Using a Technology-Enriched Environment to Improve Higher-Order Thinking Skills

Abstract

This study examined the effect of a technology-enriched classroom on student development of higher-order thinking skills and student attitudes toward computers. A sample of 80 sixth-grade and 86 fifth-grade students was tested using the Ross Test of Higher Cognitive Processes and surveyed using the Computer Attitude Questionnaire. The creation of a technology-enriched classroom environment appears to have had a positive effect on student acquisition of higher-order thinking skills. This study identified several implications related to classroom design to enhance the development of higher-order thinking skills. Teachers reported that the technology-enriched classroom differed from the traditional classroom in several significant ways.