| The flipped classroom,a new teaching mode,has its origin in America.In recent years,it has already drawn attention from many educators,as well as researchers,especially with the increasingly developing technology and network in teaching.Although studies on flipped classroom have increased in recent years,including research on the flipped classroom models,as well as the relationship between flipped classroom and students' autonomous learning ability etc.,there are still relatively few studies on the relationship between flipped classroom and critical thinking disposition.Therefore,the effectiveness of flipped classroom on the development of critical thinking disposition is a topic worthy of study and research.This study employed the CCTDI-CV questionnaire,along with interviews to conduct research on eight classes of freshmen from Chongqing University,who were arranged in two levels(Level 1 and Level 3)based on the results of the English Placement Test,with the purpose to investigate the effectiveness of flipped classroom on the development of critical thinking disposition.Students from each level were divided into experimental group and control group,with two classes in each group,adopting respectively flipped classroom and traditional classroom.The research questions include: 1)Do students of different levels make significant improvement in overall critical thinking disposition in flipped classroom according to CCTDI-CV? Compared with students in traditional class,what are the differences/similarities? 2)Of the seven dimensions of CCTDI-CV(truth-seeking,open-mindedness,analyticity,systematicity,self-confidence,inquisitiveness,maturity),in which dimensions of critical thinking dispositions do students from different levels make significant improvement in flipped classroom,according to CCTDI-CV? Compared with students in traditional class,what are the differences/similarities? 3)What are the possible causes for the differences/similarities of the development of critical thinking dispositions between learners from different levels in flipped classroom?The research results show that: 1)Either for flipped or traditional classrooms,the overall critical thinking disposition of students from Level 1 and Level 3 did not significantly changed.2)Of the seven dimensions of critical thinking dispositions of CCTDI-CV,in flipped classroom,students from Level 1 improved significantly in terms of self-confidence;while in traditional classroom,there was no significant change in the six critical thinking dispositions,except that students in Level 1 performed significantly worse than their performance at the start of the academic semester in terms of inquisitiveness.Meanwhile,students from Level 3 in flipped classroom improved significantly in analyticity and inquisitiveness;while in traditional classroom,students in Level 3 did not significantly change in the seven dimensions of critical thinking dispositions.3)The possible causes for the differences/similarities of the development of critical thinking dispositions between learners in flipped classroom from different levels include the different teaching activities,learning materials,as well as assessment modes,etc.Based on the research results,several feasible and practical suggestions have been proposed to improve flipped classroom teaching,and develop students' development of critical thinking disposition.For example: the interaction between teachers and students in online teaching platform needs to be preserved,which contributes to students' development of critical thinking dispositions;teachers should provide students with opportunities to train their abilities of information search,text analysis and induction;flipped classroom should have a complete and detailed evaluation system.All of these would not only provide reference for the implementation of flipped classroom in China,but in addition,provide reference for students to further improve their critical thinking dispositions... |
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