Investigating the Potential of Blended Learning to Develop Critical Thinking Skills among Student Teachers in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Developing critical thinking (CT) skills among student teachers while they at teacher preparation programmes is crucial in order to be better equipped for their future career and help in promoting their future students’ CT abilities. However, lack of CT skills remains a major problem at teacher preparation programmes in Saudi Arabia. This study made an attempt to address this issue by proposing a Blended Learning Model to promote critical thinking (CT) skills within the context of the academic subject area. The Model consisted of a variety of activities that distributed before, during and after sessions and designed based on Laurillard’s Conversational Framework. The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of the Blended Learning Model in developing CT skills. It also examines how student teachers perceived and engaged with this model by gathering their perceptions. For this purpose, this study employed a mixed-methods approach using case study research design. At first, pre-tests were applied to measure student teachers’ current ability in CT before the application of the Blended Learning Model. Thereafter, data from the focus group interviews was collected continuously during the course. The post-tests and perception questionnaires were then conducted at the end of the course. The study was conducted over 14 weeks with 33 student teachers at a Saudi university during the educational year 2017-18. The findings suggest that the Blended Learning Model is effective for developing CT skills. The findings also indicated positive perceptions toward the proposed Model and highlight its potentials in terms of learning and skills development. However, challenges associated with technology use, collaboration and workload were encountered by some learners which affected their perceptions. It is therefore recommended to take those challenges into consideration when using this model or designing a blended course using Laurillard’s Conversational Framework.