The Relationships Between Web 2.0 Tools, Cooperative Learning And Higher Order Thinking Among King Saud University Students
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Date
2017-02
Authors
Mohammed S, Alblehai Fahad
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
The aim of providing a sustainable learning environment for sharing knowledge has become the main priority of higher education in Saudi Arabia. In Saudi universities, teaching is mostly conducted based on a teacher-centered method, which deprives students of the opportunity to communicate with their instructors or create their own group. This situation, in turn, is believed to affect the students‘ learning characteristics toward the course. Instructors in different Saudi universities hope to have a more precise and efficient understanding of the effects of Web 2.0 tools on the development of students‘ higher-order thinking skills and group cooperative learning activities. Hence, this study is conducted to determine how reflective thinking, knowledge sharing, interaction, and flexibility in using Web 2.0 tools affect students‘ characteristics and instructor‘s characteristics in learning. It also examines the effects of Web 2.0 on the development of students‘ higher-order thinking skills and cooperative learning. A mixed method design was used in this study for the purpose of data collection, in which both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. For the qualitative approach, the study obtained the data through focus group interview from 15 students. Meanwhile quantitative method based questionnaire was used to collect data from 241 students at the College Of Education, King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and regression were used to analyse the data. The EFA yield on different sub-factors related to the study variables. The results showed that factors related to reflective thinking, knowledge sharing, interactivity, flexibility positively affected the factors of students‘ and instructors‘ characteristics, and such positive effects, in turn, induced a positive effect on the factors related to students‘ cooperative learning and higher-order thinking.
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Keywords
Cooperative learning and higher order thinking , among king Saud University students