Higher Order Thinking Skills

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Higher Order Thinking Skills

• David W. Dillard
• Arcadia Valley CTC

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Definition

• Higher-order thinking essentially means thinking
  that takes place in the higher-levels of the
  hierarchy of cognitive processing. Blooms
  Taxonomy is the most widely accepted hierarchical
  arrangement of this sort in education and it can
  be viewed as a continuum of thinking skills
  starting with knowledge-level thinking and moving
  eventually to evaluation-level of thinking.

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Higher Order Thinking Skills

• The Learning Research and Development Center
  (1991) lists the following higher order thinking
  skills
• "Size up and define a problem that isn't neatly
  packaged.
• Determine which facts and formulas stored in
  memory might be helpful for solving a problem.
• Recognize when more information is needed, and
  where and how to look for it.
• Deal with uncertainty by 'brainstorming' possible
  ideas or solutions when the way to proceed isn't
  apparent.

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Higher Order Thinking Skills

• Carry out complex analyses or tasks that require
  planning, management, monitoring, and adjustment.
  
• Exercise judgment in situations where there
  aren't clear-cut 'right' and 'wrong' answers, but
  more and less useful ways of doing things.
• Step outside the routine to deal with an
  unexpected breakdown or opportunity."

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Thought

• "Every day thinking, like ordinary walking, is a
  natural performance we all pick up. But good
  thinking, like running the l00-yard dash, is a
  technical performance... Sprinters have to be
  taught how to run the 100-yard dash good
  thinking is the result of good teaching, which
  includes much practice."
• David Perkins, Howard University

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Realigning your curriculum to improve student
achievement at the college-preparatory level

• HOT curriculum focuses on Higher Order Thinking
  and Technology
• HOT courses utilize Hands-On Technology
• HOT instruction promotes Cognitive Development
• HOT classroom environments reflect Active
  Interactions

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6 levels of Bloom's Taxonomy
Knowledge
Comprehension
Application

Analysis
Synthesis

Evaluation
Benjamin Bloom (1956)
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6 levels of Bloom's Taxonomy

• Knowledge statements ask the student to recite
  the pledge. Example Say the pledge.
• Comprehension statements ask the student to
  explain the meaning of words contained in the
  pledge. Example Explain what indivisible,
  liberty, and justice mean.

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6 levels of Bloom's Taxonomy

• Application statements ask the student to apply
  understandings. Example Create your own pledge
  to something you believe in.
• Analysis statements ask the student to interpret
  word meanings in relation to context. Example
  Discuss the meaning of and to the Republic for
  which it stands in terms of its importance to
  the pledge.

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6 levels of Bloom's Taxonomy

• Synthesis statements ask the student to apply
  concepts in a new setting. Example Write a
  contract between yourself and a friend that
  includes an allegiance to a symbol that stands
  for something you both believe in.
• Evaluation statements ask the student to judge
  the relative merits of the content and concepts
  contained in the subject. Example Describe the
  purpose of the pledge and assess how well it
  achieves that purpose. Suggest improvements.

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Different types of thinking

• 1. Critical thinking - This is convergent
  thinking. It assesses the worth and validity of
  something existent. It involves precise,
  persistent, objective analysis. When teachers try
  to get several learners to think convergently,
  they try to help them develop common
  understanding.
• 2. Creative thinking - This is divergent
  thinking. It generates something new or
  different. It involves having a different idea
  that works as well or better than previous ideas.

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Different types of thinking

• 3. Convergent thinking - This type of thinking is
  cognitive processing of information around a
  common point, an attempt to bring thoughts from
  different directions into a union or common
  conclusion.
• 4. Divergent thinking - This type of thinking
  starts from a common point and moves outward into
  a variety of perspectives. When fosering
  divergent thinking, teachers use the content as a
  vehicle to prompt diverse or unique thinking
  among students rather than a common view.

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Different types of thinking

• 5. Inductive thinking - This is the process of
  reasoning from parts to the whole, from examples
  to generalizations.
• 6. Deductive thinking - This type of reasoning
  moves from the whole to its parts, from
  generalizations to underlying concepts to
  examples.

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Different types of thinking

• 7. Closed questions - These are questions asked
  by teachers that have predictable responses.
  Closed questions almost always require factual
  recall rather than higher levels of thinking.
• 8. Open questions - These are questions that do
  not have predictable answers. Open questions
  almost always require higher order thinking.

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WHAT STRATEGIES HELP TO DEVELOP THESE SKILLS?

• Help Students Organize Their Knowledge
• Build on What Students Already Know
• Facilitate Information Processing
• Facilitate Deep Thinking Through Elaboration
• Make Thinking Processes Explicit

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Becoming a guide(promoting cognitive
development)

• --Require justification for ideas and probe for
  reasoning strategies
• --Challenge students to develop alternatives and
  to ask thought-provoking questions
• --As an instructor, ask open-ended questions and
  accept varied responses
• --Require all students to participate actively in
  class discussions
• --Serve as a master of apprentices rather than a
  teacher of students

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An IgnitingInteractive Environment

• --Reflects real-life situations and contexts
• --Shows collaboration among teachers,
  disciplines, and students
• --Encourages curiosity, exploration, and
  investigation
• --Demands student responsibility for his or own
  learning
• --Encourages various performance based displays
  of competencies

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How do I foster higher-order thinking in my
classroom?

• 1. Set up a classroom environment which is
  conducive to high-level thinking.
• A. Multi-level materials B. Flexible grouping
  C. Accept and celebrate diversity D. Print-rich
  environment E. High expectations F. Teacher as
  co-learner G. Nurture risk-taking 2. Engage
  students in activities which foster high-level
  thinking.

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How do I foster higher-order thinking in my
classroom?

• A. Collaborative group activities in which
  students can communicate with others in a variety
  of ways.B. Problem-solving activities that
  require more than routine calculations.C.
  Open-ended activities with more than one "right"
  answer.D. Activities which acommodate multiple
  intelligences.E. Activities in which both
  genders participate freely. 3. Construct
  questions that call for high-level thinking.
• A. Ask yourself, "Do I always know the answer to
  my questions?" B. Use a variety of assessment
  methods that match teaching strategies. For
  example, use a project for assessment instead of
  an end-of-unit test. 

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Evaluation Words

• Appraise
• Choose
• Compare
• Conclude
• Decide
• Defend
• Evaluate
• Give your opinion

• Judge
• Justify,
• Prioritize
• Rank
• Rate
• Select
• Support
• Value

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Synthesis

• Find an unusual way
• Formulate
• Generate
• Invent
• Originate
• Plan

• Change
• Combine
• Compose
• Construct
• Create
• Design

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Synthesis

• Revise
• Suggest
• Suppose
• visualize
• write

• Predict
• Pretend
• Produce
• Rearrange
• Reconstruct
• Reorganize

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Analysis

• Analyze
• Categorize
• Classify
• Compare
• Contrast
• Debate
• Deduct
• Determine the factors

• Diagnose
• Diagram
• Differentiate
• Dissect
• Distinguish
• Examine
• Infer
• Specify

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Application

• Give an example
• Illustrate
• Make
• Operate
• Show
• Solve
• State a rule or principle
• Use

• Apply
• Compute
• Conclude
• Construct
• Demonstrate
• Determine
• Draw
• Find out

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Comprehension

• Convert
• Describe
• Explain
• Interpret
• Paraphrase
• put in order
• Restate

• Retell in your own words
• Rewrite
• Summarize
• Trace
• Translate

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Knowledge

• Define
• fill in the blank
• Identify
• Label
• List
• Locate

• Match
• Memorize
• Name
• Recall
• Spell
• State
• Tell
• Underline

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• Knowledge Identification and recall of
  information
• Who, what, when, where, how?
• Describe ___________________.
• Comprehension Organization and selection of
  facts and ideas
• Retell ___________ in your own words.
• What is the main idea of ___________________?
• Application Use of facts, rules, principles
• How is __________ and example of _______________?
  
• How is __________ related to _________________?
• Why is _________________ significant?
• Analysis Separation of the whole into component
  parts
• What are the parts or features of
  ________________?
• Classify _______________ according to
  ________________.
• Outline/diagram/web ____________________.
• How does ______________ compare/contrast with
  __________________?
• What evidence can you list for ___________________
  __?
• Synthesis Combination of ideas to form a new
  whole
• What would you predict/infer from
  __________________?
• What ideas can you add to __________________?

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QUESTIONS THAT PROBE ASSUMPTIONS

• What are you assuming?              
• What is Karen assuming?
• What could we assume instead?
• You seem to be assuming________.    
• Do I understand you correctly?
• All of your reasoning depends on the idea that .
• Why have you based your reasoning on ______
  rather than ____?
• You seem to be assuming _______.
• How would you justify taking this for granted?
• Is it always the case?
• Why do you think the assumption holds here?
• Why would someone make this assumption?

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QUESTIONS OF CLARIFICATION

• What do you mean by?                  Could you
  give me an example?
• What is your main point?                Would
  this be an example?
• How does_________relate________to?     Could you
  explain this further?
• Could you put that another way?          Would
  you say more about that?
• Is your basic point______or_____?        Why do
  you say that?
• What do you think is the main issue here?
• Let me see if I understand you do you
  mean_______or______? How does this relate to our
  discussion (problem, issue)?
• What do you think John meant by his remark? What
  did you take John to mean?
• Jane, would you summarize in your own words what
  Richard has said? ...Richard, is that what you
  meant?

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QUESTIONS THAT PROBE REASONS AND EVIDENCE

• What would be an example?
• How do you know?
• Why do you think that is true?
• Do you have any evidence for that?
• What difference does that make?
• What are your reasons for saying that?
• Could you explain your reasons to us?
• Is there reason to doubt that evidence?
• What would you say to someone who said________?
• Can someone else give evidence to support that
  response? 
• Who is in a position to know if that is so?

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QUESTIONS THAT PROBE REASONS AND EVIDENCE

•  
• By what reasoning did you come to that
  conclusion?
• How could we find out whether that is true?
• Are these reasons adequate?
• Why did you say that?
• What led you to that belief?
• How does that apply to this case?
• What would change your mind?
• What other information do we need?
• But is that good evidence to believe that?
• Who is in a position to know if that is so?

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QUESTIONS ABOUT VIEWPOINTS OR PERSPECTIVES

• You seem to be approaching this issue
  from________ perspective.
• Why have you chosen this rather than that
  perspective?
• How would other groups/types of people respond?
  Why? What would influence them?
• How could you answer the objection
  that________would make?
• What might someone who believed________ think?
• Can/did anyone see this another way?
• What would someone who disagrees say?
• What is an alternative?

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QUESTIONS THAT PROBE IMPLICATIONS AND CONSEQUENCES

• What are you implying by that?
• But if that happened, what else would happen as a
  result? Why?
• What effect would that have?
• Would that necessarily happen or only probably
  happen?
• What is an altenative?
• If this and this are the case, then what else
  must also be true?
• If we say that this is unethical how about that?
• When you say________you are implying?

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Suggestions Related to Using Writing to Promote
Higher-Order Thinking

• Write daily or frequently rather than
  sporadically.
• Write for real audiences and purposes.
• Allot sufficient time for stages of thought and
  editing to occur.
• Encourage peer review
• Write with an initial emphasis on thinking rather
  than on proofreading and editing.

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Writing to Promote Higher-Order Thinking

• (Synthesized from Teaching Children to Be
  Literate A Reflective Approach, by Anthony and
  Ula Manzo, 1995)
• Writing activates the readers background
  knowledge before reading/thinking.
• Writing builds anticipation of upcoming learning
  events.
• Writing raises the readers level of intellectual
  activity.
• Writing encourages meaningful comparisons of the
  students perspective with that of the writer (in
  reading situations)
• Writing helps students better formulate their
  world view.
• Writing allows students to examine their
  perspectives on key issues.
• Writing builds metacognitive as well as cognitive
  abilities because writing forces deeper levels of
  introspection, analysis, and synthesis than any
  other mediational process.

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(Synthesized from Teaching Children to Be
Literate A Reflective Approach, by Anthony and
Ula Manzo, 1995)

• 1. Remember to ask for it that is, for
  discovery, invention, and artistic/literary
  creation.
• 2. Great curiosity and new ideas with enthusiasm
  these can often lead to the most valuable
  teachable moments.
• 3. Expose learners to new twists on old patterns
  and invite looking at old patterns from new
  angles.
• 4. Constructively critique new ideas because they
  almost always require some fine-tuning.
• 5. Reset our expectations to the fact that there
  will be many more misses than hits when
  reaching for workable new ideas.
• 6. Learn to invite contrary, or opposing,
  positions new possibilities are often discovered
  in this way and existing thoughts, patterns, and
  beliefs can be tested and strengthened.

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Ideas

• Head-on Approaches to Teaching Higher-Order
  Thinking
• (Synthesized from Teaching Children to Be
  Literate A Reflective Approach, by Anthony and
  Ula Manzo, 1995)
• Thinking Thursdays
• Consider setting aside a given amount of time on
  a regular basis to try some of these direct
  approaches to teaching critical and creative
  thinking.
• Word Creation
• Define the word squallizmotex and explain how
  your definition fits the word.
• If dried grapes are called raisins, and dried
  beef is called beef jerky, what would you call
  these items if they were dried lemons,
  pineapple, watermelon, chicken.

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Ideas

• Unusual Uses
• Have students try to think of as many unusual
  uses as they can for common objects such as
  bricks, used toys, old tennis balls, soda
  bottles, and 8-track cassette tapes.

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Ideas

• Circumstances and Consequences What would happen
  if . . .
• school was on weekends and not during the week?
• water stuck like glue?
• gravity took a day off?
• there were no colors?
• everyone in the country could vote on every issue
  that is now decided by government
  representatives?

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Ideas

• Product Improvements
• How could school desks be improved?
• How could living room furniture be improved to
  provide better storage and even exercise while
  watching television?
• How can we better equip book-carrying bags to
  handle lunches and other needs that you can think
  of?

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Ideas

• Systems and Social Improvements
• A sample question that could lead into plenty of
  higher-level discussion and a good give-and-take
  of views and needs could be How can schools be
  made more fun without hurting learning?