Immersive Critical Thinking in Asynchronous Sociological Classrooms
A 360 Global Learning Experience
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18863125Keywords:
critical thinking, asynchronous classroom pedagogy, global exchange, study abroad, sociological teachingAbstract
This article presents an overview of recent advances in Teaching critical thinking skills in asynchronous classrooms. This paper utilizes 360 global learning experiences to demonstrate how critical thinking can be achieved in asynchronous global classrooms. Data is extracted from students’ online discussions and learning projects among 147 American and Costa Rican students. Thematic analysis method is used to manage and analyze data. Findings reveal that weekly online conversations provided students with an experiential learning opportunity; comparative analysis of social policies in learning projects created a critical thinking process to analyze, synthesize, and assess information they find online and obtained from classroom exchange. The study-abroad experience further enhanced critical insight already gained in the global virtual classrooms to the lived experiences. The author argues that critical thinking is a process. Through personal involvement in class interactions, group learning projects, and preferably onsite study abroad experiences, critical thinking is an immersive experience evolving in the process of learning. Meanwhile, sociological imagination is developed through micro-level of personal experience sharing and macro-level of comparative understanding of social policies across nations in a virtual classroom.
References
Abdel-Kader, M. 2020. “Harnessing technology for global education.” Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2020/04/14/colleges-should-develop-more-virtual-exchange-programs-maintain-and increase-global.
Alami, Nael H., Josmario Albuquerque, Loye Ashton, James Elwood, Kwesi Ewoodzie, Mirjam Hauck, Joanne Karam, Liudmila Klimanova, Ramona Nasr, Müge Satar, and et al. 2022. “Marginalization and underrepresentation in Virtual Exchange: Reasons and Remedies.” Journal of International Students 12: 57–76.
Barnett, Ronald. 1997. Higher Education: A Critical Business. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Clarke, Virginia, and Victoria Braun. 2018. “Using thematic analysis in counselling and psychotherapy research: Critical reflection.” Counselling and Psychotherapy Research 18: 107–10.
Commander, Nannette Evans, Wolfgang F. Schloer, and Sara T. Cushing. 2022. “Virtual Exchange: A Promising High-Impact Practice for Developing Intercultural Effectiveness across Disciplines.” Journal of Virtual Exchange 5. doi:10.21827/ jve.5.37329.
Dolby, N. 2007. “Reflections on nation: American undergraduates and education abroad.” Journal of Studies in International Education, 11(2), 141–156.
Egege, Sandra, and Salah Kutieleh. 2004. “Critical thinking: Teaching foreign notions to foreign students.” International Education Journal 4: 75–85.
Eseverri-Mayer, Cecilia. 2024. “The fight against islamophobia in Madrid, Paris and London. A comparative and qualitative analysis on Muslim activism in three cities.” Islamophobia Studies Journal 8: 169–99.
GLOBAL 360: Scalable, Inclusive Global Learning with Sustainable Access - CCIE California Colleges for International Education. 2025. Retrieved 10-14-2025.
Gordy, Laurie L. and Alexandria Peary. 2005. “Bringing Creativity into the Classroom: Using Sociology to Write First-Person Fiction.” Teaching Sociology 33 (4): 399-402.
Graban, J. L. 2007. The effects of study abroad experience on student cognitive and affective outcomes of college. (Ph.D., Indiana State University).
Hadis, B. F. 2005. “Why are they better students when they come back? Determinants of academic focusing gains in the study abroad experience.” Frontiers, 11, 57–70.
Hoffa, W. 2007. A history of US study abroad: Beginnings to 1965. Carlisle: The Forum on Education Abroad.
iEARN.org. 2007. The New York-Moscow Schools Telecommunications Project The Founding Project of iEARN: A Comparative Program Analysis of New Your Schools and Their Interactions with Their Russian and Chinese Counterparts. Available online: https://iearn.org/assets/general/iEARN_NY-Moscow_Evaluation.pdf (accessed on 23 July 2025).
Ito, Kasumi. 2024. “Between global north and south: Global grass-roots movements of people with psychosocial disabilities in East Asia.” International Journal of Disability and Social Justice 4: 99–116.
Kozimor, Michele Lee. 2020. “Editor’s comments: Three teaching takeaways from the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Teaching Sociology 48: 181–83.
Lee, Jonathan, Jami Leibowitz, Jon Rezek, Meghan Millea, and George Saffo. 2022. “The impact of international virtual exchange on student success.” Journal of International Students 12: 77–95.
Luo, J., & Jamieson-Drake, D. 2015. “Predictors of study abroad intent, participation, and college outcomes.” Research in Higher Education, 56(1), 29-56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-014-9338-7
McKeown, J. S. 2006. The impact of study abroad on college student intellectual development. (Ph.D., Syracuse University).
Mills, C. Wright. 1959. The Sociological Imagination. Harmondsworth, UK: Oxford.
O’Dowd, Robert. 2017. “Virtual Exchange and Internationalising the Classroom.” Training Language and Culture 1: 8–24.
Palmer, Nathan. 2023. “The Sociological Imagination within Teaching Sociology.” Teaching Sociology, JANUARY 2023, Vol. 51, No. 1 (JANUARY 2023), pp. 1-12 Published by: American Sociological Association Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/27347479
Pascarella, E.T., & P.T. Terenzini. 2005. How College Affects Students: A third Decade of Research Volume 2. Jossey-Bass, An Imprint of Wiley. Indianapolis, IN.
Posey, J. T. Jr. 2003. Study abroad: Educational and employment outcomes of participants versus non participants. (Ph.D., The Florida State University).
Redden, E. 2012. “New studies link education abroad to on-time graduation.” Inside Higher Ed. https://www. insidehighered.com/print/news/2012/07/10/new-studies-link-study-abroad-time-graduation
Richard, T. L., & Miller, J. S. 1996. “Re-forming the sociology major: A program to enhance the teaching of sociology at the undergraduate level.” The International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 16(11), 32-63. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/eb013279
Salisbury, M. H., Umbach, P. D., Paulsen, M. B., & Pascarella, E. T. 2009. “Going global: understanding the choice process of the intent to study abroad.” Research in Higher Education, 50(2), 119-143. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-008-9111-x
Simpson, Joseph M., and Vicky L. Elias. 2011. “Choices and Chances: The sociology Role-Playing Game. The Sociological Imagination in Practice” Teaching Sociology 39 (1): 42-56.
Soyer, Mehmet, Gina McCrackin, Sebahattin Ziyanak, Jennifer Given, Vonda Jump, and Jessica Schad. 2023. “Leaving the lectures behind: Using community-engaged learning in research methods classes to teach about sustainability.” Teaching Sociology 51: 151–60.
Stevens Initiative. 2020. Virtual Exchange Impact and Learning Report. Washington, DC: Aspen Institute.
Studyabroadassociation.com 2025. 360 GLE TM--Virtual Global Education. 360 GLE™ - Study Abroad Association. Retrieved 10-14-2025.
Vásquez, Heydi Tananta. 2022. “Higher Education in Pandemic Times.” Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice 22: 33–39.
Vande Berg, M. 2007. “Intervening in the learning of US students abroad.” Journal of Studies in International Education, 11(3/4), 392–399.
What is Virtual Exchange. 2025. http://evolve-erasmus.eu/about-evolve/what-is-virtual-exchange/. Retrieved 10-17-2025.
Whittington, Frank J., Suzanne R. Kunkel, and Kate de Medeiros. 2021. Global Aging—Comparative Perspectives on Aging and the Life Course, 2nd ed. Berlin and Heidelberg: Springer Publishing Company.
Xu, M., de Silva, C. R, Neufeldt, E., & Dane, J. H. 2013. “The impact of education abroad on academic success. An analysis of first-time students entering Old Dominion University, Virginia, 2000-2004.” Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Education Abroad, 23(1), 90-103.
Zak, Anna. 2021. “An integrative review of literature: Virtual exchange models, learning outcomes, and programmatic insights.” Journal of Virtual Exchange 4: 62–79.
Zhou, Yuefang, Divya Jindal-Snape, Keith Topping, and John Todman. 2008. “Theoretical models of culture shock and adaptation in international students in higher education.” Studies in Higher Education 33: 63–75.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Heying Zhan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
