An Integrated Contextual and Web-based Issue Quest Approach to Improving Students' Learning Achievements, Attitudes and Critical Thinking

In the era of computer and communication technologies, fostering students' high-level thinking abilities has become an important educational objective. Engaging students in web information searching to answer a series of questions related to a target issue has been recognized as a helpful appro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Educational Technology ＆ Society 2015-10, Vol.18 (4), p.299-311
Main Authors: Sung, Han-Yu, Hwang, Gwo-Jen, Chang, Hong-Sheng
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Achievement
Attitudes
Cognitive Processes
Control Groups
Critical Thinking
Educational activities
Educational environment
Educational Objectives
Educational technology
Elementary School Students
Experimental Groups
Full Length Articles
Grade 5
Information Seeking
Instructional Effectiveness
Internet
Internet resources
Learner Engagement
Learning
Learning Activities
Learning strategies
Life events
Management
Online learning
Online Searching
Posttests
Pretests Posttests
Problem Based Learning
Questionnaires
Relevance (Education)
Searching
Statistical Analysis
Student Attitudes
Student Improvement
Students
Target recognition
Teachers
Teaching Methods
Technology application
Thinking Skills
Web Based Instruction
Web pages
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Summary:In the era of computer and communication technologies, fostering students' high-level thinking abilities has become an important educational objective. Engaging students in web information searching to answer a series of questions related to a target issue has been recognized as a helpful approach for promoting students' thinking processes. In this study, a contextual learning approach is employed in web information searching activities to improve students' learning achievement, attitudes and critical thinking ability. The participants were divided into an experimental group, which was guided to use Internet resources to complete problem-based learning tasks with the contextual learning approach, and a control group, which learned with the conventional web information searching approach that situated students in a pure web information searching environment to answer questions for the issue to be investigated. From the experimental results, it was found that the experimental group exhibited significantly better learning attitudes, learning achievement, and better critical thinking than the control group, suggesting the effectiveness of the integrated contextual and web information searching approach in terms of helping students use Internet resources to investigate the target issue in depth.
ISSN:1176-3647
1436-4522
1436-4522