Promoting Critical Thinking through Online Discussions:

Developing Questions and Managing Conversations

Christine Harrington Ph.D. Executive Director, NJ Center for Student Success charrington@njccc.org

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Agenda

Critical Thinking and Online Discussions

Creating Effective Discussion Prompts

Managing Conversations

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Question

How do you define critical thinking?

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What is Critical Thinking?

“to think in a sophisticated manner- to ask questions, define terms, examine evidence, analyze assumptions, avoid emotional reasoning, resist oversimplification, consider alternative interpretations, and tolerate uncertainty”

4 (Wade, 2008, p.p.11)

Process of Becoming a Critical Thinker

5 Direct from Harrington (2016)

Foundational Knowledge

•  Readings

•  Narrated Presentations

•  Screencasts

•  Videos 6

Asynchronous Online Discussions

Advantages Time for Reflection

Access to Resources

Writing helps Learning

Everyone participates

7 Thompson (2006)

Asynchronous Online Discussions

Disadvantages Delayed Feedback

Reduced Emotional Engagement

Less Connected

Repetitive

8 Thompson (2006)

Question

Do you think critical thinking is more likely to happen during: a.  Traditional in person class discussions

b.  Online discussions

c.  Both traditional and online discussions 9

Critical Thinking…

10 Guiller, Durndell, & Ross (2008)

Critical Thinking MORE Likely in Online Discussions

Answering Taras’s (2006) Call for Equity

•  Ongoing exploration

•  Numerous feedback opportunities and…

•  Numerous opportunities to USE this feedback

11 (Taras, 2009)

Online Discussions and Learning

Reading and Contributing

12 Walker et al. (2013)

Creating a Community of Inquiry

Teaching Presence

Social Presence

Cognitive Presence

13 Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000)

The 3 E’s of Online Learning

Experience • Sense of Community, Guidelines, Trial Run

Engagement • Content Connections, Questions, Debates

Evaluation • Consistent, Regular and Ongoing Feedback

14 Dixon (2014)

Before the Conversation

Begins….

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Expectations

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Rubric Example

17 Direct from Wyss, Freedman & Seibert (2014)

Expectations

•  Share Models

•  Use a Preceptor

18 Hall (2015)

Initial Discussion Prompts

Getting to Know You

Low Stakes 19

Question Prompts

•  Not limited to facts but uses background knowledge

•  Open-ended

•  Stimulate discussions

•  Multiple perspectives

•  Room for many contributions

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Activity

•  Think of one of your discussion prompts (or use one of the samples provided)

•  Use the rubric to evaluate the effectiveness of the prompt

•  How might you make it more effective?

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Keeping the Conversation

Going….

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Keeping the Conversation Going….

According to Grice’s Cooperative Principle Theory, we need:

Quantity

Quality

Relevance

Manner as cited in Ho & Swan (2007)

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Results….

Quality Direct Posts

24 Ho & Swan (2007)

Applying Grice’s Theory to Online Discussions

Direct from Ho & Swan (2007) 25

Self-Efficacy and Posts

26 Kui (2013)

Instructor Involvement

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Question

What level of involvement should the professor have in online conversations? a.  Very little as it might reduce participation

b.  Some involvement so students know you are present

c.  High involvement so everyone feels acknowledged

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Instructor Involvement

Instructor Involvement

Increased Student Activity

29 Tagg and Dickenson (1995) as cited in Garrison, et al. (2000)

Avoid Too Much Involvement

•  Avoid dominating discussions

•  May diminish student activity and involvement

30 Thompson, 2006

Moderate Involvement is Best

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125-275 Instructor Posts: Highest Student Participation Average class size: 20

Direct from: Morris, Xu, and Finnegan, 2005, 17

Novice vs. Experienced Instructors

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193

869

1176

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Novice Experienced

Instructor Posts Student Posts

32 Morris, Xu, and Finnegan, 2005, 17

Instructor Time in Class Matters Cranney, Wallace, Alexander, and Alfano, 2011, 345

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Recommendation: 6.25 hours per week minimum

Direct from: Cranney, Wallace, Alexander, & Alfano, 2011, 345

Early Involvement

Importance of Strong Initial Posts

Formative Feedback to Class

Positively Reinforce On-Target Posts

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Type of Involvement?

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Socratic Questions?

Examples:

36 based on the work of Paul (1990) and Strang (2011)

Follow Up Prompts

Initial Prompt • One question

Follow Up Questions • Later when it fits the

conversation 37

For Example….

•  Based on the research findings, what advice would you give to parents? Why? How does your advice compare to the advice given by professionals such as the American Academy of Pediatrics?

•  How do these findings compare to research on interactive media products (i.e. computer games)?

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Peers as Moderators

Peer moderation linked to meaningful

interactions and sense of community

But…. Support and

Scaffolding is Needed!

39 Seo 2007; Poole, 2000

Peer Feedback Conversations

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Motivation and

Involvement

Kui (2013)

Role of Social Talk….

Social Talk

Effective Discussion

41 Chen & Wang (2009)

Role of Social Talk

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• Easy entry back into conversation

In and Out

Members

• Opportunity to influence others Involved

Members

Chen & Wang (2009)

Teaching via Conversations….

Correcting Inaccurate Content

Expert Contributions: Making Connections

Summary Posts

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Grading

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Question:

How much should online conversations count toward the final grade? a.  0-10% b.  10-20% c.  20-30% d.  30-40% e.  40-50% f.  50-60% g.  60% or more

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Question

How often should professors grade discussion boards? a.  Every conversation b.  Every few conversations c.  At mid-semester and again at end of term d.  At end of term

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Grading

Points Original Examples

Value Added Comments

47 Comer & Lenaghan (2012)

Thank You! Questions?

Email me at charrington@njccc.org Slides available at www.njstudentsuccess.com

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