IT teachers’ experience of teaching-learning strategies to promote critical thinking

Abstract

[The final form of this paper was published in the journal Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology.] Information Technology (IT) high school learners are constantly struggling to cope with the challenges of succeeding in the subject. IT teachers therefore need to be empowered to utilize appropriate teaching-learning strategies to improve IT learners’ success in the subject. By promoting critical thinking skills, IT learners have the opportunity to achieve greater success in the most difficult part of the curriculum, which is programming. IT teachers received a once-of face-to-face professional development where some teachers received professional development in critical thinking strategies and other IT teachers received professional development in critical thinking strategies infused in pair programming. To determine how teachers experience these suggested strategies, teachers participated in initial interviews as well as follow-up interviews after they had implemented the suggested strategies. From the interviews it became evident that teachers felt that their learners benefited from the strategies. Teachers in the pair programming infusing critical thinking strategies focused more on the pair programming implementation. Although teachers are initially willing to change their ways, they are not always willing to implement new teaching-learning strategies.