seminar
Enhancing creativity and critical thinking through e-learning interventions
Chair: Prof. Nancy Law, Professor, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong
In this seminar, the two speakers will present their ongoing research at ECNU that focus on developing relevant skills and dispositions to foster creativity and critical thinking in a fast-advancing technological world.
In this seminar, Professor Gu will first introduce the brain initiative launched in China in 2018. Then the talk will present research at the M2LAB at ENCU on intervention designs that promote creativity, focusing on four areas: core competences, STEM curriculum, creative learning lab and practices in undergraduate program.
Critical thinking is regarded as a necessary 21st century skill. In recent years, studies on how to measure students’ critical thinking have received a lot of attention. However, there are relatively few studies on how to design game-based environments for assessing students’ critical thinking. In this seminar, Dr Leng will provide an overview on definitions of critical thinking, and designs for critical thinking assessment. She will also present the research design for a pilot study was conducted, some of the preliminary findings. She will also discuss the implications of the pilot study, and in particular game-based critical thinking assessment to further understand students’ critical thinking abilities and how games can scaffold their decision making processes.
Dr. Xiaoqing GU is a professor and head of Department of Educational Information Technology, Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, China. She is the head of Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Digital Education Equipment. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Technology from East China Normal University. Professor Gu has long been engaged in the research and practice of educational informationization. Her research interests include the areas of learning science and learning technology, computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), learning analytics and leaner profiling, ICT-integrated pedagogical innovation in which she has published more than 150 publications in international journals and conferences, more than 10 books and teaching materials. Professor Gu is the chief editor of IJSmartTL (International Journal of Smart Technology and Learning), a member of the ISO/IEC JTC1 SC36 expert group, editorial board member of the Journal of Computer-assisted Learning, member of the BJET International Advisory Board, and a peer review expert of many academic journals.
Dr Jing LENG received her PhD degree at the University of Hong Kong. She is currently an assistant Professor in the Department of Education Information Technology at East China Normal University in China. Her research interests are computer-supported collaborative learning, educational data mining, and fostering critical thinking through online collaborative learning. She currently works on some research projects related to game-based learning and design, computer supported collaborative learning and the use of learning analytics to study online discourse data.