An Empirical Study on the Effect of Mobile Learning-Based Hybrid Teaching on Students' Critical Thinking — Taking Intensive Reading as an Example

Hybrid teaching has become a prevailing trend in context of widespread application of information technology in education. This empirical study aims to explore the effect of hybrid teaching mode on cultivation of students’ critical thinking by analyzing the teaching of Intensive Reading in a private college in Shanghai. Sample of the study consists of 65 juniors in English major and a combination of questionnaire and semi-structured interview is adopted to collect the data. Results indicate that most students felt satisfied with the hybrid teaching mode based on Chaoxing mobile learning; they also expressed their preference of the interactive activities in class and focused micro lectures after class, but showed uncertainty towards the effectiveness of preview assignments and post-class assessments in critical thinking. Recommendations are offered accordingly for improvement in teaching, which hopefully can serve as reference for similar courses in other colleges.