SUPPORTING CRITICAL THINKING THROUGH ANCHORED ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE DISCUSSIONS

Abstract

ABSTRACT We present results from an exploratory study on the effectiveness of anchored and standard asynchronous online discussions on the critical thinking of the students. In our study, two groups of students used standard asynchronous online discussions and anchored asynchronous online discussions. Based on Garrison’s et al. (2001) evaluation criteria for critical thinking, we conducted a content analysis of the comments made by the students. We found statistically significant differences in the number of off-topic comments and for the integration category. Keywords Anchored Online Discussions, Persuasive Technology, Computer-Mediated- Communication, Critical Thinking