The purpose of this action research was to attempt to use a modified approach to the Socratic method in a contemporary high school classroom as a means of developing problem-solving, critical thinking, and decision-making skills in high school students. The participants in the study were 16 male students and 13 female students from two sections of an eleventh grade Honors English class at a suburban high school in southern New Jersey. These students were selected as a population of convenience during the researcher's Clinical Internship II experience. As a part of regular classroom instruction, the researcher employed a modified form of the Socratic method, using journal prompts and a subsequent discussion model. Student responses to these prompts were collected and analyzed. Classroom use of the method and some implications of gender are discussed.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this action research was to attempt to use a modified approach to the Socratic method in a contemporary high school classroom as a means of developing problem-solving, critical thinking, and decision-making skills in high school students. The participants in the study were 16 male students and 13 female students from two sections of an eleventh grade Honors English class at a suburban high school in southern New Jersey. These students were selected as a population of convenience during the researcher's Clinical Internship II experience. As a part of regular classroom instruction, the researcher employed a modified form of the Socratic method, using journal prompts and a subsequent discussion model. Student responses to these prompts were collected and analyzed. Classroom use of the method and some implications of gender are discussed.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Muessig, Anna Schneider"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.S. in Teaching","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jorgensen, Donna W."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2004,"date_issued":"2004-07-21T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2004-07-21T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:14:04Z","subjects":["Critical thinking--Study and teaching (Secondary); Decision making--Study and teaching (Secondary); Problem solving--Study and teaching (Secondary); Reasoning--Study and teaching (Secondary)","Secondary Education and Teaching"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1198","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jorgensen, Donna W."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Muessig, Anna Schneider"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-04-26T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S. in Teaching"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Critical thinking--Study and teaching (Secondary); Decision making--Study and teaching (Secondary); Problem solving--Study and teaching (Secondary); Reasoning--Study and teaching (Secondary)","Secondary Education and Teaching"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1198"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this action research was to attempt to use a modified approach to the Socratic method in a contemporary high school classroom as a means of developing problem-solving, critical thinking, and decision-making skills in high school students. The participants in the study were 16 male students and 13 female students from two sections of an eleventh grade Honors English class at a suburban high school in southern New Jersey. These students were selected as a population of convenience during the researcher's Clinical Internship II experience. As a part of regular classroom instruction, the researcher employed a modified form of the Socratic method, using journal prompts and a subsequent discussion model. Student responses to these prompts were collected and analyzed. Classroom use of the method and some implications of gender are discussed.
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