Critical Thinking

Critical thinking has not been maximized in many classrooms. Gall (1970) found that 60% of teachers' questions were recall level (knowledge level), 20% were procedural, and only 20% involve higher order thinking of Bloom's taxonomy.

Bloom's six levels of thinking include the intellectual faculties to 1) gain knowledge, 2) obtain comprehension about the text, and 3) apply the knowledge to real life, 4) analyze different aspects of an issue, 5) synthesizing one's own ideas into the newly learned concepts in a statement or a diagram, and 6) evaluate and assess concepts (Cooper 127).

The first level of thinking is knowing, which involves recall and remember of learned material. Questions of this type include: to name, to list, to describe, to define, who, what, when, how, how much, and yes or no questions (Cooper, 1995, 126). An example is "what are the six levels of thinking of Bloom's taxonomy?"

The second level of understanding is the comprehension of the meaning of the text. It is the "to restate or reorganize material in a literal manner to show that they (students) understand the essential meaning" (Copper, 1995, 126). Questions of understanding include asking the major idea of the material, the cause, the results, and examples of a concept. An example will be "explain the key ideas of Bloom's taxonomy in your own words and give an example of each level."

The following four levels are considered critical thinking. The third level of thinking is application, which requires using the previously learning knowledge to solve problems in other situations. Questions of this type include solving a problem, applying and modifying a concept to a new situation, and relating the concept to real life. An example will be "solving the problem of low interactions in DE with Bloom's taxonomy."

The fourth level is analysis, the ability to differentiate parts of an idea for logical order. Analytical questions include identifying different parts of a concept and the relationship between them as well as the overall principle of the concept. An example will be "What is the relationship between call-in system and on-line discussion in computer-supported one-way video/two-way audio DE?"

The fifth level is synthesis, which is to combine different parts together to create a new being. Synthesizing includes exercise to develop a model, a diagram, or a speech. An example will be "diagram a model of computer-support one-way video/two-way audio distance communication."

The six level is evaluation, the capability to judge the value of a concept based on specific criteria. Typical questions include to assessing, appraise, criticize, and evaluate a concept. An example will be "Which teaching strategy is the most effective model to communicate with distance students?" Critical thinking involves application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. In addition to increase the student-teacher and student-student interactions in DE, faculties also need to provoke students' ability to think beyond the basic knowledge and comprehension to reach the higher order thinking.