Abstract
Being actively engaged in a task is often associated with critical thinking. Cultivating critical thinking skills, such as purposefully reflecting and analyzing one’s own thinking, is a major goal of higher education. However, there is a challenge in providing college students opportunities to clearly demonstrate these skills in online courses. This research explores the effectiveness of incorporating word clouds–visual representations of word frequency in a given passage of text–into online discussions. We sought to establish whether implementing word clouds in online discussions would result in a higher incidence of critical thinking and engagement. Survey results from undergraduate participants (n=132) revealed that students analyzing text in word clouds reported moderately higher scores on critical thinking and engagement than students analyzing the text in a linear fashion. A positive relationship was found between critical thinking and engagement, as well as peer interaction. This strategy can be applied to a wide range of educational environments to stimulate critical thinking and engagement.
Highlights
Supporting students to develop critical thinking skills is an overarching goal in higher education (Behar-Horenstein & Niu, 2011), yet it remains among the most nebulous of teaching goals in academia today
Given that previous preliminary research suggests the association of word clouds with engagement and critical thinking, the purpose of the present study is to analyze the effectiveness of incorporating word clouds in online discussions regarding engagement as well as critical thinking
A t-test revealed that students analyzing the text in word clouds reported higher scores on critical thinking than students analyzing the same text in a linear form, F (1, 114) = 1.86, p =
Summary
Supporting students to develop critical thinking skills is an overarching goal in higher education (Behar-Horenstein & Niu, 2011), yet it remains among the most nebulous of teaching goals in academia today. It has been variously defined as “the correct assessment of statement” College students with developed critical thinking skills have the ability to evaluate their own arguments as well as the arguments of others, resolve conflicts, and generate well-reasoned resolutions to complex problems (Behar-Horenstein & Niu, 2011). Possessing critical thinking skills fulfills the higher education goal of nurturing students to become responsible citizens in a complex society
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
