Nurturing Critical Minds: Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Education and the Workforce
Nurturing Critical Minds: Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Education and the Workforce
We are delighted to invite you to our upcoming international conference on “Nurturing Critical Minds: Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Education and the Workforce”. The conference is interdisciplinary, it will cover a diverse range of fields and perspectives on the development of critical thinking skills in different academic fields at universities and labour market institutions. Showcasing the holistic approach, the conference aims to explore the vital role of critical thinking in diverse academic disciplines and its significance in the ever-evolving landscape of labour market institutions.
The conference aims to bridge the gap between universities and labour market institutions, fostering a culture of critical thinking that thrives in the classroom and enhances professional growth in the workplace. This conference will serve as a platform for educators, researchers, and labour market professionals from diverse fields to explore innovative strategies, and share best practices and collaborate on integrating critical thinking skills into educational curricula.
Keynote speakers
Alistair Starling
Co-Founder and Managing Director of the European Diplomats
Luís Sebastião
Associate Professor in the Department of Pedagogy and Education, Director of the Center for Research in Education and Psychology, University of Évora
Dimitris Pnevmatikos
Professor in the Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Western Macedonia
Erika Vaiginienė
Associate professor in the Department of Business, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Vilnius University
Inga Jončienė
Head of Business Development at Alliance for Recruitment
Adam Mastandrea
Assistant Professor in the Department of Foreign Language Teaching and Research, Institute of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Philology, Vilnius University
Daiva Penkauskienė
Director of Modern Didactics Center, Associate Professor in the Institute of Educational Sciences and Social Work, Mykolas Romeris University
Sandra Kairė
Associate Professor, Director of the Institute of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University
Kay Hemmerling
Dr Kay Hemmerling, Chairman at the Institute for Moral-Democratic Competence (IMDC e.V.)
Programme
Programme
Tahmineh Khalili, Saeed Ketabi, Dimitris Pnevmatikos
Development of Critical Thinking, Creativity and L2 Reading through Online Group Problem-Solving Tasks for Undergraduates of Finance
Development of Critical Thinking, Creativity and L2 Reading through Online Group Problem-Solving Tasks for Undergraduates of Finance
Tahmineh Khalili * 1
Saeed Ketabi 2
Dimitris Pnevmatikos 3
Dariush Nejad Ansari Mahabadi 4
This study aims to investigate the possible effects of online group problem-solving tasks on undergraduates’ Critical Thinking (CT), creativity, and reading comprehension. To this end, a convenient sampling of Persian first-year students of non-English majors (finance) in Iran was selected as the participants. A homogeneous group of 60 Persian first-year students was randomly assigned into two groups: experimental (N=30) and control (N=30) (N Total= 60) based on the OPT test results. The data collection and the treatment were accomplished on the platforms of LMS, Google Docs, email, and WhatsApp. The experimental group was instructed with online group problem-solving tasks for 12 sessions during the second semester of the academic year 2020-2021. The results revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in CT, creativity, and L2 reading comprehension. Further, the experimental group reported a positive attitude toward online group problem-solving tasks. One of the major contributions of this research is addressing the paucity of CT and creativity studies for non-English majors in L2 academic courses in Iran. This may also help signify the crucial role of 21st-century skills (i.e., CT and creativity) for a successful life in educational aspects.
Keywords: critical thinking; creativity; L2 reading; online group problem-solving
Tahmineh Khalili is a postdoctoral researcher at Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran. She has a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Isfahan, Iran. She also received her M.A. from the University of Kashan, Iran. She pursued her research interests in the psychology of language education via the Erasmus Plus programme at the University of Western Macedonia, Greece.
Saeed Ketabi is an associate professor in Applied Linguistics. He studied his Ph.D. in Cambridge University, UK. He is also Head of Language Learning Center at the University of Isfahan, Iran. He has published many studies in different international journals and conferences. He also supervised and advised many theses and dissertations in Applied Linguistics.
Dimitris Pnevmatikos is a professor in developmental psychology. He is well-known for his studies on critical thinking. He has done different Erasmus projects on critical thinking. He is also Head of Department of Psychology, Head of the Laboratory of Cognitive Science at the University of Western Macedonia, Greece.
Dariush Nejad Ansari is an assistant professor in Applied Linguistics at the University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran. He has taught SLA, translation studies and other relevant fields to both undergraduates and graduate students. He is also Head of English Department at the University of Isfahan, Iran. He supervised and advised many theses and dissertations in Applied Linguistics at the University of Isfahan, Iran.
