Considering the importance of 11th grade students mastering critical thinking and argumentation skills in an English class to pass final and international exams, this study examines the effect of the Socratic seminar on improving these skills. A deeper understanding of the impact of the Socratic Seminar will benefit teachers, students, administrators, secondary education scholars and policy makers working to improve the quality of education in Kazakhstan.
Introduction
- Background of the Study. The SM and its benefits
- Statement of the Problem
- Purpose of the Study
- Research Questions
- Definition of the central phenomena (or terms as needed)
- Significance of the Study
- Conclusion/Outline of the Study/Organization of the study
Thus, the purpose of this action study was to determine the effectiveness of the SS in improving not only critical thinking skills but also argumentative reading and writing skills in an 11th grade online learning environment. The study aims to investigate the potential impact of the SS on the development of critical thinking and argumentative reading and writing skills of gifted 11th grade English students studying in an online learning environment.
Literature Review
Defining the term SM
Finally, a group leader (chosen by their peers) leads a conversation that encourages deeper understanding of the content. Group members focus on seminar guidelines and dialogue nuances.
Socratic Method’s Effect on CT
- Definitions of CT
- Socratic Seminar and CT
The beneficial impact of SS on the growth of critical thinking skills was also demonstrated in a study conducted at a private Christian high school in the United States (Hogshead, 2017). There is a gap in the field due to lack of research on the role of SM in improving CT skills in high school, especially in the Central Asian/Kazakhstan context.
SM and argumentative skills
- Argumentation
- SM and argumentative reading and writing skills
The next section discusses SS and its impact on the growth of argumentation skills. However, tension alone will not convince them of the legitimacy or credibility of your position on the subject. To collect qualitative and quantitative data on the effects of SM on the development of participants.
Therefore, there is a gap in this field related to the lack of studies on the role of SM in secondary school, improving argumentative reading and writing skills and in the context of Central Asia/Kazakhstan.
Online Discussion
They sought to quantify critical thinking in two asynchronous discussion forums within an engineering mathematics unit using the Socratic questioning method. Although the level of demonstrated critical thinking was generally poor, critical thinking scores increased between the first and second forums. Furthermore, Shahsavar and Hoon, (2013) investigated whether using SM on a blog would help Malaysian undergraduate students develop critical thinking skills.
The Cornell Critical Thinking Test was used to measure students' critical thinking skills before and after they received Socratic questioning training.
Framework of the study
- Theories of Education – constructivist and connectivist theories of learning
- PST Model
- Argumentation theory
- The Conceptual Framework
The PST model is used to determine the effectiveness of learning when designing a learning environment (Bower, 2008). The term 'social opportunities' refers to students' experiences and expectations when using any form of ICT (Kreijns et al., 2002). Walton's diagrams have been used to instruct students in logical thinking and to develop methods for constructing argument diagrams.
The term “social affordance” refers to the reciprocal relationship between teachers, students, and the instructor.
Summary
Therefore, there is a gap in this area related to the lack of research on the role of SM in online formats in secondary schools, to improve argumentative reading and writing skills, and in the Central Asian/Kazakh context. The next chapter lays the foundation for data collection by reviewing the research design, data collection methods, samples and locations, and critical ethical aspects. The use of the framework of the study in designing the research methods used in this study will also be discussed.
Methodology
- Research Design and rationale
- Research Site
- Sample and sampling procedures
- Data Collection Instruments
- Research field notes
- Checklists
- Feedback and reflection forms
- Graphic Organizer
- Essay
- Data Collection Procedures
- Data Analysis Methods
- Ethical Concerns and Risks of Research
- Limitations
- Conclusion
The researcher's goal is to make sense of (or interpret) the participants' interpretations of the studied approach. Essays were graded online using checklist categories as the final output of participants' work. Creswell and Creswell (2018) highlighted the following advantages of being an observer: 1) the researcher can capture data as it occurs; (2) special features can be observed during observation; and (3) useful for discussing topics that participants may find difficult to explore.
I just mentioned some disadvantages of running the SS in an online mode.
Findings
SS is perceived by students to impact their critical thinking skills
- SS allows for joy in learning
- SS encourages the use of critical thinking skills
Students indicated in reflection forms that the most challenging aspect for them at the beginning was to justify their ideas with data from the text, which means that they need to prepare better. In this story, she was at the point of denying the decision and this is proven by the fact that she was afraid of showering, and she considered it an unknown fact. So she was at the stage of adjustment and that was the reason why Margot did not play with her.
The shower reminded her of the reality that she was not on Earth and she was upset.
SS is perceived by students to impact the development of their argumentative
- SS impact on the development of students' argumentative reading skills
- SS impact on the development of students’ argumentative writing skills
- Student use of arguments and counter arguments improves over time
- Students use of self-examples as arguments and counterarguments
- The SS impact on the development of students' speaking and listening skills
In order to be better prepared for the seminar, next time I will do a deeper and thorough analysis of the text. But for Socratic Seminar I have to think about preparation and do a thorough analysis of the text. I would like to add the fact from one of the lines of this story that she was only one who had a future.
They were more focused on the workshop itself than on the actual content of the talk.
Conclusion
While Student T said that during discussion, "I listened to others and tried to supplement the ideas of others with my own thoughts, which helped to maintain the connection between the ideas of each student." First, it is important to acquaint yourself in detail with the material discussed during the dialogue. Second, each student must listen attentively to others and be ready to give feedback or ask questions if something is unclear.
Third, sharing creative or unusual ideas is also important to keep the conversation exciting.
Discussion
Socratic Seminars enhance students' critical thinking skills and their joy of learning
Many elements of the SS approach contributed to higher levels of encouragement for students, according to data collected during the research. The results of this study were comparable to mine, with the exception of the study participants. The students also stated that they gained confidence and encouragement as a result of the lack of fear of making mistakes during the discussion in their feedback after each seminar.
Many students said that sharing their personal experiences and context information benefited their understanding of the content and made learning more enjoyable.
Socratic seminars improved students’ ability to use argumentative writing and
During the Socartic workshops students felt that they had to be ready to present ideas, support ideas, speak logically and rely on a detailed analysis of the text. A similar idea has been described in past studies regarding one of the main challenges for students was to be able to read the text and then work with questions to further explore the text during discussions Chorzempa & Lapidus, 2009; Davies & Sinclair, 2012). Leslie & Caldwell (2011) also noted the effectiveness of the Socratic Seminar strategy in increasing a student's overall reading comprehension, stating that participants significantly increased their ability to generate questions, focus on behavior their own and to use critical thinking during the course of the four-week study. .
Furthermore, Inci's (2016) study reflected on the effectiveness of conducting the SS to develop students' writing skills.
Socratic seminars helped students develop their speaking and listening skills
The same idea was revealed by Inci (2016), who found that the text's self-examples helped students develop the habit of making connections between the text and their own life experience. The findings of these studies were similar to mine, but the approach to analysis and tool selection was more in-depth. Compared to mine, the researches of Inci (2016) and McClain (2016) were based solely on the effect of SS on the production of written argumentation, despite their different subjects (English and Science respectively).
Conclusion
The previous chapter discussed the results from the literature review, while the final chapter provides an in-depth overview of this research. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the SS had an impact on the development of critical thinking and argumentative skills among gifted English students in eleventh grade, in an online mode. This chapter discusses the results from this report, their possible implications for practice, the limitations of the study and possible suggestions for further research.
Conclusions on Major Findings
A direct relationship was found between the use of SS and increased argumentative writing skills in the studied context. Also, it was found that the students' attitudes towards the implementation of SS were generally positive, showing that they enjoyed listening to each other, participating in the dialogue and associated this phase with positive emotions. Moreover, the use of optimistic emotions related to the involvement of students in the seminar, as well as the implementation of this strategy in the classroom, can have a beneficial effect on their educational results.
As revealed in the previous chapter, the findings are very much in line with past research on SS.
Limitations
Additional attention should be paid to the many ways in which the seminar will help students improve their written argumentation skills. This is extremely important because it suggests that using this pedagogy online will yield similar benefits to using it in face-to-face settings. The general nature of this study's limitations include a limited sample size, which prevents the study's findings from being extrapolated to a larger population without caution.
Certain restrictions have been imposed as a result of online training mode held globally in response to the pandemic.
Recommendations for further research
Other limitations included time constraints (the study lasted six weeks), which precluded the use of English and IELTS monitoring results (taken in March and September) to compare the progress in reading and writing skills. Furthermore, incorporating this approach into the senior grades (grades 10-12) curriculum may have an impact on the development of critical thinking, reading and writing skills and could be the focus of further study. Further research should be conducted to validate these findings by reviewing and evaluating data on the use of SS in other classes.
Research Implications
The effectiveness of the Socratic method in developing critical thinking skills in English language learners. The Thinker's Guide to the Art of Socratic Questioning: Based on Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools. Promoting tertiary students' critical thinking through the use of Socratic questions in blogs.
Using Socratic questioning to promote critical thinking through asynchronous discussion forums in distance learning environments.
Short version of the syllabus (SS 1 syllabus based on the story "All summer in one day" by R.
