Steven A. Greenlaw’s research while affiliated with University of Mary Washington and other places

URL:http://atlss.umwblogs.org/

Although instructors are increasingly using electronic discussions with both traditional and online classes, little has been written about how to best moderate these discussions. Moderating online discussions requires tremendous skill. As with in-class discussions, the primary goal of the moderator is to ensure that the discussion continually makes progress toward more advanced critical thinking. Because of this, moderator comments should be limited to helping students make the transitions associated with increasing cognitive complexity rather than leading them to predetermined answers. Building on the existing literature on both in-class and online discussions to teach critical thinking, the authors develop concrete strategies that can be used to make discussions more productive.

Few academics question the relevance of critical thinking in higher education, yet there has been little attempt to investigate which specific pedagogies aid in its development. In this study we assess whether critical thinking can be taught effectively using electronic discussions. In most discussions analyzed, the data show that the quality of a student's argument is positively influenced by the quality of their peers' arguments (critical thinking spillovers). While the use of this pedagogy is promising, best results require an appropriate topic as well as effective management of the discussion. (JEL A2) Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.

One of the products of a liberal undergraduate education is the ability to think critically. In practice, critical thinking is a skill that economics students are supposed to master as they complete their studies, However, exactly what critical thinking means is generally not well defined. Building on the literature on critical thinking, the authors examine how electronic discussion can be used effectively to teach this skill. Because of the multiplicity of views expressed, the asynchronous nature of the technology, and the inherent positive spillovers that are created, electronic discussion appears to provide a natural framework for teaching critical thinking.

Traditionally, Principles of Economics has been taught as a lecture class. Recent literature on pedagogy suggests that students learn more from an active learning approach, which engages students in ways that lectures often do not. One method of promoting active learning is to incorporate student writing in the Principles course. To test this hypothesis, I taught two sections of macroeconomic principles, which were identical except that one included a series of writing assignments, while the other did not. The examinations for both sections were the same. I assessed the experiment using several measures and concluded that the writing-augmented section showed greater learning.

One of the products of a liberal undergraduate education is the ability to think critically. In practice, critical thinking is a skill that economics students are supposed to master as they complete their studies. However, exactly what critical thinking means is generally not well defined. Building on the literature on critical thinking, the authors examine how electronic discussion can be used effectively to teach this skill. Because of the multiplicity of views expressed, the asynchronous nature of the technology, and the inherent positive spillovers that are created, electronic discussion appears to provide a natural framework for teaching critical thinking.

Using the groupware application Forum, the author shows how groupware can create a venue for electronic discussion that captures the best features of both in-class discussion (i. e., the dynamic interaction and cooperative learning) and writing assignments (thoughtful insights backed by careful research).

Lessons From a General Education Oriented Principles of Economics Course Principles of Economics, as it is typically taught at the college level, is a predominantly lecture-based course using one of a variety of standard, voluminous texts, where students are exposed to a daunting array of concepts, theories and methods. In principle, the course has two objectives: to serve as a preparatory course for students taking more advanced offerings, and to satisfy a general education requirement in the social sciences. In practice at many college and universities, the course tends to focus on the first objective to the detriment of the second; hence, the typical approach described above. But since far more students take principles for the second objective than for the first, I question whether this is the best way to introduce students to economics at a liberal arts college. This paper describes the non-traditional way I teach principles to address this problem. In brief, my approach is discussion rather than lecture based; it is writing intensive, and instead of a formal text it uses a variety of what Hansen calls "real books"--books by economists written for the educated lay public, as well as government publications and "soft" journal articles. The cost of such an alternative approach is less breadth of coverage, but the benefit is greater depth of learning.