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Do Electronic Discussions Create Critical Thinking Spillovers?
Author(s) -
Deloach Stephen B.,
Greenlaw Steven A.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
contemporary economic policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.454
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1465-7287
pISSN - 1074-3529
DOI - 10.1093/cep/byi012
Subject(s) - critical thinking , argument (complex analysis) , relevance (law) , quality (philosophy) , sociology , psychology , mathematics education , epistemology , political science , medicine , philosophy , law
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)