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.