Download Higher Order Thinking Skills in The Classroom

Higher Order Thinking
Skills in The Classroom
(H.O.T. Skills)
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Begona Farwell, Susan Grandle, Susan
Kreger and Eva Navarro
What is higher order thinking?
• Higher order thinking essentially means
thinking that takes place in the higher-levels
of the hierarchy of cognitive processing.
The Griney Grollers Thinking
Skills Test
The griney
grollers
grandled in the
granchy gak.
The griney grollers grangled in the
granchy gak.
1)
2)
3)
4)
What kind of grollers were they?
What did the grollers do?
Where did they do it?
In what kind of gak did they
grangle?
The griney grollers grangled in
the granchy gak.
5) Place one line under the subject and two
lines under the verb.
6) In one sentence, explain why the grollers
were grangling in the granchy gak. Be
prepared to justify your answer with facts.
7) If you had to grangle in a granchy gak,
what one item would you choose to have
with you and why?
Why Higher Level Thinking is
Important
 In addition to content (the what of student’s
learning and achievement) we also need to be
concerned with student’s thinking skills or mental
processes( the how in learning).
 Thinking provides the software for the mind.
 Higher level thinking allows student’s memory to
be used effectively.
Planning for Productive Thinking and Learning by
Treffinger and Feldhusen, 1998,p.24
Need for Problem Solving
Ability
Because the pace of societal change shows
no signs of slackening, citizens of the 21st
century must become adept problem
solvers, able to wrestle with ill-defined
problems and win. Problem-solving ability
is the cognitive passport of the future
(Martinez, 1998).
Need for Problem Solving
Ability
Thinking analytically is a skill like
carpentry or driving a car. It can be taught,
it can be learned, and it can improve with
practice. But like many other skills, such as
riding a bike, it is not learned by sitting in a
classroom and being told how to do it.
http://www.cia.gov/csi/books/19104/art4.html
Theory
Critical thinking theory finds its roots primarily in
the works of Benjamin Bloom as he classified
learning behaviors in the cognitive
domain. Bloom (1956) developed a
taxonomy of learning objectives for teachers
which he clarified and expounded upon over
the course of approximately two
decades. His ideas continue to be widely
accepted and taught in teacher education
programs throughout the United States.
Six Levels of Bloom’s
Taxonomy
1. Knowledge
2. Comprehension
3. Application
4. Analysis
5. Synthesis
6. Evaluation
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Bloom classifies learning behaviors according to
six levels ranging from Knowledge, which
focuses upon recitation of facts, to Evaluation,
which requires complex valuing and weighing
of information. Each level relates to a higher
level of cognitive ability.
This taxonomy is useful in designing questions,
lessons, tasks for students. Bloom found that
95% of test questions focused on the lowest
level…the recall of information.
Question Levels
Critical thinking may be thought of in terms of
convergent and divergent questioning (Guilford
1956, Gallegher and Aschner 1963, and Wilen
1985). Convergent questions seek to ascertain
basic knowledge and understanding. Divergent
questions require students to process information
creatively. Convergent questions tend to align with
the first three levels of Blooms Taxonomy of Learning
Objectives while divergent questions relate to the
latter three levels.
Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy
Level: Knowledge
• Materials/Situations: Events, people, newspapers,
magazine articles, definitions, videos, dramas,
textbooks, films, television programs, recordings, media
presentations
• Measurable Behaviors: Define, describe memorize,
label, recognize, name, draw, state, identify, select,
write, locate, recite
Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy
Level: Comprehension
• Materials/Situations: Speech, story, drama, cartoon,
diagram, graph, summary, outline, analogy, poster,
bulletin board
• Measurable Behaviors: Summarize, restate,
paraphrase, illustrate, match, explain, defend, relate,
infer, compare, contrast, generalize
Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy
Level: Application
• Materials/Situations: Diagram, sculpture, illustration,
dramatization, forecast, problem, puzzle, organizations,
classifications, rules, systems, routines
• Measurable Behaviors: Apply, change, put together,
construct, discover, produce, make, report, sketch,
solve, show, collect, prepare
Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy
Level: Analysis
• Materials/Situations: Survey, questionnaire, an
argument, a model, displays, demonstrations, diagrams,
systems, conclusions, report, graphed information
• Measurable Behaviors: Examine, classify, categorize,
research, contrast, compare, disassemble, differentiate,
separate, investigate, subdivide
Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy
Level: Synthesis
• Materials/Situations: Experiment, game, song, report,
poem, prose, speculation, creation, art, invention,
drama, rules
• Measurable Behaviors: Combine, hypothesize,
construct, originate, create, design, formulate, role-play,
develop
Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy
Level: Evaluation
• Materials/Situations: Recommendations, selfevaluations, group discussions, debate, court trial,
standards, editorials, values
• Measurable Behaviors: Compare, recommend,
assess, value, apprise, solve,criticize, weigh, consider,
debate
Steps to Constructing a MiniCenter/Activity Using The
Engine-Uity Process
1. Select a topic
2. Brainstorm 6 concepts related to the topic
3. Using a grid select a verb from Bloom’s
Taxonomy for each level, one of the
concepts, and a product for each task
4. Translate grid into complete sentences.
Example of GridComprehension Level
Concept:
Verb:
Product:
Range and
population of the
mountain lion
Identify
map
Example Mini-Center /Activity
Comprehension Level Task
Draw a map with a legend
identifying the current range and
population of the mountain lion.
What is Critical Thinking?
• This involves using your own knowledge
or point of view to decide if something is
right or wrong about someone else’s ideas.
http://www.cdl.org/resources/reading_room/print/hot_and_successful.html
CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
•
•
•
•
Inductive thinking
Deductive thinking
Determining reality and fantasy
Determining benefits and drawbacks
CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
•
•
•
•
Identifying value statements
Identifying points of view
Determining bias
Identifying fact and opinion
CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
• Determining the accuracy of presented
information
• Judging essential and incidental evidence
• Determining relevance
Looking For Evidence Of Critical Thinking
You may be a critical thinking teacher if...
 Learners are active and in a continuous dialogue with
teacher
 Learning is constructing, not feeding
 Truth is discovered, not delivered
 Teacher "leads from behind"
 Teacher functions as a facilitator/mentor instead of
lecturer
 Questions are answered with explanations or questions,
not simply "yes" or "no"
Looking for Evidence of Critical Thinking
 Pertinent discussions on related issues often break
out
 Debate is common
 Peers exchange ideas
 Learner and teacher satisfaction increases
 "Rabbit chasing" becomes an art - explore related
issues, yet remain on task
 Teachers often face questions for which they have
no answers
 Social interaction and acceptance in the class is
generally high
Personal Check-up
Answer the following questions:
1. Are your teaching objectives, activities, and assessments
are tied to higher level behavioral verbs?
2. Do all learners have the opportunity to interact with you
and others?
3. Do you allow time in your course for debating?
4. Do your learners have to use inductive and deductive
strategies?
5. Do you find yourself using "shock" statements and
questions to get learners' minds running?
Personal Check-up
If you could say "yes" to most of these
questions, critical thinking is probably
happening in your classroom.
Bibliography
 http://www.lgc.peachnet.edu/academic/educatn/Blooms/critical_thinki
ng.htm
 http://www.bena.com/ewinters/Bloom.html
 Planning for Productive Thinking and Learning by Treffinger and
Feldhusen, 1998, p.24
 Sandra Kaplan, National/State Leadership Training Institute
 Engine-Uity, Ltd.,P.O. Box 9610, Phoenix, Az 85068
 Martinez, M. E. (April, 1998) What is Problem Solving? Phi Delta
Kappan. 605-609.