Use of structured Web -based bulletin board discussions with Socratic questioning to enhance students\u27 critical thinking skills in distance education

This study investigated the effects of using structured WBB discussions with Socratic questioning to enhance students\u27 critical thinking (CT) skills in university-level correspondence-style distance learning courses. The research effort empirically examined three coherent subjects: (a) the effectiveness of structured WBB discussions in improving students\u27 CT skills as well as their attitudes toward WBBs and learning via WBBs; (b) the efficacy of teaching and modeling Socratic questioning in developing students\u27 CT skills in structured WBB discussions; and (c) the persistence of students\u27 CT skills after the administration of teaching and the modeling of Socratic questioning in structured WBB discussions. An interrupted time-series quasi-experimental design with control group was employed in the study. The participants, a total of 23, were students enrolled in spring 2001, fall 2001, and spring 2002 semesters of an undergraduate veterinary distance learning course at Purdue University. In the experiment, three research procedures consisting of several observations administered at appropriate times were designed to analyze the causal relationships between the independent and dependent variables. To reduce the potential bias and subjectivity of the assessment of students\u27 critical thinking skills, multiple data instruments were used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from the participants. The quantitative data were analyzed using the GLM ANOVA procedure. The qualitative data obtained by content analysis were analyzed using a chi-square test. The results from the inferential statistical analysis and content analysis indicate: (a) the facilitation of structured WBBs significantly improved students\u27 CT skills and attitudes toward learning via WBBs, but not the attitudes toward WBBs; (b) the teaching and modeling of Socratic questioning helped students demonstrate CT skills at a higher level in the process of making judgments and decisions; and (c) after exposure to and modeling of Socratic questioning, students maintained their CT skills without the instructor\u27s further facilitation. These findings suggest that using structured WBB discussions with Socratic questioning could be an effective pedagogy to enhance students\u27 critical thinking skills. The limitations of the study and the recommendations for future study are also presented