The Effects on Students' Critical Thinking Skills of Peer Tutors' Scaffolding in Web-based Discussion

• Main Authors: Damon, 黃翊
• Other Authors: M. Kao
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2001
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/38612345520368721806

碩士 === 國立東華大學 === 教育研究所 === 89 === This study arranges graduate school students as peer tutors to join the asynchronous network conference and requires them to lead the group discussion by using text-based scaffoldings. The purpose of this study is to understand the text-based scaffolding usage of the peer tutors and the critical thinking progress of the college students and to evaluate the effects of the scaffolding techniques used by the peer tutors on students’ critical thinking skills in the asynchronous college network course. The study uses the qualitive method of “content analysis” to analyze all the data collected from the interaction between the peer tutors and the students in web-based discussion. The study uses “text-based scaffolding chart” to analyze the scaffolding skills of the peer tutors and uses “critical thinking chart” to analyze the critical thinking skills of the college students in the discussion. The major results are concluded as follow: 1. Text-based scaffolding techniques used by the peer tutors show positive effects on five detailed items in the four primary critical thinking categories. 2. Some of the text-based scaffoldings of the peer tutors would also limit the developments of some critical thinking skills. 3. The more kind of scaffolding techniques the peer tutors use, the more the critical thinking abilities of the students would improve. 4. The interfere level of the peer tutors is not equal to the degree of the students’ improvements. Some factors such as “students’ motivation”, “peer tutors leading styles” and “the characteristics of the group” have to be taken into consideration. 5. Students’ active participation in the discussion does not promise the better improvements of their critical thinking skills. The main contribution of the study is offering examples and suggestions of instructional skills and managing strategies in the internet courses. We hope the results would be helpful for those who intends to develop the internet courses and for furthur studies in the same fields.