Development and Evaluation of Mindtool-Based Blogs to Promote Learners’ Higher Order Cognitive Thinking in Online Discussions: An Analysis of Learning Effects and Cognitive Process

Abstract

Blogs are useful interaction tools to promote learners’ knowledge construction and interaction in online teaching activities. On the other hand, although many studies show that mindtools facilitate learners’ cognitive process, little research focus on their effects on learners’ higher order cognitive thinking in blogs. This research developed a learning environment by using a mindtool-based blog to promote learners’ higher order cognitive thinking in their online discussions and to assess their learning effects. The participants were 276 senior high school students from an information ethics class. A quasi-experimental research design was adopted in this research. The control group used the ordinary blogs. The Experimental Group 1 used the basic mindtools in blogs, which means that learners can use all the mindtool functions except the Knowledge Compilation function. The Experimental Group 2 used the advanced mindtools in blogs, which means that they can use all the mindtool functions, including the Knowledge Compilation function. The results indicated that both experimental groups showed better learning effects and more higher order cognitive thinking than the control group. Moreover, the higher order cognitive thinking category Analyze was found more often in the Experimental Group 2 than in the Experimental Group 1.

Keywords

blog development interaction learning environments online

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anderson

L. W.

Krathwohl

D. R.

Airasian

P. W.

Cruikshank

K. A.

Mayer

R. E.

Pintrich

P. R.

Wittrock

M. C.

(2001) A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives, abridged edition, White Plains, NY: Longman.

Andrews

(2012) What is social constructionism. Grounded Theory Review 11(1): 39–46.

Bohn

Buchta

Hornik

Mair

(2014) Making friends and communicating on Facebook: Implications for the access to social capital. Social Networks 37: 29–41.

Bower

Hedberg

J. G.

Kuswara

(2010) A framework for Web 2.0 learning design. Educational Media International 47(3): 177–198.

Cakir

(2013) Use of blogs in pre-service teacher education to improve student engagement. Computers & Education 68(0): 244–252.

Chang

M. M.

Lin

M. C.

(2014) The effect of reflective learning e-journals on reading comprehension and communication in language learning. Computer & Education 71: 124–132.

Cheng

H. R.

Lin

S. H.

(2004) Theory and practice of the revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives—Take competence indicators of nine-year integrated mathematical curriculum as an example. NTTU Educational Research Journal 15(2): 247–274.

Chu

H. C.

Hwang

G. J.

Tsai

C. C.

(2010) A knowledge engineering approach to developing mindtools for context-aware ubiquitous learning. Computers & Education 54(1): 289–297.

Chu

S. K.

Chan

C. K.

Tiwari

A. F.

(2012) Using blogs to support learning during internship. Computers & Education 58(3): 989–1000.

10.

Churchill

(2009) Educational applications of Web 2.0: Using blogs to support teaching and learning. British Journal of Educational Technology 40(1): 179–183.

11.

Collins

Halverson

(2010) The second educational revolution: Rethinking education in the age of technology. Journal of computer assisted learning 26(1): 18–27.

12.

Deng

Yuen

A. H. K.

(2011) Towards a framework for educational affordances of blogs. Computers & Education 56(2): 441–451.

13.

Driver

Squires

Rushworth

Wood-Robinson

(1994) Making sense of secondary science: Research into children’s ideas, New York, NY: Routledge.

14.

H. S.

Wagner

(2007) Learning with weblogs: Enhancing cognitive and social knowledge construction. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 50(1): 1–16.

15.

Fessakis

Tatsis

Dimitracopoulou

(2008) Supporting “learning by design” activities using group blogs. Educational Technology & Society 11(4): 199–212.

16.

Flatley

M. E.

(2005) Blogging for enhanced teaching and learning. Business Communication Quarterly 68: 77–80.

17.

Goktas

Demirel

(2012) Blog-enhanced ICT courses: Examining their effects on prospective teachers’ ICT competencies and perceptions. Computers & Education 58: 908–917.

18.

Halic

Lee

Paulus

Spence

(2010) To blog or not to blog: Student perceptions of blog effectiveness for learning in a college-level course. The Internet and Higher Education 13(4): 206–213.

19.

Heo

Lim

Kim

(2010) Exploratory study on the patterns of online interaction and knowledge co-construction in problem-based learning. Computers & Education 55(3): 1383–1392.

20.

Hou

H. T.

(2012) Exploring the behavioral patterns of learners in an educational massively multiple online role-playing game (MMORPG). Computers and Education 58(4): 1225–1233.

21.

Hou

H. T.

Chang

K. E.

Sung

Y. T.

(2009) Using blogs as a professional development tool for teachers: Analysis of interaction behavioral patterns. Interactive Learning Environments 17(4): 325–340.

22.

Hou

H. T.

Chang

K. E.

Sung

Y. T.

(2011) A longitudinal analysis of the behavioural patterns in teachers using blogs for knowledge interactions. British Journal of Educational Technology 42(2): E34–E36.

23.

Hou

H. T.

S. Y.

(2011) Analyzing the social knowledge construction behavioral patterns of an online synchronous collaborative discussion instructional activity using an instant messaging tool: A case study. Computers & Education 57(2): 1459–1468.

24.

Hou, H. T. (2015). Integrating cluster and sequential analysis to explore learners' flow and behavioral patterns in a simulation game with situated-learning context for science courses: a video-based process exploration. Computers in Human Behavior, 48, 424–435.

25.

Hou

H. T.

T. F.

Y. X.

Sung

Y. T.

Chang

K. E.

(2016) Development and evaluation of a web map mind-tool environment with the theory of spatial thinking and project-based learning strategy. British Journal of Educational Technology 47(2): 390–402.

26.

Hwang

G. J.

Chu

H. C.

Lin

Y. S.

Tsai

C. C.

(2011) A knowledge acquisition approach to developing mindtools for organizing and sharing differentiating knowledge in a ubiquitous learning environment. Computers & Education 57(1): 1368–1377.

27.

Hwang

G. J.

Shi

Y. R.

Chu

H. C.

(2011) A concept map approach to developing collaborative mindtools for context-aware ubiquitous learning. British Journal of Educational Technology 42(5): 778–789.

28.

Jiang

de Bruijn

(2014) Facebook helps: A case study of cross-cultural social networking and social capital. Information, Communication & Society 17(6): 732–749.

29.

Jimoyiannis

Angelaina

(2012) Towards an analysis framework for investigating students’ engagement and learning in educational blogs. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 28(3): 222–234.

30.

Jonassen

D. H.

Carr

Yueh

H. P.

(1998) Computers as mindtools for engaging learners in critical thinking. Tech Trends 43(2): 24–32.

31.

King

(1994) Guiding knowledge construction in the classroom: Effects of teaching children how to question and how to explain. American Educational Research Journal 31(2): 338–368.

32.

Koh

J. H. L.

Herring

S. C.

Hew

K. F.

(2010) Project–based learning and student knowledge construction during asynchronous online discussion. The Internet and Higher Education 13(4): 284–291.

33.

Laru

Näykki

Järvelä

(2012) Supporting small-group learning using multiple Web 2.0 tools: A case study in the higher education context. The Internet and Higher Education 15(1): 29–38.

34.

Leach

Scott

(2000) Children’s thinking, learning, teaching and constructivism. In: M. Monk J. Osborne (ed) Good practice in science teaching: What research has to say, Buckingham, England: Open University Press, pp. 41–55.

35.

Lin

P. C.

Hou

H. T.

Wang

S. M.

Chang

K. E.

(2013) Analyzing knowledge dimensions and cognitive process of a project-based online discussion instructional activity using Facebook in an adult and continuing education course. Computers & Education 60(1): 110–121.

36.

Liu

C. J.

Yang

S. C.

(2012) Applying the Practical Inquiry Model to investigate the quality of students’ online discourse in an information ethics course based on Bloom’s teaching goal and Bird’s 3C model. Computers and Education 59: 466–480.

37.

Lochhead

Yager

R. E.

(1996) Is science sinking in a sea of knowledge? A theory of conceptual drift. In: R.E. Yager (ed) Science/technology/society as reform in science education, Albany: State University of New York Press, pp. 25–38.

38.

Luehmann

A. L.

(2008) Using blogging in support of teacher professional identity development: A case study. The Journal of the Learning Sciences 17(3): 287–337.

39.

Lynch

Warnod

(2001) Collaborative Integrated unit and communication project. ICT in Education 24(1): 45–52.

40.

Mayer

R. E.

(1996) Learning strategies for making sense out of expository text: The SOI model for guiding three cognitive processes in knowledge construction. Educational Psychology Review 8(4): 357–371.

41.

Mazzolini

Maddison

(2003) Sage, guide or ghost? The effect of instructor intervention on student participation in online discussion forums. Computers & Education 40(3): 237–253.

42.

McGrath

Noble

(2005) Eight ways at once, Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.

43.

Miyazoe

Anderson

(2010) Learning outcomes and students’ perceptions of online writing: Simultaneous implementation of a forum, blog, and wiki in an EFL blended learning setting. System 38(2): 185–199.

44.

Olpak, Y. Z. (2010). Effects of different interaction tools used in online learning environments to the achievements and social presence perceptions of students (Master thesis). Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.

45.

Philip

Nicholls

(2009) Group blogs: Documenting collaborative drama processes. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 25(5): 683–699.

46.

Schroeder

Minocha

Schneider

(2010) The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of using social software in higher and further education teaching and learning. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 26(3): 159–174.

47.

Sidek

E. A. R.

Yunus

M. M.

(2012) Students’ experiences on using blog as learning journals. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 67: 135–143.

48.

Sim

J. W. S.

Hew

K. F.

(2010) The use of weblogs in higher education settings: A review of empirical research. Educational Research Review 5(2): 151–163.

49.

Sun

Y.-C.

(2010) Developing reflective cyber communities in the blogosphere: A case study in Taiwan higher education. Teaching in Higher Education 15(4): 369–381.

50.

Tang

Lam

(2014) Building an effective online learning community (OLC) in blog-based teaching portfolios. The Internet and Higher Education 20: 79–85.

51.

Tomberg

Laanpere

Ley

Normak

(2013) Sustaining teacher control in a blog-based personal learning environment. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning 14(3): 109–133.

52.

Valcke

Rots

Verbeke

Braak

J. V.

(2007) ICT teacher training: Evaluation of the curriculum and training approach in Flanders. Teaching and Teacher Education 23(6): 795–808.

53.

Wang

S. M.

Hou

H. T.

S. Y.

(2017) Analyzing the knowledge construction and cognitive patterns of blog-based instructional activities using four frequent interactive strategies (problem solving, peer assessment, role playing and peer tutoring): A preliminary study. Educational Technology Research and Development 65(2): 301–323.

54.

Wasserman

Faust

(1994) Social network analysis: Methods and applications Vol. 8 Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

55.

C. H.

Hwang

G. J.

Kuo

F. R.

Huang

(2013) A mindtool-based collaborative learning approach to enhancing students’ innovative performance in management courses. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 29(1): 128–142.

56.

S. Y.

Hou

H. T.

Hwang

W. Y.

Liu

E. Z. F.

(2013) Analysis of learning behavior in problem-solving-based and project-based discussion activities within the seamless online learning integrated discussion (SOLID) system. Journal of Educational Computing Research 49(1): 61–82.

57.

Yen

J. C.

Lee

C. Y.

Chen

I. J.

(2012) The effects of image-based concept mapping on the learning outcomes and cognitive processes of mobile learners. British Journal of Educational Technology 43(2): 307–320.

58.

Yilmaz

Karaoglan Yilmaz

F. G.

Kilic Cakmak

(2017) The impact of transactive memory system and interaction platform in collaborative knowledge construction on social presence and self-regulation. Interactive Learning Environments 25(8): 949–969.

59.

Zhan

(2011) Effects of an online learning community on active and reflective learners’ learning performance and attitudes in a face-to-face undergraduate course. Computers & Education 56(4): 961–968.