Technology and critical thinking in the classroom: the annotated bibliography

Introduction: The topic I would like to focus my research on, and one that I am currently in the process of continuing to develop for my capstone project, is the development of critical thinking skills for veterinary technology students. Our curriculum is based very strongly on the recommendations of the CVTEA (Committee on Veterinary Technology Education and Activities) and our accreditation as a college of veterinary technology depends on our ability to graduate students who are able to pass the VTNE (Veterinary Technician Exam). Therefore, it goes without saying that much of our curriculum teaches to the exam. Not only does the livelihood of our students depend upon their ability to get licensure, but our own livelihood as teachers depends upon our accreditation. However robust our academic program is when it comes to learning animal nursing, it is positively anemic when it comes to critical thinking and social-emotional learning. These two aspects of intellect are united for me. Unless a person is able to approach a situation in a critical, objective manner, multiple stakeholders involved in the problems presented will not be appropriately identified which could result in poor medicine, lack of client compliance, and overlooked signs of distress in animal patients. But how best to teach this ever-developing skillset? In a world that appears quick to judge and ridicule those with conflicting or uninformed opinions, how can I guide my students toward taking a leap into the uncharted waters of ethics, critical thinking, and emotional insight? We all agree that to learn is to be vulnerable, but what happens when vulnerability is regarded as weakness and fuel for ridicule? I believe the answer is to infuse the conversations with technology. 

                Rong, H., Choi, I., Schmeidt, C., & Clarke, K. (2020). Using failure cases to promote veterinary                   students’ problem‐solving abilities: a qualitative study. Association for Educational                              Communications and Technology, 68, 2121-2146. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09751-y

    This research article presented the results of a qualitative experiment in which 38 veterinary students were given a case study in which a veterinarian failed to make an appropriate diagnosis, punctuated by moments for the students to reflect on what was going on, and given expert commentary. The students responded favorably to this lesson, explaining that they felt more emotionally invested in the outcome for the veterinarian, and were motivated to continue to think about what was happening. By evaluating failure cases, students were given the opportunity to self-reflect, develop plans to avoid mistakes in the future, and gained hope that sometimes even experts made mistakes. This reinforced the idea that intelligence is a dynamic, growing talent in a person and not something you have that never changes: successful, respected veterinarians are not born that way, they stumble and make mistakes. This sense of relatability gave students a sense of optimism that made them more willing to engage in the work. Technology was used in this manner to create a digital media experience from which students gained information and were able to input their own insights in the form of discussion forums. 

This article highlights an important aspect of medicine that is often overlooked in both educational and professional attitudes: the importance of growing from one’s mistakes. The article highlighted the idea that exposing students to the mistakes of professionals shows them examples of moments when flaws in thinking led to mistakes, but it did not destroy the person’s ability to be a professional. The article also pointed out that when mistakes are made, this is the opportunity for real growth to occur, because the mind engages in deep learning as it tries to recalibrate itself. Only through failure can a person grow. Being encouraging all the time and hiding mistakes is more destructive in the long run. 

    Swart, R. (2017). Critical thinking instruction and technology enhanced learning from the                              student perspective: A mixed methods research study. Nurse Education in Practice, 23, pp. 30-              39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2017.02.003

    In this article, the researchers discussed the importance of critical thinking in a medical setting. Each patient is unique, with particular issues, histories, and contexts. Nurses have an incredible amount of information that they must gather in order to understand what is going on, as well as be able to sift through information and prioritize it based on usefulness. Critical thinking os important to ensure better patient outcomes. Use of blended classrooms where technology and face to face instruction is instruction is employed allows for wider audiences to be reached (meaning classroom size is not the same kind of constraint as it once was) as well as having the ability to extend learning beyond the time and space of the classroom. Students who might otherwise be “shy” can be supported better while working through online discussion forums. The usefulness and impact of online critical thinking assignments are largely dependent on the quality of the questions generated by the instructor. 

    This article is very useful for my research and introduced be to a concept called “TELEs”, or “Technology Enhanced Learning Environments”. It was also helpful to hear this article talking about something I have already noticed in my own work with discussion forums: that students who might otherwise be regarded as shy are able to formulate full opinions and engage with others through writing where they may feel constrained or limited in while speaking. 

    Liang, W. (2022). Towards a set of design principles for technology-assisted critical-thinking                      cultivation: A synthesis of research in English language education. Thinking Skills and Creativity,         47, 101203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2022.101203

    The research in this article was a review of the literature surrounding the use of technology to teach critical thinking skills in English language classrooms. The literature search was carried out over a two week period and the sources were organized by whether or not they used specific types of technologies and how they went about using them. The researchers then went through the different sources and attempted to find patterns in how the technology was applied, thereby offering a standard by which other research could move forward. It was found that most English language classrooms that utilize technology to teach critical thinking used either informative technology, communicative technology, or a combination of both. Standards for the design of ways to apply technology successfully to promote critical thinking were self-study and reflection, practicing critical thinking skills, discussion and collaboration, and decision-making and problem solving. 

    Even though the literature review was not about veterinary technology or human nursing, it was still useful for me because it offered a clear definition for critical thinking within the framework of research, and it offered different classifications for technology. Moving forward, it seems prudent to have a standardized “recipe” for the successful application of technology to guide students through critical thinking exercises. I cannot think of a reason why what may work in English language coursework won’t work in veterinary technology, with a few minor adjustments such as reading material or student research focus.  

    Georgina, V. (2013). Gaming, texting, learning? Teaching engineering ethics through students’ lived         experiences with technology. Sci Eng Ethics, 19:1375–1393.

    The research offered by the author of this article centered around teaching engineering ethics to students in the engineering classroom by using technology they are already familiar with. Engineering ethics is described by the author as a difficult subject to teach because many people in that field believe that true engineering ethics can only be learned by professionals in the field, although the author makes a very good point by stating that classrooms use laboratories to simulate the work environment that professional engineers are already expected to know about. What difference would an “ethics lab” make? The author offers three case studies of technology being used in the classroom to engage the students in ethics. They are as follows: the importance of good communication while playing Minecraft as a group, risk and safety assessment through the use of social networking platforms, and social engineering through the use of downloadable music programs. The conclusion to this article states that by finding the intersections between student life outside of school, and curriculum lessons within the classroom, a more robust learning experience can take place in the realm of ethics. After all, it might be true that the learners within the classroom are not yet engineers, but they do all engage in ethical scenarios 

    I found this article to be incredibly interesting and I look forward to ways in which I can utilize the methods offered in the article to assist my own students in ethics exploration! The idea of cyberbullying as proposed in the risk assessment in social media lesson was especially pertinent to my Department and I am glad I came upon it. It appears that one of the biggest factors to learner engagement is by offering the chance to bring their own experiences into the classroom. This is a subject that has been discussed through multiple readings in class such as the chapters from Nixon (2013), Gustafson (2013), and Low (2013), to name a few.  

Conclusion:

    I am basing my research on the use of technology in the creation of exercises and strategies for the development of critical thinking in my classroom. An important aspect of good medicine, critical thinking is oftentimes overlooked due to lack of time and resources in veterinary technology education, yet it is recognized as an important part of the intellect. I found a literature review that looked at previous research into use of technology for critical thinking coursework, a research article that discussed use of digital media to explore failure cases to allow students to develop critical thinking skills, the use of life experiences to illustrate ethical knowledge of young people in an engineering school setting, and the use of blended classrooms to enhance the student experience during critical thinking exercises.