scholarly journals An instrument to support thinking critically about critical thinking in online asynchronous discussions

Author(s):  
Elizabeth Murphy

<span>This paper reports on the creation of an instrument for use by instructors, students, or researchers to identify, measure or promote critical thinking (CT) in online asynchronous discussions (OADs). Four models of CT were reviewed, synthesised, analysed, and evaluated to clarify the construct. Indicators of specific cognitive processes related to CT were identified, and subsequently retained, rejected or modified to show how the construct might be operationalised in real contexts of use. Subsequent empirical testing of the instrument for the analysis of a transcript of an OAD revealed that while the instrument was valuable in identifying and measuring CT in the OAD, issues of practicality need to be addressed. Implications for research and practice are presented.</span>


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Jiang ◽  
Ang Gao ◽  
Baiyin Yang

Abstract. This study uses implicit voice theory to examine the influence of employees’ critical thinking and leaders’ inspirational motivation on employees’ voice behavior via voice efficacy. The results of a pretest of 302 employees using critical thinking questionnaires and a field study of 273 dyads of supervisors and their subordinates revealed that both employees’ critical thinking and leaders’ inspirational motivation had a positive effect on employees’ voice and that voice efficacy mediates the relationships among employees’ critical thinking, leaders’ inspirational motivation, and employees’ voice. Implications for research and practice are discussed.



2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Wender ◽  
Valerie J. D’Erman

ABSTRACT Teaching and learning in higher education is occurring, unavoidably, within the broader civic context of today’s extraordinarily polarizing political times. We seek to help students situate themselves with respect to and, above all, thoughtfully assess others’ as well as their own perspectives on issues of profound contention, without contributing to exacerbated polarization ourselves. Specifically, we offer students in our first-year exploratory political science course a vital tool—critical rigor—for navigating but not being inundated by the storm. This article discusses our experiences in teaching the course titled, “The Worlds of Politics,” as we attempt to help students deeply engage in cognitive processes of critical thinking and analysis, without undue infringement from their own—and least of all our own—personal political biases. Our focal learning objective is the cultivation of critical-thinking skills that promote students’ drawing of distinctions between advocacy and analysis, as well as their discerning civic engagement.



2018 ◽  
Vol 112 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Lamb ◽  
Jonah Firestone ◽  
Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe ◽  
Brian Hand


Author(s):  
Mirko Ribbat ◽  
Stefan Krumm ◽  
Joachim Hüffmeier

Abstract. While most leadership research takes the perspective of leaders influencing their followers, more recent research focused on the question how followers may influence their leaders. Kelley’s (1992) followership questionnaire was the first to assess followership behavior. To provide a basis for further research on followership in German-speaking countries, we conducted two studies to establish the psychometric properties of a German version of Kelley’s questionnaire. In Study 1, we explored the factorial structure of our translation in a heterogeneous employee sample ( N = 451). In Study 2, we tested for convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity in another heterogeneous employee sample ( N = 413). The results indicate satisfactory psychometric properties for two followership dimensions (i.e., active engagement and independent, critical thinking). Correlations of these two followership dimensions with other constructs were mostly in line with our expectations. We discuss the usefulness of the German followership questionnaire for research and practice.



Author(s):  
John Miller

A central component of constructivist pedagogy at the college level is the modeling and practicing of critical thinking, and since Socrates, discussion has been the basic vehicle for accomplishing this. Advocates of online teaching have argued that the written and asynchronous nature of online discussions enhance its ability to teach critical thinking. Unless online discussions are properly designed, however, these apparent advantages may in fact have the opposite effect. This chapter sets forth six basic principles for designing online discussions that model and shape critical thinking experiences for students, and illustrates them with examples from two different online college literature classes.



Author(s):  
Joan L. Bybee

This chapter outlines a view of Construction Grammar in which the mental grammar of speakers is shaped by the repeated exposure to specific utterances, and in which domain-general cognitive processes such as categorization and cross-modal association play a crucial role in the entrenchment of constructions. Under this view, all linguistic knowledge is viewed as emergent and constantly changing. The chapter emphasizes that the process of chunking along with categorization leads to the creation of constructions. It also provides semantic/pragmatic and phonetic arguments for exemplar representation and a discussion of the role of type and token frequency in determining the structure of the schematic slots in constructions, as well as the productivity of constructions.



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