This article presents a synthesis of the theoretical and research literature on facilitating asynchronous online discussions effectively. Online courses need to be designed so that they provide motivation for students to engage in productive discussions and clearly describe what is expected, perhaps in the form of a discussion rubric. Additionally, instructors need to provide discussion forums for socio-emotional discussions that have the goal of nurturing a strong sense of community within the course as well as group discussion forums for content-and task-oriented discussions that center on authentic topics. In order to facilitate discussions effectively, instructors should generate a social presence in the virtual classroom, avoid becoming the center of all discussions by emphasizing student–student interactions, and attend to issues of social equity arising from use of different communication patterns by culturally diverse students [e.g., Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., and Archer, W. (2001). Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer conferencing in distance education. The American Journal of Distance Education, 15(1), 7–23; Rovai, A. P. (2003). Strategies for grading online discussions: Effects on discussions and classroom community in Internet-based university courses. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 15(1), 89–107].     

在英语阅读课中培养学生批判性思维能力

在我国的传统教学过程中,对批判性思维能力在教学中的运用和培养不够重视,在英语阅读教学中更是如此。由于英语阅读中对学生的语言结构和信息处理的要求比较高,需要学生对阅读文本进行深层次的理解,因此,就需要学生充分发挥出主体性批判性的阅读技能。大多数学生批判性思维能力不够强,所以,教师需要注意在英语阅读教学中培养学生的批判性思维能力。本文就批判性思维的含义和重要性进行研究,并探讨在英语阅读中培养学生批判性思维能力的对策,以便有效的提高学生的批判性思维能力,提高英语阅读效率。     

The role of students' motivation in peer‐moderated asynchronous online discussions

This study conducted a content analysis of online discussions to understand the nature of computer‐supported collaborative learning and discover how students' motivation, which is a crucial factor to the success of collaborative learning, relates with their interaction and knowledge construction in peer‐moderated online discussions. Discussion contents from 23 students in an online class were analysed. The results indicated that perceived value, competence and autonomy were critical factors that influenced lower level interactions; intrinsic motivation was the critical factor that influenced the individualistic elaboration interactions, whereas relatedness was the critical factor that influenced the collaborative elaboration interactions. The results also indicated that autonomy and relatedness were the critical factors that influenced the moderation behaviours. The findings suggest that teachers in online classes should promote students' motivation, and more importantly, scaffold student moderators in meaningful learning during peer‐moderated online discussions.     

Taking critical thinking,creativity and grit online

Technology has the potential to facilitate the development of higher-order thinking skills in learning. There has been a rush towards online learning by education systems during COVID-19; this can therefore be seen as an opportunity to develop students’ higher-order thinking skills. In this short report we show how critical thinking and creativity can be developed in an online context, as well as highlighting the importance of grit. We also suggest the importance of heuristic evaluation in the design of online systems to support twenty-first century learning.

     

Influences affecting the development of students' critical thinking skills

This study estimates the relative and unique effects on changes in critical thinking of three dimensions of students' college experience: curricular exposure, formal classroom and instructional experiences, and out-of-class experiences. Students' classroom/instructional and out-of-class experiences both make positive, statistically significant, and unique contributions to gains in critical thinking above and beyond students' precollege characteristics and level of critical thinking. Theoreticians have long speculated that students' academic and nonacademic experiences jointly influence change, and this study supports that belief. The design and instruments in this study may be of interest to persons involved in assessment or the study of college impact.Paper presented at the meeting of the Association for Institutional Research, New Orleans, LA, May 1993.The National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, and Assessment is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), under Grant No. R117G10037. The opinions herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policies of OERI, and no official endorsement should be inferred.     

The effects of environment‐based education on students' critical thinking skills and disposition toward critical thinking

This study examined the relationship between environment‐based education and high school students' critical thinking skills and disposition toward critical thinking. Four hundred four 9^th and 12^th grade students from 11 Florida high schools participated in the study. A Pretest‐Posttest Nonequivalent Comparison Group Design (9^th grade) and a Posttest Only Nonequivalent Comparison Group Design (12^th grade) were used. Interviews of students and teachers were used in the classic sense of triangulation. Data collection took place over the 2001–2002 school year. When controlling for pretest score, grade point average (GPA), gender, and ethnicity, environment‐based programs had a positive effect on 9^th grade students' critical thinking skills (p=.002). When controlling for GPA, gender, and ethnicity, environment‐based programs had a positive effect on 12^th grade students' critical thinking skills (p < .001) and disposition toward critical thinking (p < .001). The results of this study support the use of environment‐based education for improving critical thinking and can be used to guide future implementation.     

Challenges to improving higher education students' critical thinking capacity in China

Drawing on data from the 2016 National Assessment of Collegiate Capacity in China, the study on which this article reports explored the value-added effects of critical thinking capacity in higher education. Specifically, the analysis was developed using the difference in residuals model based on the Hierarchical Linear Modelling approach. The results show that, first, critical thinking capacity is malleable and can be improved through undergraduate education. Second, the results demonstrate that the value-added effects of undergraduate education on college students' critical thinking capacity are heterogeneous. Only half of the value-added effects achieved in higher education in China were positive. Third, the size of value-added effects was not fully aligned with the level of the institutions. High-ranking universities did not always perform well in achieving high value-added effects on critical thinking capacity. This study analyses the reasons why some universities in China face insurmountable challenges in efforts to improve college students' critical thinking capacity. Challenges are highlighted from multiple perspectives. Corresponding improvement strategies are proposed in the concluding discussion.     

英语议论文写作教学中学生批判性思维能力的培养

目前学生的写作能力不是很理想。原因是教师在教学中过多的注重语法,阅读等能力的培养,而忽略了学生思维能力的提升。写作作为思维输出能力的重要体现。议论文作为重要的写作题材之一,教师可以从选材,同伴互评,教师评价,反馈日记等多样形式来培养学生的批判性思维能力。     

浅谈培养非英语专业学生批判性思维的英语阅读策略

目前学生的阅读水平并不理想,原因在于教师过多的运用题海战术来对学生进行应试的阅读训练,从而忽视了学生在阅读过程中批判性思维能力的培养。作者从7个方面的阅读策略出发,试图通过此方法提高学生的批判性思维能力,进而提高学生的阅读水平。     

Student-facilitators' roles in moderating online discussions

Intellectual, social, managerial and technical are four commonly reported categories of facilitation in online discussions. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether these four broad categories of facilitation were equally applied in online discussions and which specific skills were perceived to be more important. In this study, students were facilitators of online discussions. Each student-facilitator led a group discussion and participated in two additional discussions moderated by other student-facilitators. Three groups of students were selected for data collection. Results indicated that the intellectual, social and managerial categories of facilitation were highly applied, while technical facilitation was less used in the online discussions. Also, summarising discussions was perceived to be the top facilitation skill. This paper presents findings of the study and discusses issues involved in the study.     

英语专业学生批判性阅读思维能力培养探究

批判性思维的是创新能力培养的核心。相关理论的学习和研究,创设良好的课堂气氛和教育环境,设计合理的课堂教学模式,让学生形成积极思维的习惯并且进行广泛的阅读。     

Beyond critical thinking skills: Investigating the relationship between critical thinking skills and dispositions through different online instructional strategies

The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) the relationship between critical thinking skills (CTS) and critical thinking dispositions (CTD), and (2) the effectiveness of different levels of instructional strategy (asynchronous online discussions (AODs), CTS instruction via AODs, and CTS instruction with CTD cultivation via AODs) in improving students' CTS and CTD. A pretest and posttest quasi-experimental design was employed to achieve this purpose. The participants in this study were 220 students enrolled in a general education course at a large university in Taiwan. The findings of this study were as follows: (1) the overall relationship between CTS and CTD was positive. However, further analysis of the relationship between the different levels of CTS and CTD showed that only the students with high CTS and medium CTD showed a significant correlation; (2) the enhancement in CTS reinforced CTD, but the improvement in CTD did not increase the level of CTS. In addition, it is recommended that to improve the CTS and CTD of all students (including the students with a high level of CTS), the instructional strategy, CTS instruction with CTD cultivation, be employed.     

The role of expressed emotions in online discussions

Abstract

We investigated relationships among expressed emotions, perceived motivation, perceived emotions, and three dependent variables (i.e., behavioral engagement, cognitive engagement, and student achievement) in the context of a blended online course. We defined “expressed emotions” as emotions detected by an affective computing tool in messages that students posted to online discussion forums in a blended undergraduate writing course. The results of two-step hierarchical multivariate regressions revealed that expressed emotions differentiated positive emotions from negative emotions better than perceived emotions did. Moreover, while no significant effect emerged for perceived motivation and perceived emotions, expressed fear was a significant predictor of student achievement (i.e., final score). Although affective computing is in its infancy, our findings suggest the potential use of expressed emotions for educational research and practice.     

Rethinking online discourse: Improving learning through discussions in the online classroom

As colleges continue to expand online offerings, student participation within courses should be assessed to ensure that teachers can best implement effective, responsible lesson plans. This study examined discourse in an online classroom in order to gauge student participation by observing student-to-student and student-to-instructor exchanges within the discussion board. Classroom discourse was analyzed using Stahl’s computer supported collaborative learning methodology. Data was collected to assess development of classroom dialogue through group collaboration, and to determine whether participants were interpreting previous posts and contributing to the development of the discussion topic. This study shows that students within the online classroom were able to construct deeper meanings in classroom dialogues through thoughtful and personal contributions, thereby reaching new understandings through collaborative discussion. This study contends that through insightful planning and guided responses, instructors can manage online classroom discussions to better direct student communications in order to improve collaborative learning and knowledge construction.