I am impressed by the versatility of wikis and their use in active learning and how they can facilitate self-reflection in students, understanding of themselves and their capacity and progress in their career.
I would apply it by encouraging its use in discussion forums.
Critical thinking skills will be utilized by every student at some point in their career. It is helpful to develop and strengthen those skills now so the student is ready to think independently to solve problems. Which leads me to problem based learning which teaches students to solve problems. Giving them real life scenarios to solve in small groups might be a fun active learning technique to help strengthen critical thinking skills.
From this module, I learned the critical thinking skills from the students point of view. From successfully evaluating differences to building rationale, I will encouraged students to think outside the box and be flexible with their ideas.
Problem based learning can teach students to critically think.
New hires that have little experience present these challenges upon onboarding. I used elearning to complement virtual instructor-led training. It seems as though they have not had to use critical thinking, and I can't really expect them to know how since they have little to no experience on which to build their learning.
It is very critical to add collaborative learning for the students so they can grasp the concepts very well
Collaborative and cooperative learning is the learning of the future. While we a lack of it in K-12, it must be brought to the forefront of higher education. Challenging discussion boards for example. I have a political science/history discussion board that revolves around the Housing crisis of 2008 and askes the student to evaluate two groups, Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party, to show their similarities and differences. How they reflect into American political concepts like Progressivism, Equality, Pursuit of Happiness or the Preamble.
I love the term "digital natives." I have noticed this for my past 14 years of teaching. Incorporating digital learning activities enhances this group of learners. I have used online discussions, student created glossaries and test questions, and peer/self-reflection exercises. I would like to try the "jigsaw" activity in the future.
I enjoyed the phrase, "student-centered and instructor driven".
The content also admitted that students want to hear from the instructors on their opinion or insights that can not be gleamed from their own discoveries.
Posing a problem that would be relevant to their current life can help engage them in problem solving exercises.
Encouraging critical thinking is the most important aspect of active learning. Performing activities that promote and encourage critical thinking is important in active learning environments.
Today's businesses are seeking individuals with strong critical thinking skills. These skills include the ability to evaluate information, analyze complex situations, problem-solve, and recognize that being right is not always imperative. Making mistakes is inevitable, but they provide valuable learning opportunities. Businesses are in need of individuals who can effectively solve problems while utilizing critical thinking skills. These are some of the important points I plan on imparting to my future students in upcoming courses.
Critical thinking is the key component when seeking employment. Utilizing group discussions and collaborative involvement will help individuals bring that out.
As instructors, we need to teach our students to become critical thinkers. We can promote critical thinking skills by asking open-ended questions, having students reflect on the topic, justify their position, find relationships between concepts, create test questions, participate in collaborate and cooperative learning and problem-based learning.
Good critical thinking skills are needed to take part in problem solving activities.
There is real value to group projects both in the process and the outcome. PBL is an excellent method for collaboration.
Critical thinking skills are very important for students to have when they get into college settings and later in the real world settings when they will have a job. I think the examples of giving students collaborative learning assignments but using real world examples for them to research using technology and present in class is a way to make them think critically and also is a good way for them to share with each other.
I learned to try to implent collaborative learning or group based activities every so often can be beneficial.
Problem based learning is one of the best ways to get students to drive their own learning and experience. They can work independently and in groups. Ideas where we take real life situations and delve deeper into how a solution can be formed. One can draw from their own experiences and use critical thinking to create solutions. Instructors can lead students into various ways to help students like; managing projects and holding leadership roles like you would do in a career. Self-directed learning to solve problems, application and analysis of course content can further one's experience in the class.
PBL is student centered. Instructors facilitate an activity and students are more apt to solve and complete these assignments.
Critical thinking is a skill that is becoming less and less utilized both in and out of the classroom. Helping students get used to critical thinking so it can become more common for them is a great idea.
"Online instructors should think about their role as a facilitator in active learning, and assist student in their progress towards being a critical thinker by giving guidelines, encouraging communication amongst students, and also by bringing different perspectives to class." This quote from the text gives an insight, after being an on-line student, and not teaching on-line it makes since why student engagement is so important.
