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Title:
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CHANGING FOCUS FROM GROUP TO INDIVIDUAL: USING AN AUTOMATED TOOL TO MEASURE EVIDENCE OF CRITICAL THINKING IN DISCUSSION FORUMS |
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Author(s):
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Stephen Corich , Kinshuk , Lynn M.jeffrey |
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ISBN:
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978-972-8924-48-5 |
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Editors:
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Kinshuk, Demetrios G. Sampson, J. Michael Spector and Pedro Isaías |
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Year:
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2007 |
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Edition:
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Single |
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Keywords:
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Critical thinking, discussion forums, content analysis |
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Type:
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Full Paper |
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First Page:
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163 |
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Last Page:
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171 |
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Language:
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English |
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Cover:
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Full Contents:
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click to dowload 
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Paper Abstract:
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Discussion forums are increasingly being used as a means of promoting collaboration and interaction between
participants in on-line learning environments. The resulting transcripts, which can easily saved in an electronic format,
provide researchers with a resource that can be examined to identify evidence of collaboration and critical thinking.
Critical thinking skills are often touted as indicators of higher learning and are regularly cited as aims or outcomes of
tertiary educational institutes and yet despite the growing popularity in the use of discussion forums, little research has
been conducted to identify if they can be used to promote critical thinking.
This paper looks at critical thinking and its importance as a tertiary educational objective. The paper identifies some of
the tools which have designed to measure critical thinking of students and describes attempts by researchers using content
analysis methods to measure evidence of critical thinking in discussion forums. The use of use of automated tools in the
identification of evidence of critical thinking is discussed as is the use of an automated content analysis tool to measure
evidence of critical thinking among individual participants in a discussion forum. |
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