Enhancing Critical Thinking in Graduate Nursing Online Asynchronous Discussions

Background: Graduate nursing students in online courses often have limited success in developing the critical thinking (CT) skills essential for advanced roles. This study describes the use of complementary strategies in a graduate-level nursing course to enhance CT in online discussions. Method: Using Paul and Elder's framework for understanding the components of CT, the authors designed an asynchronous online course using multiple strategies to promote CT. We used mixed methods to collect descriptive and numerical data and content and repeated measures analyses to identify changes in CT skills and student perceptions across the semester. Results: CT scores increased significantly and aligned with students' perceived improvements in CT. Conclusion: Evidence of CT in online discussions increased significantly across the semester with the use of multiple instructional strategies and substantial student and faculty efforts. The findings are a useful benchmark for future studies comparing combinations of strategies to identify those most effective and least arduous.