Description The utility of writing assignments to enhance learning biology is well documented (e.g. Mynlieff et al., 2014; Couch et al., 2015). Such assignments can provide the basis for assessing higher-order and critical-thinking skills (Kelly et al, n.d.). Furthermore, when students are able to react to instructors’ feedback by re-drafting or adjusting their written work, …
Continue reading “Using Student Created Blogs as a Progressive Formative Assessment in an Online STEM Course”
Related Tags:
Assessment,
Biology,
Blog,
Bloom's Taxonomy,
Formative,
Metacognition,
Scaffolding,
STEM
Description Supporting college students to develop critical thinking skills is an overarching goal in higher education. Students with developed critical thinking skills have the ability to evaluate their own arguments as well as others, resolve conflicts, and generate well-reasoned resolutions to complex problems (Behar-Horenstein & Niu, 2011). Given that there is an exponential increase in …
Continue reading “Use a Guided Approach to Support Critical Thinking in Online Discussions”
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Assessment,
Critical Thinking,
Discussions,
Facilitation,
Interaction,
Rubric,
Social Connection
Description One of the major goals of higher education is to cultivate students’ critical thinking skills (Roth, 2010). In order to be prepared for the workplace and to be an informed citizen, students need to be able to base judgments, make decisions, and solve problems based on the careful critique of available evidence. Engagement, defined …
Continue reading “Use Word Clouds to Enhance Critical Thinking”
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Assessment,
Content,
Critical Thinking,
Discussions,
Engagement,
Interaction,
Word Cloud,
Wordle
Description Discussion prompts are the written “springboard” from which online discussions are launched and are essential to encourage shared understanding (Du, Zhang, Olinzock, & Adams, 2008). Discussion prompts can vary from pithy (e.g., “Discuss [Topic X]”) to verbose (e.g., an entire printed page of instructions). However, the best standard for gauging the effectiveness of a …
Continue reading “Create Effective Discussion Prompts”
Related Tags:
Blog,
Communication,
Discussions,
Interaction,
Problem-Based Learning
