Critical thinking in the area of Social Studies in upper secondary school through virtual teaching: a look at teaching experiences

Abstract

Background: Teachers must have the ability to foster strategies that help their students develop the necessary competencies to adapt to today's virtual reality. Objective: To analyze how the use of virtual learning environments (VLE) by Social Studies teachers facilitates the development of critical thinking in higher basic education students in a public institution in the city of Cuenca. Methodology: A case study was conducted with a qualitative approach. The study population consisted of 5 teachers of the Herlinda Toral Educational Unit, to whom semi-structured interviews were conducted and a classroom observation record was made. Results: In the subject of Social Studies, the teachers of the Herlinda Toral Educational Unit promote the development of critical thinking through VLE. They achieve this through actions such as making reference to the social, historical and political context of the topics covered in class, using a critical vocabulary and posing questions that help students to identify all the information present in the texts or to incorporate and classify relevant information. Conclusion: During the pandemic, VLE played a key role in preventing education from grinding to a halt. In addition, they fostered autonomy in certain students, increased interactivity in classes and enhanced critical thinking, as they allowed teachers to share materials that students can analyze, classify and discuss.