DEVELOPMENT OF CRITICAL THINKING OF HIGHER EDUCATION PROVIDERS IN MIXED EDUCATION
Abstract
The article analyzes the issue of professional skills development for modern students during blended educational activities. In particular, the study deals with the critical thinking development, as the main indicator of the ability to self-analysis, self-study and self-improvement. Focusing on Ukrainian and foreign scientists’ experience the notion, features and principles of blended learning organization, the basic technologies necessary for its providing have been defined. The classical approaches of the critical thinking development have been researched and it transferred to learning through the online environment. It has been singled out the electronic training course as a basic teaching and methodological support of the blended learning form. The notion of the electronic training course has been determined and its main components have been described. The implementation of critical thinking development technologies has been demonstrated according to the example basing of the e-learning course «Modern Teaching Information Technologies» developed on the Moodle platform. The author has emphasized the importance of the training sessions’ organization under the conditions of blended learning form. The main stages of classes planning using the critical thinking theory have been characterized based on the T. Bandurovich’s theory. These stages have been realized with the help of the Moodle platform means.
It has been given the examples of tasks that encourage students to think independently, work with information, put forward new ideas for solving issues and check their adequacy. The research stresses of individual and group project tasks, issue situational tasks. It has been recommended to use the training activities of the «Forum» and «Workshop» to organize such tasks in the e-learning environment. It gives the possibility to provide the interactive interaction in the form of asynchronous discussions. Besides mentioned training activities let students practice in questions formulation and network communication. The idea of HEI students’ teaching according to the blended model has been characterized using the project task of web-quest development within the course «Modern Teaching Information Technologies». It has been established that teaching students according to the blended form, using modern information technologies, can provide the critical thinking development. Among the modern lecturer tasks, it has been presented a skillful combination of interactive, information and communication technologies for the development of students who is able to make their own decisions connected with their professional orientation issues.
