INFORMATION INFLUX (INFOFLUX) AND CRITICAL THINKING: EVALUATING EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY EFFICACIES FOR TEACHING AND ASSESSING CRITICAL THINKING IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Abstract

This research evaluates the pedagogical success of mindJig, an educational technology created to foster critical thinking competencies in a large online class (Kapoor, 2015). The study is focussed on the importance of critical thinking in the infoflux: a term I am using to denote the reality where students are constantly bombarded with continually changing information through social media, smartphones, and the internet more generally. A lab test was conducted in a simulated classroom where students completed the mindJig assignment three times during the semester. Participants were undergraduate students who signed up for the study to fulfill their experimental participation requirement. A mixed methods analysis was done to analyse student understanding of critical thinking after using mindJig. Results suggest mindJig’s existing structure can be reorganized, however, the tool’s combined focus on critical reading, critical literacy, critical noticing, and critical listening, better supports students in exercising critical thinking in infoflux realities.