The use of the Socratic method in a contemporary high school classroom in developing problem-solving, critical thinking, and decision making skills

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.