Student perceptions of critical thinking skills development in an online learning environment.

摘要

This study investigated undergraduate business students' perceptions of their critical thinking skills development in an online business information management course. Since the literature review indicated a scarcity of works addressing student perceptions of critical thinking skills development in an online learning environment, educators and students need to understand how critical thinking skills can improve in this relatively new educational setting. The primary purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which online students attribute the development of critical thinking skills to the online learning environment. Participants identified factors and facilitator-employed learning activities perceived to enhance and hinder critical thinking skills development. Data collection occurred through online focus groups, a face-to-face focus group, and individual telephone interviews. Treatment of the data using Colaizzi's (1978) phenomenological data analysis resulted in identification of 27 general themes. Based on the findings of the study, an online course can provide an excellent learning environment for development of students' critical thinking skills. Factors and facilitator-employed learning activities that can enhance development of students' critical thinking skills include: independence, assignments, essay exams, interaction, research, analysis, and the online course as a whole, while those that can hinder include: lack of communication, time management, lack of prerequisite knowledge, and poorly designed quizzes.