Ulfia Rahmi, Azrul
This research was due to the importance of the application of blended learning in tertiary institutions. The practitioners, however, question the achievement of critical thinking skills and HOTS in the application of blended learning. This study aimed at identifying the quality standards of discussion in blended learning to improve the students’ higher order thinking skills (HOTS). It then disclosed the relationship between these standards with learning outcomes and the implementation of discussions held in the blended learning environment of the E-Learning Development course in the Education Technology study program (N = 45). Face to face and online discussion activities were assessed using instruments in the form of discussion grading sheets and test items. The data were then analyzed descriptively and one way anava. The results of this study identified six standard discussion of blended learning to improve the students’ HOTS skills. On the basis of it, the lecturers and universities conducting the blended learning are required to facilitate the improvement of HOTS by integrating and combining the best sides of face to face discussions with the online ones by paying attention to these six standards. © IJSTR 2019.
Universitas Negeri Padang, Padang, Indonesia
