Improving Inquiry Questions to Foster Critical Thinking and Reflective Practice in a Journalism Capstone

Bibliographic Data

ID21643573
AuthorsBrian J Bowe (0000-0002-1991-6532, Western Washington University, Bellingham, USA, corresponding author), Roberta Kjesrud (Western Washington University, Bellingham, USA), Pippa Hemsley (Western Washington University, Bellingham, USA)
Year2020
Volume75
Issue3
Pages308-320
Publication date2020-09-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournalism & Mass Communication Educator (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1077-6958 • E-ISSN: 2161-4326
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1077695820906359
OpenAlexW3007017167
LanguageEN
References cited22

Education researchers have long been interested in helping students develop effective inquiry questions to guide research projects. In this study, students in a journalism senior capstone used writing-studies informed practices such as middle-stakes, iterative writing prompts to enhance metacognition and critical thinking. Using prompts to guide students to periodically revise their inquiry questions and working thesis statements, students showed improvement in their written products as measured through holistic writing assessment measures. Despite measurable improvement, students’ thesis statements were still lackluster, suggesting that programs should develop connected curricula that sequentially scaffold research methods, critical thinking, and writing skills across the major

Capstone · Capstone course · Cognition · Critical thinking · Curriculum · Journalism · Mathematics education · Medical education · Metacognition · Pedagogy · Sociology · Computer Science · Education and Critical Thinking Development · Innovative Teaching Methodologies in Social Sciences · Medicine · Psychology

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