Title: Practicing Socratic questioning in a blended learning environment: an innovative strategy to promote critical thinking

Authors: Zahra Shahsavar

Addresses: English Language Department, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; Department of English, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract: This study aims to determine if practicing Socratic questioning (SQ) can promote students' critical thinking (CT). Participants were an intact class of undergraduate students enrolled in a course blog. To expand students' understanding of using thoughtful questions, the researcher used a systematic step-by-step process to teach SQ in a blended learning environment. The main purpose of face-to-face sessions was to prepare students to practice Socratic discussions on the blog. The study employs a mixed-method design to integrate qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. Students' questions in four Socratic discussions were collected and coded by using a content analysis approach. The Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level X (CCTT-X) was applied to assess students' CT ability. The results indicate that practicing SQ in a blended learning environment was significantly effective in fostering students' CT.

Keywords: course blogs; critical thinking; Socratic discussions; Socratic questioning; blended learning; undergraduate students; higher education.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMILE.2013.053597

International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Learning Environments, 2013 Vol.1 No.2, pp.184 - 198

Received: 30 Jul 2012
Accepted: 08 Aug 2012
Published online: 28 Feb 2014 *

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