Evaluation of information management vocational program of anadolu university from the perspective of critical thinking

General objective of this study is to evaluate Information Management Vocational Program (IMVP) offered fully online by Anadolu University using a critical thinking perspective. In parallel to this objective, the structure of the units of the courses in the program, utilization of program facilities by students, contribution of the academic facilitators and program facilities affecting critical thinking development are determined using the perspectives and experiences of the academic facilitators and subject experts of the program. The model of this descriptive research is a case study including the unit structure analysis of the courses, and the views and experiences of the subject experts and academic facilitators regarding the structure, design and student interaction of the courses from the critical thinking perspective. In order to determine the structure of the courses, the 2nd, 12th and 16th units of "Operating System" course were chosen and document analysis method was used. In determining the views and experiences of the experts and facilitators, the most experienced facilitators of the eleven courses were interviewed using semi-structured interview technique. Furthermore, the archive documents such as the official website and the brochures of the program and presentations of the subject experts were used in the study. Analysis of the units are done using the codes based on Bloom`s Taxonomy. The instructional objectives and drills of the units were analyzed using a checklist including knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation levels of Bloom`s Taxonomy. Analysis of the views of the facilitators and subject experts were done according to the interview coding form. When IMPV is evaluated in perspective of critical thinking, the program seems insufficient in the following dimensions: the level of units delivered online, the knowledge of facilitators regarding online learning, the effectiveness of facilitators during learning process, the interaction between students and facilitators, homework assignments and online collaborative learning. Implementation of the program in these dimensions cannot meet with the requirements for the development of critical thinking skills. The comparison of the findings of the study and the related literature review reveals that offering various online learning environment and interaction facilities are not sufficient to acquire critical thinking skills. For that reason, appropriate instruction design and strategies should be put on practice and the available infrastructure should be utilized during the learning process in IMVP.