Examining Critical Thinking and Language Use through the Use of

WebQuests in an EFL Reading Class

Nunthika Puthikanon

Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree Doctor of Philosophy

in the Department of Literacy, Culture, and Language Education, School of Education Indiana University December, 2009

UMI Number: 3390298

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ii

Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Doctoral Committee

__________________________________

(Larry Mikulecky, Ph.D.)

__________________________________

(James Damico, Ph.D.)

_________________________________

(Sharon Pugh, Ph.D.)

_________________________________

(Bill Johnston, Ph.D.)

Date of Oral Examination

November 17th, 2009

iii

2009

Nunthika Puthikanon

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

iv

In loving memory of my father

To my mother

v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am deeply grateful to my advisor, committee chair, and director of the dissertation, Dr.

Larry Mikulecky, for his guidance, support, and belief in me throughout my academic journey at

Indiana. He inspires me to push the edge of knowledge and learn to become a good researcher.

My dissertation committee Dr. Sharon Pugh, Dr. Bill Johnston, and Dr. James Damico have

been helpful, patient, and generous throughout this process as well. This work bears the imprint

of their assistance, both direct and indirect, as I have learned from them over the years in various

ways.

I am grateful to all those who participated in my study. I am especially indebted to the

two teacher participants for their tireless participation and involvement. This study would not

have happened without their efforts.

I would also like to thank my friends and colleagues in Thailand and the United States,

who provided support and assistance to me in one way or another throughout my doctoral

studies. Thanks to Malinee Prapinwong for her support and helpful suggestions. Nattada

Chompusri and Warinda Patibhanthewa have also provided continual support and

encouragement, which have been invaluable to me.

I am also greatly thankful to Sampan Ampaiwan. In addition to being a wonderful

listener, he has provided love, encouragement, personal advice, and the invaluable certainty that

I could do this. Without him, I would likely have never passed all the challenges at crucial times

in this process.

vi

Finally, I could not begin to express in a few lines how grateful I am to my mother, my

brothers, my grandparents, and my aunts. Without their love and support, none of this would

have been possible. I also wish that my father could have been with me today to see my

accomplishments.

vii

NUNTHIKA PUTHIKANON

EXAMINING CRITICAL THINKING AND LANGUAGE USE THROUGH THE USE OF

WEBQUESTS IN AN EFL READING CLASS

Several studies have demonstrated the advantages of WebQuests as a potential tool to promote

critical thinking skills in L1 contexts. Yet, in EFL classrooms, inquiry into WebQuest use as an activity to

promote critical thinking skills and language learning is extremely scarce. Given the positive results from

the studies of WebQuests in L1 contexts, it is necessary to pursue the investigation of WebQuest use in an

EFL course. The study presented investigates how students used critical thinking in a college-level EFL

reading course in Thailand. It also examines how the teacher played a role in supporting students use of

critical thinking. The use of English language during the WebQuest activity is also explored.

A case study approach with mixed methods research design was employed in this study. The data

were collected from two classroom sections of an intermediate English reading course at a university in

Thailand. Two WebQuests were implemented as a supplementary reading activity in the class. A rubric

adapted from the Washington State University Critical Thinking Rubric was used to evaluate how

students used critical thinking skills during the activity. Through classroom observations, student group

discussions, student written products, interviews, and questionnaires, the role of the teacher and the

English language used during the class were also examined.

The results indicate that students used critical thinking during the WebQuest activity at a

relatively high level. Students at both higher and lower levels of English proficiency actively analyzed,

synthesized, evaluated, and reflected on information pertaining to the topic of the WebQuest. However,

although higher proficiency students were able to transfer their thoughtful opinions and reasoning into the

end products of the WebQuest, students with lower proficiency seemed to struggle with such tasks. The

study also found that the role of the teachers in supporting students use of critical thinking varied

depending on their level of involvement in the process of student WebQuest activities. In addition, the

viii

students primarily used English reading and writing skills, which were the stated objectives of this course;

they rarely used oral skills. The results of this study indicate that WebQuests can be a useful activity to

promote critical thinking and English language use in an EFL reading course.

________________________________

________________________________

________________________________

________________________________

ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................v

ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... ix

TABLES AND FIGURES ............................................................................................... xiii

List of Tables ................................................................................................................... xiii

List of Figures .................................................................................................................. xiv

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................1

Background of the Study .....................................................................................................1

Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................................4

Statement of the Problem .....................................................................................................5

Significance of the Study .....................................................................................................6

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ..............................................................................8

Critical Thinking ..................................................................................................................8

WebQuests .........................................................................................................................11

WebQuests and Critical Thinking ......................................................................................15

WebQuests and Collaborative Learning ............................................................................18

WebQuests and Language Learning in EFL Contexts .......................................................19

Theoretical Frameworks for Data Analysis of Critical Thinking ......................................24

Blooms Taxonomy ...............................................................................................24

The Three-dimensional Model ...............................................................................26

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................32

Research Questions ............................................................................................................33

Context ...............................................................................................................................33

x

Participants .........................................................................................................................35

Students ..................................................................................................................35

Teachers .................................................................................................................38

Research Procedures ..........................................................................................................39

Instruments and Materials ..................................................................................................43

WebQuests .............................................................................................................43

Classroom Observation and Field Notes................................................................49

Group Work Observation .......................................................................................50

Interviews ...............................................................................................................56

Interviews with the Students ......................................................................56

Interviews with the Teachers .....................................................................56

Student PowerPoint Presentations .........................................................................58

Student Written Assignments ................................................................................58

Questionnaires ........................................................................................................59

Other Documentation .............................................................................................59

Data Collection Strategies for Each Research Question ....................................................60

Research Question #1 ............................................................................................60

Research Question #2 ............................................................................................62

Research Question #3 ............................................................................................63

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS (1) ..............................................................................................66

Research Question #1 ........................................................................................................66

Students Use of Critical Thinking at the Group Level .....................................................66

Analysis of Types of Critical Thinking .................................................................67

Analysis of Critical Thinking by Proficiency of the Students .............................102

xi

Students Use of Critical Thinking at the Individual Level .............................................106

Summary of Students Critical Thinking Use during WebQuests ...................................114

CHAPTER 5 RESULTS (2) ............................................................................................115

Research Question #2 ......................................................................................................115

The Role of the Teacher in Facilitating Text Comprehension .........................................120

The Role of the Teacher in Encouraging Student Discussion .........................................128

Role Change .....................................................................................................................139

A Summary of the Role of the Teacher in Supporting Critical Thinking in a WebQuest Class

..........................................................................................................................................144

Research Question #3 ......................................................................................................145

English as the Language of Instruction ............................................................................145

The Amount of English Used during the Discussion .......................................................150

The Amount of English Used in the End Products ..........................................................158

Summary of the Amount of English Used during the WebQuest Activity ......................164

CHAPTER 6 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION .......................................................166

Discussion of the Results .................................................................................................166

Students Use of Critical Thinking during the WebQuest Activity .....................166

The Role of the Teacher in Supporting Critical Thinking in a WebQuest Class .178

The Amount of English Used during the WebQuest Activity .............................182

Conclusion .......................................................................................................................185

Suggestions for Future WebQuest Implementation .........................................................187

Limitations of the Study...................................................................................................190

Suggestions for Future Study ...........................................................................................191

REFERENCES ................................................................................................................193

xii

APPENDIX A: A Rubric for Evaluating WebQuests that Promote Critical Thinking ...203

APPENDIX B: Student Interview Questions ..................................................................206

APPENDIX C: Pre-project Interview Questions for Teachers ........................................207

APPENDIX D: Post-project Interview Questions for Teachers ......................................208

APPENDIX E: The Writing Rubric .................................................................................209

APPENDIX F: Student Pre-project Questionnaire ..........................................................210

APPENDIX G: Student Post-project Questionnaire ........................................................211

APPENDIX H: Results of Student Post-project Questionnaires .....................................213

APPENDIX I: Summary of the Results from the Written Assignments .........................214

CURRICULUM VITAE

xiii

TABLES AND FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 The four-dimensional model ..............................................................................29

Table 2.2 The three-dimensional framework .....................................................................30

Table 3.1 Summary of the student numbers and majors ....................................................36

Table 3.2 Detailed information for students observed in group discussions .....................37

Table 3.3 Timeline of the study .........................................................................................42

Table 3.4 List of potential WebQuests for the study .........................................................44

Table 3.5 The Critical Thinking Rubric .............................................................................54

Table 3.6 Summary of data sources and data analysis strategies used for each research

Question .............................................................................................................64

Table 4.1 Aspects on the Critical Thinking Rubric ...........................................................67

Table 4.2 Summary of the critical thinking results ............................................................69

xiv

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 The procedures and reading resources provided on The Right to Die

WebQuest ..........................................................................................................15

Figure 2.2 Blooms taxonomy ...........................................................................................25

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Even though critical thinking is often recognized as one of the desirable goals for higher

education, it is considered a skill not promoted enough in English classrooms in Thailand.

Learning English in Thailand is often times associated with learning grammatical rules, in which

knowledge is expected to be transmitted from teachers to students. In traditional classrooms,

learning English to pass the examinations is often considered the primary goal, where only

language skills are emphasized while critical thinking, problem solving, or creative thinking

skills are treated as minimal. However, in order to be able to compete in the knowledge-based

economy (that is, to use knowledge for economic benefits), Thai teachers have been urged to

incorporate critical thinking into their classrooms.

An educational reform measure called National Education Act (NEA) was introduced in

Thailand in 1999. The NEAs school reform policy includes three components, namely learning

reform, reform of the educational administrative structure, and legal measures. The learning

reform component, the core of the educational reform, focused on lifelong learning that

promotes and develops the importance of the learner-centered teaching process, allowing

learners to develop learning and thinking skills, with consideration for individuals interests,

aptitudes, pace and potential (Atagi, 2002, p. 28). According to this new policy of school

reform, thinking processes such as analytical thinking, creative-thinking, and problem solving,

and moral values are to be developed proportionately (Atagi, 2002, p. 31).

2

Technology is also identified as a tool that has potential to support the competitiveness of

Thailand and its people in the knowledge-based economy. The National Education Act of 1999

specifically mentions the importance of promoting information technology as an integral part of

learning and educational reform (Fry, 2002). Teachers are encouraged to use the Internet and

information technology generally to provide unlimited resources to students and offer

educational opportunities to people in remote areas. The NEA also anticipated that the

introduction of technology into classrooms would promote higher order thinking skills for

students (Office of the National Education Commission, 2003).

These particular efforts resonate with how technology has been promoted in many English

classrooms worldwide. Most educational institutions now have access to computers and the

Internet, and use them as part of a language classroom. Technology provides students with

access to a large number of authentic learning resources and opportunities to interact with other

speakers of the language. Consequently, computer-assisted language learning (CALL) has

received much attention in recent years. Studies on technology in a second language class have

shifted their emphasis from language pedagogy software to the Internet and World Wide Web.

Kern (2006) suggests that the Internet is a suitable environment for language learners. Students

from cross-cultural classes in different parts of the world can collaboratively create a project by

exchanging emails or engaging in online chats. Thus they will not only learn to use the language,

they will learn to develop critical thinking skills as they try to express their own cultural and

personal experiences through language and other symbolic means (Kern, 2000).

Many studies suggest that technology not only provides unlimited resources to students, it is

also believed to help develop critical thinking skills among language learners (Arnold & Ducate,

3

2006; Coster & Ledovski, 2005; Fox & MacKeogh, 2003; Hopson, Simms, & Knezek, 2001;

Meyer, 2003). In order for students to find useful information on the Web, they need to read

extensively, evaluate content of texts, select relevant information, and synthesize materials to

construct meaning. This process can hence develop higher-order thinking among students

(Crawford & Brown, 2002; March, 1998). Web-based group projects can also enhance higher-

order thinking skills in a similar fashion. These projects enable students to learn critical thinking

when they critique, negotiate, challenge or agree with ideas of others (Arnold & Ducate, 2006).

Contrary to the traditional ESL classrooms, with the use of technology, students can develop

skills in both researching and thinking critically when finding information from resources on the

Internet. They also have opportunities to use the target language through reading web pages,

writing presentations, listening to peers opinions, and discussing ideas on interesting issues. The

introduction of information technology into the language classroom thus enables students to

learn the language and at the same time develop the critical thinking skills needed in higher

education.

However, Kern (2000) cautions that it is the teacher, not technology, who is responsible

for the degree to which students will benefit from these innovations. Therefore, a well-structured

syllabus is needed to make technology in classrooms function effectively. To many EFL

teachers, the task of designing a web-based syllabus that promotes critical thinking in an English

course may be daunting when appropriate guidelines are scarce. The expansive size of the

Internet could also make the task even more intimidating for both teacher and students. A well-

structured web-based activity, such as WebQuest -- an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or

all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web (Dodge, 1998) -- could therefore

4

provide the teacher with a pre-defined activity equipped with existing databases for the teachers

to explore and adapt to suit their students and the class objectives.

My preliminary experience with WebQuest began in 2006 when a colleague and I

developed a rubric that could be used to evaluate WebQuests for EFL students (Prapinwong &

Puthikanon, 2008). We later used this rubric to select a WebQuest deemed appropriate for EFL

students and implemented it in an EFL reading course in Thailand in 2007 (Prapinwong &

Puthikanon, 2007). In 2008, I had a chance to assist two teachers in implementing two

WebQuests as reading supplements in two college-level reading courses. The students seemed to

be satisfied with the activity and were motivated to discuss and express informed opinions on

controversial issues. As an EFL teacher, I perceived this Web tool as a potential learning activity

that motivated students to read extensive authentic texts in English, work collaboratively with

their peers, and exercise critical thought. These initial positive impressions of WebQuest use in

EFL contexts prompted me to pursue further research on Webquests and critical thinking in EFL

classrooms. As a result, I would like to investigate how WebQuest was used in a college-level

reading course and how the students used critical thinking during such activity.

Purpose of the Study

The primary purpose of the study is to investigate the use of WebQuest in EFL

classrooms in terms of its potential to encourage critical thinking skills and English language

use. The results from this study are aimed to assist the teacher in EFL classes to use and modify

this web-based activity to suit their classes. The secondary purpose of this study is to explore the

role of the teacher in supporting the use of WebQuests in an EFL reading course. Since the mere

use of WebQuests does not guarantee the effective use of critical thinking, I would like to

5

explore how teachers assist students during the WebQuest activity. The findings of this study

could thus provide insights into how teachers can adapt themselves to a web-based learner-

centered activity in EFL contexts. Specifically, this study is aimed to answer three research

questions:

1) To what extent did the students with intermediate English proficiency use critical

thinking when completing a WebQuest task in an EFL reading course?

2) What was the role of the teacher in supporting critical thinking in a WebQuest lesson?

3) To what extent did the students with intermediate English proficiency use English

when completing a WebQuest task in an EFL reading course?

Statement of the problem

Even though many studies have linked WebQuest to the support of critical thinking skills

(Bradshaw, Bishop, Gens, Miller, & Rogers, 2002; Kanuka, 2005; Murray, 2006; Vidoni & Maddux,

2002), little attention has been paid to empirical evidence in the process and the extent to which

students employ such skills in the WebQuest context. Abbit and Ophus (2008) claim that even

though WebQuests have been around for more than ten years and received popular reception

among K-12 teachers, little research has been conducted on the effects of this technology-based

activity on learning (Abbit & Ophus, 2008). Most studies on WebQuests were either anecdotal or

lacked empirical evidence for the support of critical thinking use in the classrooms (Abbit &

Ophus, 2008). Many studies focused more on the designing aspect of WebQuest rather than

curricular aspects of the design (Sox & Rubenstein-Avila, 2009).

In addition, most of these studies focus on students in L1 settings while research

investigating the use of WebQuests with L2 learners is limited. For those that have been done,

6

they seem to be more theoretical than empirical (Koenraad & Westhoff, 2003; Laborda, 2009;

Luzon, 2007). Moreover, most empirical studies on WebQuest use in L2 contexts focused on the

perceptions of the WebQuest users (Noordin, Samed, & Razali, 2008; Prapinwong &

Puthikanon, 2007; Prapinwong, 2008) or effects on English learning (Chuo, 2007; Prapinwong,

2008; Tsai, 2006). If little research has been conducted on WebQuest use in EFL classrooms,

even fewer studies have been carried out on the effects of WebQuests on critical thinking use in

EFL contexts.

However, despite the small body of research directly supporting the use of WebQuests to

develop higher order thinking among EFL students, related literature from L1 seems to indicate

promising results (Allan & Street, 2007; Bradshaw et al., 2002; Ikpeze & Boyd, 2007; Kanuka,

2005; MacGregor & Lou, 2006; Murray, 2006; Vidoni & Maddux, 2002). A closer look at how

EFL students exercise critical thinking while completing WebQuests, as proponents of

WebQuest have often claimed, is therefore necessary. This gap in the research literature suggests

the need to look at how teachers integrate WebQuest into the EFL classroom as a way to

promote critical thinking and language learning. I would therefore like to specifically examine

how students use critical thinking and English language during the WebQuest activity, and how

teachers support the implementation of WebQuests in the classroom. This study will thus

increase our knowledge of how WebQuests can be used to promote critical thinking skills in EFL

contexts.

Significance of the study

Taking the limitations of research studies on WebQuests in EFL contexts into account, I

am hopeful that this study will reveal insights into how EFL students use critical thinking during

7

the WebQuest in a reading course. This study aims to add to the paucity of research on the use of

WebQuests to promote critical thinking among L2 learners, particularly EFL college students. It

will investigate whether patterns of higher order thinking skills occur among the participants

using WebQuests in L2 classrooms. Additionally, this study will explore how teachers in the

WebQuest class support students in thinking critically during the activity. Finally, this study will

also examine how students use English while completing WebQuest activities, in order to

explore how WebQuests can be effectively used in language learning contexts.

8

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

This section discusses the existing body of research pertaining to WebQuests and critical

thinking. It is organized into six areas: 1) Critical thinking; 2)WebQuests; 3) WebQuests and

critical thinking; 4) WebQuests and collaborative learning; 5) WebQuests and language learning

in EFL contexts; and 6) theoretical frameworks for data analysis of critical thinking.

Critical thinking

Critical thinking is often considered one of the main goals in higher education. There are

various definitions of critical thinking in academic settings. Ennis (1989) defines critical thinking

as reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do (p. 4). He suggests

that it is also related to other concepts of thinking such as higher order thinking. While Ennis

views critical thinking as generic, McPeck (1990) believes that critical thinking is subject-

specific with respect to particular knowledge in certain fields. Lipman (1988) further defines

critical thinking as skillful, responsible thinking that facilitates good judgment because it (1)

relies upon criteria; (2) is self-correcting; and (3) is sensitive to context (p. 39). For Paul (1990),

critical thinking is not only viewed as analytical and evaluative, it is also considered the art of

thinking about your thinking (p. 32). In addition, he emphasizes the development of intellectual

habits that enhance students abilities as critical thinkers, namely intellectual humility;

intellectual courage; intellectual empathy; intellectual good faith; intellectual perseverance; faith

in reason; and intellectual sense of justice (Paul, 1992). In essence, these researchers regard

critical thinking as a teachable practice that can be defined and learned. Following from this,

9

various strategies are offered to promote the development of critical thinking skills in classrooms

(Beyer, 1997; Paul, 1992).

In the field of English as a second language (ESL), some researchers in critical thinking

and second language learning (L2) believe that critical thinking is a concept difficult to teach in

L2 classrooms and was learned among L1 students or Westerners through their upbringing; in

this view, critical thinking is considered a social practice (Atkinson, 1997; Ramanathan &

Kaplan, 1996a; Ramanathan & Kaplan, 1996b; Ramanathan & Atkinson, 1999). Atkinson (1997)

defines critical thinking as a social practice; this originated from a set of behaviors that a person

was immersed in when being raised in a particular culture. It is tacit and cannot be easily

described by its users. Ramanathan and Atkinson (1999) claim that because ESL students come

from different cultural backgrounds, attempts to teach them critical thinking skills may not be

successful. Along the same line, Ramanathan and Kaplan (1996a, 1996b) state that critical

thinking is a socio-cognitive practice that primarily relies on the (mainstream) students shared

cultural practices and norms and is thus difficult for L2 learners to learn. They suggest that

English composition skills are often acquired as part of Western culture and cannot be taught in

L2 classrooms. Davidson (1998), on the contrary, argues that part of an ESL teachers task is to

prepare learners to interact with native speakers who value explicit comment, intelligent

criticism, and intellectual assertion (p. 121). It follows from this view that critical thinking

should be taught in ESL/EFL classes to prepare ESL/EFL students for the world outside their

societies. Additionally, Benesch (1993) suggests that when teaching critical thinking skills, the

teacher should encourage students to examine the language, politics, and history of the issue in

relation to their own experience, in addition to their evaluation of it. Thus, in ESL classrooms

critical thinking should be taught dialogically inviting students to discuss underlying

10

assumptions about an issue and helping them to learn tolerance and social justice (Benesch,

1999).

Specifically to the Thai contexts, Jantrasakul (2004) investigated how the concept of

critical thinking is perceived and performed in EFL high-school classrooms in Thailand. The

results show that the concept of critical thinking was perceived by the participants as self-

expression, problem-solving, and virtue education. However, in classroom practices, the use of

critical thinking was presented minimally. The teachers were struggling to integrate critical

thinking into their classrooms but generally geared the class activities toward utilitarian

purposes, such as passing the national university entrance examination.

In the field of education, critical thinking can be seen as an exercise in higher order

thinking skills, associated with the ability to think logically based on evaluated information

according to certain criteria. Bloom et al. (1956) proposed a framework which defines cognitive

presence in education; this has been widely used among educators. It describes six types of

cognitive operations, namely knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and

evaluation. The last three levels -- analysis, synthesis, and evaluation -- are considered higher

order thinking skills. Higher order thinking can also be thought of as the intellectually

disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing

and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generalized by, observation, experience,

reflection, reasoning or communication, as a guide to belief or action (Scriven & Paul, 2001).

Lewis and Smith (1993) propose the term higher order thinking as the type of thinking that

occurs when a person takes new information and information stored in memory and

interrelates and/or rearranges and extends this information to achieve a purpose or find possible

11

answers in perplexing situations (p. 136). This definition can be further illustrated by the skills

students use when they evaluate whether or not to believe an argument or when they make

judgments based on claims or evidence given. On the contrary, lower order thinking requires

only memorization of previously learned items (Newman, 1990). However, it should be noted

that different learners backgrounds and abilities may contribute to differences in a persons need

to use lower or higher order thinking. Therefore, a task that requires lower order thinking for one

person may need higher order thinking skills by another (Lewis & Smith, 1993).

Since the definitions of critical thinking as a teachable concept seem relevant to the

characteristics and purpose of WebQuest, which emphasizes tasks using higher levels of

thinking, in this study I will use the term critical thinking to mean the ability to analyze and

synthesize information from different sources, solve problems, evaluate information, and make

judgments based on evidence presented (Barak, 2005; Bradshaw et al., 2002). This term is

intended to distinguish this type of thinking from the type which focuses on memorization and

drill practice while neglecting problem solving and creativity.

WebQuests

Technology has become part of many EFL classrooms. Several studies in L1 settings

have explored how the use of technology can facilitate the development of critical thinking.

Many online activities have the potential to enhance higher thinking skills, including projects

that require the location and evaluation of online resources and participation in online

discussions (Fox & MacKeogh, 2003; Hopson, Simms, & Knezek, 2001; Meyer, 2003). Online

interactions among learners, such as argumentation, negotiation, construction of understanding,

12

and proposing solutions, help foster critical thinking practice (Arnold & Ducate, 2006; Fox &

Mackeogh, 2003).

WebQuest is a tool that seems effective in facilitating higher levels of thinking in a

classroom. Kanuka (2005) conducted an action research study that explored five types of web-

based teaching strategies, namely nominal group, debate, brainstorming, invited guest, and

WebQuest. According to the SOLO (Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome) taxonomy,

which describes the hierarchy of complexity through which learners show mastery of their

academic written work, WebQuest was shown to be a more effective instructional strategy than

the other four; results show that students writing reflected relational responses and extended

abstract responses more than with other instructional strategies. WebQuest is, therefore, a

learning tool with the potential to enhance higher thinking skills.

WebQuest is a term coined by Bernie Dodge and described as an inquiry-oriented

activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources

on the Internet (March, 2004, p. 2). Tom March, who is the co-creator of WebQuest, later

revised WebQuests definition and articulated it as a scaffolded learning structure that uses

links to essential resources on the World Wide Web and an authentic task to motivate students

investigation of a central, open-ended question, development of individual expertise, and

participation in a final group process that attempts to transform newly acquired information into

a more sophisticated understanding (March, 2004, p. 3). To further elaborate, the main element

of a WebQuest is a scaffolding structure that encourages student motivation and facilitates

advanced thinking with integration of enriched learning resources (March, 2007, p. 2)

13

In order to complete the main task of a WebQuest, students use information from various

sources to form their own opinions and share them with their group members to create a final

project, usually in the form of an oral presentation and/or written materials such as brochures,

newsletters, or websites. To complete a WebQuest task, students search through links provided

on the WebQuest; these links are relevant to the topic being learned about and are thus efficient

and focused learning tools. The students do not need to use general search engines as their

primary tools so they do not run the risk of accessing inappropriate materials. WebQuests are

designed to further several learning concepts. Their four underlying constructs are: (1) critical

thinking; (2) knowledge application; (3) social skills; and (4) scaffolded learning (March, 2007).

In sum, WebQuests are inquiry-oriented, group work-centered, higher order thinking-focused,

and selected Internet source-heavy (Dodge, 1998).

Below is an example of a WebQuest called The right to die, which was used in this

study. This WebQuest required the students to answer the question Should euthanasia be

legalized in Thailand? Students worked in groups of three to do research on the issue of

euthanasia. In order to gather information on the topic, each student was required to take the role

of either a physician, a lawyer, or a patient and pool their research findings to form group

opinions. The primary objectives were for each group of students to form group opinions and

create a PowerPoint presentation to explain their position on the issue.

This WebQuest scaffolded students learning by dividing activities into manageable tasks

and directing students with step-by-step guidelines to complete the task. Students were initially

provided some background knowledge on the issue of euthanasia through the activities in the

pre-activity section, which included a newspaper article reporting a case of a French woman who

14

requested euthanasia and a whole-class discussion on the article. The procedures to complete the

task included a number of steps. First, the teacher introduced the students to the topic of the

WebQuest and informed them of the task they needed to complete using the Introduction and the

Task pages on the WebQuest. Second, the teacher guided the students through the pre-activity

discussion to activate their prior knowledge, as mentioned earlier. Then, the students were

directed to gather information for the role each was taking by reading the articles provided on the

WebQuest. During this step, the students read the articles with their peers who took the same

role. (This sub-activity could be seen as a scaffolding for reading the articles and understanding

the role.) Next, students worked with their group members to pool their research findings and

develop PowerPoint presentation slides that explained their position on the issue with supporting

evidence. Finally, the students presented their opinions on the issue to the class using PowerPoint

slides. The students were also asked to write a journal entry on the issue as homework. These

steps, therefore, scaffolded the students to answer the main question Should euthanasia be

legalized in Thailand?

Figure 2.1 The procedures and reading resources provided on The Right to Die

WebQuest

WebQuests and critical thinking

The potential of WebQuests to advance critical thinking skills may be explained by how

the WebQuest task requires each member of the group to carry out a specific, meaningful role,

and then pool their respective research findings to formulate a response to a complex, open-

ended question. Unlike traditional learning activities, there can be multiple solutions to the

topical question posed in a WebQuest. A good WebQuest focuses on an issue with multiple

15

16

facets, such as social, political, and/or environmental, and requires more than information

gathering; students must process the information in order to form their opinions (March, 1998).

Crawford and Brown (2002) suggest that WebQuests emphasize higher order thinking skills,

according to Blooms Taxonomy (Bloom et al., 1956), because they help develop higher

cognitive processes by requiring students to sift through large amounts of information until they

can construct an understanding of the problem and offer a solution.

March (1998) asserts that the main question on the WebQuest requires students to

transform information collected from online resources into something new. This process invites

students to consider an issue, compare and synthesize information to form a hypothesis, and

suggest a solution. Additionally, scaffolding techniques, in the form of specific sub-tasks on the

WebQuest, prompt students to engage in higher levels of thinking. It is also suggested that the

way students must sift through large amounts of information to form an understanding of the

problem not only connects to their schema, but also builds new awareness that could be modified

when they encounter similar problems in the future. This process of text selection requires

students to evaluate content of texts as well as draw and test their inferences (March, 1998).

These characteristics of WebQuests thus help to develop the critical thinking process.

Since its inception, extensive research has been carried out on how WebQuests affect

students learning. However, most WebQuest studies primarily explored the attitudes and

perceptions of students and teachers, while fewer studies investigated how WebQuests can

promote critical thinking skills (Abbit & Ophus, 2008). Although their number is still small,

several studies have now been conducted to investigate how WebQuests can support critical

17

thinking among first language students in different subjects (Allan & Street, 2007; Bradshaw et

al., 2002; Kanuka, 2005; Murray, 2006; Vidoni & Maddux, 2002).

In L1 contexts, several studies have theoretically linked WebQuests with higher order

thinking skills. Vidoni and Maddux (2002) explored WebQuests in terms of six critical thinking

concepts as proposed by Weinstein (2000), namely, skillful thinking; responsible thinking; non-

routine thinking; employing criteria; self-correction; and sensitivity to context, and concluded

that WebQuests met all the six key elements in critical thinking and therefore could be a

powerful tool for promoting critical thinking skills for students. Similarly, Kanuka (2005) found

that WebQuests seem to be the most effective instructional tool for reinforcing higher levels of

learning when he showed that students writing in response to a WebQuest topic reflected

relational responses and extended abstract responses more than other instructional strategies.

WebQuest is, therefore, a classroom activity with potential to promote complex thinking skills

when it employs a learner-centered collaborative environment which takes advantage of

problem-based activity (Bradshaw et al., 2002).

Empirical studies in L1 contexts have also found that WebQuests could be used to

promote critical thinking or higher order thinking skills. Allan and Street (2007) conducted a

study on the impact of WebQuests in primary initial teacher training. The subjects were four

groups of teacher training students who were Bachelor of Education final-year students and

PGCE students at the University of Wolverhampton; the data were collected from a

questionnaire focusing on students perceptions of the impact of the WebQuest session, focus

group sessions, and an analysis of 48 feedback sheets for assignments. The results suggested that

WebQuests may encourage higher order thinking skills as part of an initial teacher training

18

module. In addition, the authors claim that the addition of the pooling knowledge stage of the

WebQuest, where students are encouraged to discuss the issue or draw on prior knowledge, led

to a major shift in learning levels.

A number of studies that used WebQuests with grade school students have also showed

positive effects of WebQuest use. Ikpeze and Boyd (2007) used WebQuests with six fifth-grade

students for 10 weeks and found that the activities facilitated thoughtful literacy if the tasks were

carefully chosen, managed, and delivered. They also showed potential for teaching literacy and

technology skills by involving students with authentic problem-based activity. Similarly,

MacGregor and Lou (2006) used WebQuests with fifth-grade students and found that using

conceptual scaffolds (in the form of a study guide or a concept mapping template) helped

facilitate students higher order learning when they provided cues for what information to seek

and how to organize and synthesize such information. Likewise, Murray (2006) investigated the

use of WebQuests to promote higher level thinking skills among seventh-grade students in a

computer technology class. He found that WebQuests have potential to generate higher level

thinking through sequential activities, during which students had to evaluate information to

produce individual reports (on particular sub-cultures of the Australian people) and synthesize

them into a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. In sum, research studies on WebQuests in

L1 contexts seem to indicate promising results of their use to facilitate advanced thinking skills.

WebQuests and collaborative learning

Collaborative learning refers to an instructional method in which students work in small

groups for the purpose of achieving an academic goal. The active exchange of ideas within small

groups not only helps students learn but also stimulates critical thinking (Totten, Sills, Digby, &

19

Russ, 1991). It allows students to learn from others skills and experiences (Gokhale, 1995).

Kanuka (2005) found that text-based Internet communication technologies have potential to

encourage effective collaborative learning environments which can facilitate higher order

thinking. The findings suggest that WebQuests are effective in encouraging students to deal with

a task in a deeper way, and thus promote critical thinking. WebQuest is also considered a

possible learning tool based on social-constructivism that allows second language learners to

construct knowledge of the target language through meaningful activities (Simina & Hamel,

2005). It can set the condition for collaborative learning which is promoted by social-

constructivism. Learners will participate in meaningful exchanges through authentic information

gaps (Felix, 2002). Through group work, language learners take on specific roles and work

collaboratively to accomplish a task that is meaningful to them.

WebQuests and language learning in EFL contexts

Not only can WebQuest be used to teach content, as evidently suggested in how it is

widely used among L1 students, it can also be used for the purpose of language learning. The

Dutch project Talenquest, or LanguageQuest in English, has been developed as a tool for

foreign language instruction. It provides a variety of language input and encourages learners to

collaboratively use language in an authentic environment. Koenraad and Westhoff (2003)

proposed a set of guidelines for the creation of WebQuests designed for language learning. They

suggest that the task should encourage use of the target language either in the form of instruction

language, or of the language used in the LanguageQuest end products, or a combination of both.

In addition, they state that the material presented in the LanguageQuest should be authentic and

reflect what learners would apply in their real life. The tasks within the LanguageQuest should

20

also be flexible and promote collaboration and meaningful communication. These guidelines

theoretically connect WebQuests to language learning in the classroom.

In a more specific learning context, Laborda (2009) suggested that WebQuests could be

used in EFL content-based language learning classes, such as a tourism class, as social

constructivist instruction, and in professional development activities. They could also promote

verbal skills when tourism students engage in real-life communication situations containing

professional content. WebQuest can, therefore, be used in the tourism classroom to promote

interaction through the target language in a genuinely communicative and safe in-group

situation.

In a similar class environment, Luzon (2007) supported WebQuest use in English for

Specific Purposes (ESP) courses and proposed several ways to enhance its use in such classes.

She suggests that WebQuest activity used in an ESP class should be designed to help students

acquire knowledge and develop communicative skills in their discipline, promote autonomous

learning, and foster students use of new literacies and strategies for meaning construction of

texts. WebQuest is beneficial in ESP classes because it helps students use background

knowledge from their discipline to assess the problem, evaluate information from different

sources and synthesize a response to the main WebQuest problem. In addition, WebQuest

promotes autonomous learning when it provides scaffolded learning and facilitates higher order

thinking skills. WebQuest is also an appropriate activity that trains students to develop

multiliteracies by engaging them with multimodal texts and electronic literacy. From this view,

these several benefits confirm the potential for WebQuests to be used in a language learning

situation.

21

Along the same lines, Noordin, Samed and Razali (2008) surveyed a group of Malaysian

student teachers in a TESL program; they participated in three computer lab sessions that

introduced them to WebQuest and involved them in a sample activity. A questionnaire was

administered to elicit these student teachers perceptions on the practicality and potential of

Webquest in EFL classrooms. The findings suggest that the majority of the students found

WebQuest beneficial to English learning. They found WebQuest activity meaningful, authentic,

motivating, and supportive of cooperative learning and higher order thinking. WebQuest,

therefore, has potential to foster critical thinking skills and language learning.

Apart from the studies mentioned earlier which explored prospective use of WebQuests

in EFL classes, a number of studies have empirically observed the effectiveness of WebQuests

use in EFL classrooms. Chuo (2007) investigated the effects of WebQuest on college-level

Taiwanese learners writing performance. She compared students writing in a traditional writing

section to that of students in a WebQuest-incorporated writing class and found that the students

in the WebQuest class performed significantly better than those in the traditional writing class.

The students also had more favorable perceptions of the WebQuest class because they

experienced more advantages in language learning using Web resources. In another study

conducted by Tsai (2006), Taiwanese students vocabulary acquisition in a WebQuest learning

module was examined. He found that students in the WebQuest class outperformed those in a

traditional reading class in both their vocabulary learning and story reading comprehension.

However, WebQuest did not produce any significant difference in student thematic reading

comprehension.

22

Another research study conducted to investigate students perceptions of WebQuest in a

college-level reading course in Thailand showed that students had mixed opinions toward

WebQuest use (Prapinwong & Puthikanon, 2007). Some students expressed positive opinions

and experienced WebQuest as a fun activity that helped them to learn English. However, some

students found the reading in the WebQuest overwhelming and thus generally felt frustrated

when completing the WebQuest task. However, a subsequent study carried out in a similar

context indicated different results concerning the students and teachers perceptions.

Prapinwong (2008) used two WebQuests with a group of students in a reading course at a

university in Thailand. She found that both teachers and students showed favorable attitudes

toward WebQuest use. The task also seemed to have a beneficial impact on vocabulary learning;

the results showed a statistically significant gain in vocabulary acquisition among students.

Since WebQuests for ESL/EFL students require specialized design, rubrics that can be

used to assess appropriate WebQuests for students in such contexts are offered. Prapinwong and

Puthikanon (2008) developed a rubric to evaluate popular existing WebQuests used in the L1

context. The study was aimed at evaluating whether WebQuests that were highly recommended

in the L1 contexts would show similar benefits for EFL students. The rubric took into account

five aspects, namely vocabulary and grammar, content knowledge, level of interest, assistance,

and task demand, to examine whether a WebQuest would be beneficial for EFL students. The

results indicated that only four out of fifteen WebQuests which were rated highly for L1 students

were appropriate for EFL students. Most of the WebQuests needed some modification to make

them applicable to EFL classrooms.

23

Another rubric similar to that mentioned above was developed by Sox and Rubenstein-

Avila (2009) to rate WebQuest effectiveness for English Language Learners (ELLs). The rubric

focuses on the linguistic, multimedia, and organizational features of WebQuests. They found that

even though the eight WebQuests in the study met the standards suggested by WebQuest

creators, not all of them were effective for ELLs. They suggest that WebQuests for ELLs should

contain linguistic features which are simple enough for ELLs to understand; integrate visual

displays and online aids which help ELLs understanding of texts; offer direct links to specific

information; focus attention on key information of the texts; give clear instructions; and provide

supplemental resources.

In summary, the body of research discussed in this chapter suggests that WebQuest has

potential to generate critical thinking among students in various subjects and classroom contexts.

However, most studies of WebQuests on critical thinking among L1 students offer anecdotal and

theoretical conjecture rather than empirical evidence. Few studies on benefits of WebQuests

employed research methods that could demonstrate the beneficial impact of WebQuests (Abbit &

Ophus, 2008). In a similar fashion, most of the studies investigating WebQuests in EFL contexts

seem to be based on a theoretical projection that WebQuests have prospects to engage students in

language learning and higher order learning skills. Similarly, even though a number of studies

have investigated the impact of WebQuest on language learning, few studies empirically

observed the effects of WebQuest on critical thinking use among EFL students in particular. This

study was thus aimed at providing insight into such issues.

24

Theoretical frameworks for data analysis of critical thinking

In order to analyze the data, two theoretical frameworks will be used to investigate how

students used critical thinking during the WebQuest activity.

1. Blooms taxonomy

In this study, I chose Blooms Taxonomy of educational objectives (Bloom et al., 1956) as

one of the frameworks to define critical thinking and analyze data because it is widely accepted

among educators as an outline for cognitive presence in classrooms. It also clearly describes the

characteristics of higher order thinking skills, which many teachers in Thailand are familiar with,

so it was thought to be easier for the teachers to understand the critical thinking construct when

participating in the study. In addition, many studies on WebQuests used the higher levels on this

framework to refer to how WebQuests theoretically and empirically had potential to advance

students critical learning (Allan & Street, 2007; Crawford & Brown, 2002; Luzon, 2007;

MacGregor & Lou, 2006; Murray, 2006; Noordin, Samed & Razali, 2008). Therefore, to

empirically investigate such claims, it would be more practical to explore them through the

higher levels on Blooms Taxonomy.

Blooms taxonomy (Bloom et al., 1956) was among the first models that provide

educators with systematic classification of cognitive operations and one of the most widely used

models of cognitive skills in education. It serves as a model that assists educators in presenting

ideas and concepts at varying levels of thought. It outlines six types of cognitive thinking skills,

ordered from the least to the most complex: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis,

synthesis, and evaluation. Although the model is hierarchical, subsequent levels of the cognitive

25

skills may include some, but not necessarily all, of the mastery required in the previous level.

This model is, therefore, a conceptual framework, not a prescriptive one (Athanassiou, McNett,

& Harvey, 2003; Bissell & Lemons, 2006). The first three levels of Blooms Taxonomy, namely

knowledge, comprehension, and application, are often referred to as lower order thinking skills.

The remaining levels-- analysis, synthesis, and evaluation-- are known as higher order thinking

skills. Further discussion on each of the higher order thinking skills is provided below.

Figure 2.2 Blooms taxonomy

Blooms Taxonomy Evaluation

Higher Order Thinking Skills

Synthesis

Analysis

Application Lower Order Thinking

Skills Comprehension

Knowledge

Analysis

Analysis requires examination of parts or elements of concepts, analyzing the

relationship between conclusions and evidence, organizing knowledge based on a principle, or

making inferences based on data (Aviles, 1999, p. 11). It is the ability to break down material

into its component parts and may include the analysis of the relationship between the parts.

26

Synthesis

Synthesis can be thought of as creativity or production of things that are new. It refers to

the ability to put parts together to create a whole. Students put ideas together to originate or

create a perspective that is new to them.

Evaluation

Evaluation requires students to make judgments. The judgments are based on defined

criteria which are developed by students or taken from outside resources. Evaluation can be

shown in the form of class discussions when students share their opinions based on their

judgments of the information presented. Judgments are, therefore, neither right nor wrong.

2. The three-dimensional model

In addition to Blooms Taxonomy, I employed a framework adapted from the three-

dimensional framework proposed by Damico, Baildon, and Campano (2005) which was also

used in the Critical Web Reader (Critical Web Reader) to increase understanding of how students

used language skills to comprehend texts on the Web and how they related their prior

knowledge, personal experience, cultures, or beliefs when evaluating claims and evidence or

reflecting on the issue of the WebQuest. This framework allowed me to see how language skills

and social dimensions influenced students use of critical thinking skills, in addition to their

analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information from the Web. Including this framework into

the data analysis was meant to yield a more comprehensive lens to investigate how students use

critical thinking in a WebQuest class.

27

Damico, Baildon, and Campano (2005) first proposed a three-dimensional framework to

explore how students evaluate claims and evidence on Web pages through the operational,

academic, and critical dimensions. This three-dimensional framework is used as a set of lenses

which directs students to critically evaluate assertions and evidence on websites. It was built

upon three perspectives of literacy: 1) literacy as socially situated; 2) literacy as disciplined

inquiry in social studies; and 3) new literacies (Damico, Baildon, & Campano, 2005). They

developed this framework based on the three-dimensional model of literacy suggested by Green

(1988) and Durrant and Green (2001) to guide students to analyze, interpret, and evaluate

information using Internet resources. The model emphasizes the need for students to evaluate

claims and evidence from various web pages, as well as the imperative for them to activate their

prior knowledge in evaluation and look at several web pages to arrive at a conclusion.

According to Damico, Baildon, and Campano (2005), the three-dimensional model views

literacy as a socially situated practice developed from relations between people within a group or

a community. It also aligns with sociocultural perspectives of learning where knowledge and

ways of knowing are constructed in the context of significant problems through a dialectical

process in which certain tools or practices are used to solve problems (Damico, Baildon, &

Campano, 2005). In addition, a social studies classroom is viewed as a place where students

learn to become critical readers of all texts and where teachers guide students to evaluate

evidence, interpret information, and cross-check assertions to form interpretations. Literacy in

this view can also be situated in the New Literacy Studies where literacy is viewed as a

movement away from autonomous models of literacy in which literacy is viewed as sets of

technical, universal, and neutral skills and toward ideological models of literacy where literacy is

28

viewed as sets of highly contextualized cultural and social practices (Damico & Baildon, 2007,

p. 254).

This model is categorized into three dimensions, namely operational, academic, and

critical. Damico, Baildon, and Campano (2005) describe the three dimensions as follows:

The operational dimension refers to the ability to identify and sort the components of a web page; locate key information on the site by scanning for headings and

topic sentences; determine the credibility of authors on the site and consider the

intended audience; and choose whether to examine the site more closely or to

move on to another site.

The academic dimension focuses on the ability to identify and draw upon relevant prior knowledge; evaluate claims and evidence within a website; and

check and cross-check these from various websites and sources to build

contextualized interpretations.

The critical dimension involves the ability to determine perspectives included and omitted on a website; identify techniques (such as loaded words, use of

provocative images, links to highly reputable websites, etc.) that the

author/creator uses to try to influence readers; and consider how ones own

beliefs, values, perspectives, prejudices, etc. shape ones reading.

The critical dimension was later divided into two dimensions, namely critical and

reflexive (Critical Web Reader), thus yielding a four-dimensional model. The reflexive

29

dimension involves how one own beliefs, values, and experiences affect his or her reading of the

Web.

Table 2.1 The four-dimensional model (Critical Web Reader)

Dimensions Description

Operational the ability to identify and sort the components of a web page; locate key information on the site by scanning for headings and topic sentences; determine the credibility of authors on the site and consider the intended audience; and choose whether to examine the site more closely or to move on to another site.

Academic the ability to identify and draw upon relevant prior knowledge; evaluate claims and evidence within a website; and check and cross-check claims and evidence from other websites and sources to build contextualized interpretations.

Critical the ability to determine perspectives included and omitted on a website and to identify techniques (such as loaded words, use of provocative images, links to highly reputable websites, etc.) that author/creator uses to try to influence readers.

Reflexive the ability to consider how ones own beliefs, culture, values, or experiences affect his or her reading of the Web.

In this study, I adapted the four-dimensional framework to better suit the objectives of the

WebQuest activity in EFL contexts while maintaining the overall foundation of the framework.

There were several reasons why I saw the adaptation as necessary. First, the four-dimensional

framework was created to be a tool for assisting teachers and students in reading and evaluating

information from the Web (Critical Web Reader), while the framework in this study would be

used to analyze the data; therefore, the framework was adjusted to better suit this studys

purpose. Another reason was that the four-dimensional framework was used in social studies

30

courses, which by nature focused on content, while the WebQuest in this study was used in an

EFL reading course, where students focused more on the English reading skills. Therefore, the

students might not have prior knowledge of the content, so we could not expect them to use prior

academic knowledge in evaluating the information. In addition, reading on the Web was used as

a supplementary activity, aimed primarily at helping the students to practice reading authentic

English texts and secondarily at giving them information to express their opinions in written and

spoken language. Therefore, the objectives of the activity for these students were to read texts

and express opinions in the target language, more than to evaluate claims and construct

knowledge on the issue.

For the above reasons, part of the academic dimension was not applicable to the course in

this study and was thus merged into a new construct called the critical dimension. The critical

dimension along with other dimensions in the framework, was redefined to better suit the study

objectives as follows:

Table 2.2 The three-dimensional framework, adapted from the four-dimensional model (Critical Web Reader)

Dimensions Description

Operational - The ability to summarize and locate key information on the site.

- The ability to determine the credibility of authors on the site and consider the intended audience

Critical - The ability to evaluate claims and evidence, including checking and cross-checking these with other sources.

- The ability to identify and evaluate techniques that an author uses to influence readers (such as loaded words, use of provocative images, links to highly

31

reputable websites, etc.).

- The ability to identify and draw upon relevant prior knowledge.

- The ability to discern perspectives included and omitted on a website

Reflexive - The ability to consider how ones own beliefs, values and experiences affect his/her reading of the Web.

These two theoretical frameworks, therefore, serve as the theoretical lens which I used to

analyze how students used critical thinking during group work in this study. I used a rubric

adapted from the Critical Thinking Rubric developed by Washington State University

(Washington State University Critical Thinking Project, 2006), which incorporated the

theoretical aspects from Blooms taxonomy and the three-dimensional framework, as a tool to

analyze the data. The rubric and the analysis of the data will be further discussed in chapter 3.

32

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

The purpose of this study is to examine how students used critical thinking skills during

the WebQuest activity, focusing on their use of critical thinking during small group discussions.

The role of the teacher in supporting this process and the amount of English used during the

activity will also be explored to gain more insights into WebQuest use in EFL contexts. Given

that using WebQuests to stimulate critical thinking in EFL courses in Thailand was a relatively

new phenomenon, the case study approach seemed appropriate to investigate this. Yin (2003)

suggests that case study methods can be used to examine a current phenomenon in context, when

divisions between the context and the phenomenon under investigation are not clear. A case

usually has an integrated system where behavior is patterned (Stake, 2003). Case study can thus

be used to portray a problem; indicate a means for solving a problem; and/or shed light on

needed research (American Psychological Association, 2010, p. 11). This method is,

therefore, suitable to examine how students used critical thinking and language during the

WebQuest activity in this reading course.

This research employed a case study approach with mixed methods to assess how

students used critical thinking. Mixed methods design is advantageous when a researcher wants

to complement a quantitative study with a qualitative one, in order to obtain more detailed

information than can be gained simply from the results of a quantitative research strategy

(Creswell, 2005). In order to evaluate how students used critical thinking in a WebQuest class, I

employed both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect and analyze the data received from

the group work discussions, classroom observations, oral presentations, and written assignments.

33

A rubric was used in an attempt to quantify the level of critical thinking used, while a description

of the process of such thinking demonstrated in more detail what actually happened in the

classroom. Since a case study relies upon many sources of data (Yin, 2003), in this study I used a

variety of sources, including classroom observations; transcriptions of student group work;

written assignments; PowerPoint slides; interviews; and questionnaires. The convergence of

multiple data sources was thus used to ensure the triangulation, which is a necessary procedure to

clarify meaning, verifying the repeatability of an observation or interpretation (Stake, 2003, p.

148).

Research Questions

My research questions are as follows:

1) To what extent did the students with intermediate English proficiency use critical

thinking when completing a WebQuest task in an EFL reading course?

2) What was the role of the teacher in supporting critical thinking in a WebQuest lesson?

3) To what extent did the students with intermediate English proficiency use English

when completing a WebQuest task in an EFL reading course?

Context

This study was conducted in an intermediate level reading course at a large university in

Bangkok, Thailand. The course, titled English for Opinions (ENG 123), was a mandatory course

for English major and English minor students. According to the syllabus, the course description

was the study and practice of reading skills used in reading argumentative texts; outlining and

summarizing; giving opinions about the texts through oral discussion or writing. The class met

34

twice a week over a sixteen-week semester. Each class session lasted one and a half hours. Eight

to ten sections of such a course were offered each year during the second semester of the

academic year. WebQuests were implemented in the course as a supplementary activity to the

main textbook. The regular class sessions were held in a traditional classroom setting; the

WebQuest classes were held in a computer lab. Data collection was conducted over a six-month

period, from October 2008 through March 2009.

A textbook called Reading for Opinions (Sukkhakul, 1998), written by a faculty member

in the university English department, was used for the course. The book consisted of five

chapters, in which five articles discussing controversial issues were presented. The five topics

included were dam building, marijuana legalization, journalists ethics, mens and womens

rights, and human cloning. All of the readings were taken from magazines or newspapers

published for native speakers of English, such as the Time, Newsweek, or the Bangkok Post.

Many articles were chosen from the editorial sections of such publications. The article levels of

difficulty were that of a regular article intended for educated native English-speaking adults.

The textbook contains five sections, namely, preparing to read; reading selection;

discussing the issue; developing reading skills; and integrating reading and writing skills. The

preparing to read section was aimed at activating students interest in the issue. The reading

section presented the main passage of each chapter. The discussing the issue section focused

on examining the authors perspectives and inviting the students to reflect on the agenda. The

developing reading skills part focused on the reading skills needed to understand

argumentative texts. The last section was integrating reading and writing skills, where the

students were asked to write a journal giving their opinions on the issue.

35

A typical class proceeded with students reading the main passage of a chapter with the

teachers guidance, analyzing the authors method in convincing the readers, and doing reading

exercises focused on text comprehension. It was followed by the reading skills section in which

the teacher presented a lesson as described in the textbook, asked the students to practice the

reading skills learned, and then required them to write a short essay expressing their opinions on

the article read.

Students were assumed to have learned basic English reading skills, such as skimming,

scanning, or guessing word meanings, from previous English courses. The teachers had

flexibility to adapt the teaching strategies and class activities as they saw fit. Some teachers

might focus more on text comprehension and thus would work to help the students understand

the texts and interpret the authors points of view, rather than encouraging the students to express

their opinions. Other teachers emphasized the students capability to express informed opinions,

in addition to their ability to comprehend the text. Other than reading the passages in the

textbook, supplementary readings in the form of news articles on controversial issues were

generally used for reading practice throughout the course. Some activities frequently included in

this course were debating, group discussions, group presentations, or class projects involving the

presentation of information on a controversial issue.

Participants

1. Students

The group of students who participated in this study consisted of 39 Thai students from

two sections of ENG 123 course. These two sections will be called class A and class B hereafter.

36

Each section comprised sophomore students (20 in one, 19 in the other) aged from 19-22 years

old. Their majors were varied, including Psychology, English, French, Economics, History, etc.

The majority of students were psychology majors, and most of them were females. Their English

proficiencies were considered intermediate, based on their English scores on the university

entrance examination. The scores ranged from 40-80 out of 100, with an average of 60. The top

10% of the students would be capable of comfortably reading an article from an English

newspaper written for native English speakers, with only minimal help from the dictionary. The

bottom 10% of the students would have struggled with reading such an article; it would be

difficult for these students to capture the main idea. However, they would be able to read a

modified text, such as an abridged English novel. On average, most of the students would be able

to read an article taken from an English newspaper with the help of a dictionary. The average

students proficiency could be translated as approximately 133 on computer-based TOEFL, or

39-40 on TOEFL iBT, or 4 on IELTS. Most of the students were familiar with information

technology, as evident in their ability to comfortably use web browsers during the class.

However, they were either not familiar with WebQuest or had no prior experience participating

in a WebQuest activity.

Table 3.1 Summary of the student numbers and majors

Student Numbers Majors by student number

Average English Entrance Examination

Scores (100) Class A 20

(18 females and 2 males) History (1),

International Relations (1), English (3),

Psychology (15)

60.7

Class B 19 (18 females and 1 male)

International Relations (1), Economics (1),

French (2),

61.4

37

Psychology (15)

In order to obtain more insights into student group discussion, I selected four groups to

observe more closely. A total number of 13 students were chosen from both classes. Two groups

of students were selected from each of these classes. I intended to select one group of higher

proficiency students and the other of lower proficiency students, from each class. In order to do

so, I worked with the teachers of both classes to identify such groups. Students were thus

selected based on their levels of English proficiency, as perceived by their teachers along with

their English subject scores on the Entrance Examination. As a result, groups A1 and B1

represented higher proficiency students, while groups A2 and B2 represented lower proficiency

students. All names have been changed to protect the students identities.

Table 3.2 Detailed information for students observed in group discussions

Group Name Gender Major English Subject Entrance

Examination Scores (100)

A1 Kanya F International Relations 80 Naphat M Psychology 63 Wan F Psychology 65

A2 Dew F Psychology 43 Thida F Psychology 42 Aey F Psychology 40 Bam F Psychology 55

B1 Pim F International Relations 75 Nid F French 65 Nuj F French 66

B2 Sita F Psychology 56 Am F Psychology 55

Ploy F Psychology 54

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2. Teachers

Naree (pseudonym), the teacher for Class A, was a Thai female in her late twenties. She had

received a masters degree in Applied Linguistics from a university in the U.K. and had been

teaching English for four years. She had taught this reading course only once prior to this study.

She had a brief experience using a WebQuest in her other reading class and found it interesting

and useful.

Pichet (pseudonym), the teacher for Class B, was a Thai male teacher in his late thirties. He

had received a doctoral degree in Applied Linguistics from a university in the U.K. He had been

teaching English for approximately 8 years, and had been teaching ENG 123 regularly for

several years. His research interest concentrated on the use of concordances in English teaching.

He was not familiar with WebQuests but had some knowledge about computer-assisted language

learning.

These teacher participants were selected based on their relative levels of interest in

participating in the study and using WebQuests in their classrooms. In this study, Pichet, the

teacher for Class B, represented a teacher who was knowledgeable on computer-assisted

language learning and also experienced in teaching the course. In contrast, the teacher for Class

A, Naree, represented a lesser experienced teacher who was interested in using information

technology with her students. Both teachers considered critical thinking skills essential for Thai

students in EFL classes and were interested in exploring how they could encourage students to

use these skills in their classrooms.

39

Research Procedures

The data collection took place during the second semester of the 2008 academic year, which

lasted from November 2008 to February 2009. I contacted the two teachers before the semester

started for a pre-project interview and WebQuest selection for the classes. In addition, I provided

a WebQuest training session in which I described the class procedures of a typical WebQuest

lesson and discussed each step the students would need to undergo to complete the WebQuest

task for this study. A lesson plan for each of the WebQuest classes was also provided and

discussed as a guideline; however, the teachers were invited to use any teaching strategies

deemed appropriate for their students. After the semester began, I observed two regular classes

with each of the teachers to obtain a clear picture of the procedures and activities which took

place during each class.

Three short term1 WebQuests were implemented in the classes. The first WebQuest, Piracy2,

was used as a pilot project to familiarize the students and teachers with the WebQuest class

procedures. It was also used to test the data collection procedures so as to ensure the most

effective ways to record and collect data. The other two WebQuests, The Right to Die

WebQuest, also called Euthanasia WebQuest3, and the Cosmetic Surgery WebQuest4, were used

to obtain the data. During the first week of the course, I introduced myself to the students and

1