Designing Asynchronous Discussions to Teach Critical Thinking

Abstract

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.