Does Gender Influence Critical Thinking Attitudes?.
Abstract: This study examined the attitudinal difference in the way gender affects critical thinking while making use of metacognitive scaffolding through web-prompts. Fifty-eight students from a southwestern university participated in the study. The participants were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions. Results have shown that though web-prompts help students to analyze and critically evaluate the information they receive online, there is an attitudinal difference in the way males and females view the information. Female participants have been more precise in questioning the credibility of the author and the source of the article that they read than the male participants. Instructors would find this useful while designing their online courses in order to support critical thinking through metacognitive scaffolding.
