EDU 655 Week 2 - Discussion 1

  

Ashford 3: - Week 2 - Discussion 1

Critical Thinking

  

   For powerful online collaboration and critical thinking to take place,   students must be engaged in productive inquiry and analysis. Dr. Levine, Dean   of Humanities at Southwestern College states, “The school that fails to teach   critical thinking fails at everything” (Interview, October of 2010). If we   are to create and facilitate empowering critical thinking discussions in a   virtual environment we must know how to ask great questions. To explore this   concept further let’s take a look at the following case:
 

  Mrs. Jones assigned her senior students in her online History class to read   the following article:
 

No End in Sight: Germany Has Paid Out More Than $61.8   Billion in Third Reich Reparations

  Then, she asked her students this question in the discussion forum: 

1. Who or what is the JCC? 
2. In the 1990’s, how much did        the JCC pay out to individual claimants? 

What do you think might happen in   the discussion thread when you ask this type of question?
 

  Now, imagine instead she asked this question:
 

  The article states that “most of those who were alive during the Second World   War are now dead”—that is,
  the perpetrators of war crimes are themselves long gone from Germany—and that   further, the process of
  reparation may be “bottomless.”
 

  Should Germany be required to make good on damages for the past, and should   there be a limit to the
  reparations? Use what you have learned from this unit to support your   position. Read and respond to the posts
  of two other students.
 

  What do you think would happen now in the forum?
 

  Now that you have experienced a little bit on the art of asking good   questions, please select an article from the web about online learning   strategies and post it in this forum. Then, provide a few examples of good   and bad questions. Respond to at least two of your peers with comments on how   their questions can be improved to promote critical thinking.
 

  For more specific information on critical thinking, please explore the   website The Critical Thinking Community.
 

  Bloom’s Taxonomy is a great resource when crafting questions for the   discussion forum: Major Categories in the Taxonomy of Educational   Objectives.