City Research Online

Abstract

Learning to think critically is a key educational goal for higher education that presents a significant challenge for many students. Surprisingly, few studies have reported students’ views and perceptions towards instructional methods in critical thinking. The current study explored university students’ experiences and perceptions towards an online intervention designed to improve critical thinking skills. The intervention employed video-based learning to introduce four common informal logical fallacies to students across two micro-learning episodes administered online. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 university students to gain insight into four key areas: i) the perceived usefulness of the intervention for critical thinking development, ii) the presentation of learning materials, iii) the factors impacting their engagement, iv) and the potential of this approach to support mainstream provisions. We identified four main themes using thematic analysis: 1) building understanding and awareness of critical thinking, 2) effective video design and presentation, 3) valuing technology-enhanced learning approach, and 4) divergent experiences derived from the practice phase. These themes encapsulate students’ experiences of learning critical thinking as a highly sophisticated skill within an online learning environment and their preferences towards an effective video design. We discuss the implications of these findings for future pedagogical research and training of critical thinking in higher education.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© The Author(s). 2025 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Publisher Keywords:	Critical thinking, Video-based learning, Technology-enhanced learning, Higher education, Qualitative analysis, Thematic analysis
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education
Departments:	School of Health & Medical Sciences School of Health & Medical Sciences > Psychology
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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