I.

Introduction of HigherOrder Thinking (H.O.T.) and

Why?
II. Blooms Cognitive
Taxonomy
III. Why Do We Want to Teach
Higher-Order Thinking?
IV. How Do We Teach HigherOrder
Thinking?
V. The High Investment of
HigherOrder Thinking

Introduction
For decades, public schools prepared children to be
good citizensand good factory workers. Students
were expected to sit, listen, and do exactly as they
were told.

In some respects, this

model served high
school graduates well
since they learned to
follow directions in
ways that would be
valuable to their future
employers.

Module: 1
What Is HigherOrder Thinking?

I.W hat Is H igher-O rder Thinking?

Appropriate teaching strategies and learning
environments that facilitate growth in student
thinking skills in area of critical, logical, reflective,
meta-cognitive, and creative
Thinking.
This definition
is consistent to
how higher order thinking skills
are learned and developed.
Although different theoreticians
and researchers use different
frameworks to describe higher
order skills and how they are
acquired, all frameworks are in
general agreement concerning
the conditions under which
they prosper.

H igher-O rder Thinking essentially

m eans
thinking that takes place in
the higher level of hierarchy in the
cognitive processing.

While lower-order thinking is more easily

defined as mastering facts (such as being
able to describe the Water Cycle)

or
completing a task with specific
steps (such as being able to
solve a two-variable equation),
that study ultimately describes
higher-order thinking as thinking
that is (or involves), that study
ultimately describes

Module: 2
Why HigherOrder Thinking?

W hy H igher-O rder Thinking

As economic and technological changes shape the
occupational outlook of todays
students,
schools
No longer
is it enough
have begun to embrace the
instill higherforneed
high to
school
order thinking to preparegraduates
the 21st century
simply to
workforce.
know basic facts and
skills.
To be successful,
students must master
decision-making,
prioritizing, strategizing
and collaborative
problem solving.

W hy H igher-O rder Thinking

Although most teachers learned about Bloom's
Taxonomy, many seldom challenge students beyond
the first two levels of cognition: knowledge and
comprehension.
Because most jobs in the
21st century will require
employees to use the four
highest levels of thinking
application, analysis,
synthesis, and evaluation
this is unacceptable in
today's instructional
programs. We must expect
students to operate
routinely at the higher

II.Bloom s Cognitive Taxonom y

In 1948, Benjamin Bloom led a team of educational
psychologists that met to discuss classroom activities
and what goals teachers should have in mind when
designing activities for their students (Bloom, 1956).
Blooms aim was to
promote higher forms of
thinking in education,
such as analyzing and
evaluating, rather than
just teaching students to
remember facts (rote
learning).

Three dom ains ofLearning

Learning was divided into three domains of
educational activity.
Cognitive:
mental skills (Knowledge)
Affective:
growth in feelings or
emotional areas (Attitude
or self )
Psychomotor:
manual or physical skills
While Blooms Taxonomy is
not the only framework
(Skills)
for teaching thinking, it is the most widely used, and
subsequent frameworks tend to be closely linked to
Blooms work.

Bloom s Cognitive Taxonom y

While all three domains are important for a
rounded person, it is the first domain , Cognitive
that is the subject of (H.O.T.)
The Cognitive domain
involves knowledge and the
development of intellectual
skills.
It is generally accepted that
each behavior needs to be
mastered before the next
one can take place.
This is useful knowledge in assisting teachers/
lecturers in their lesson planning.

Cognitive D om ain

It involves student knowledge.

It also involves the
development of intellectual attitudes and skills.
Bloom and his associates
ranked student cognitive
abilities in the cognitive
domain from simple to the
most complex into six
categories.
These categories are
Knowledge, Comprehension,
Application, Analysis,
Synthesis, and Evaluation. This
ranking is known as Bloom's

Module: 3
Blooms
Taxanomy

Bloom s Taxonom y l.Know ledge

Bloom defines the lowest level of student ability as
"knowledge." This category involves simple
knowledge of dates, events, places, facts, terms,
basic concepts, or answers. Students aren't required
to use this information in any practical way. They're
simply asked to recall previously learned material.

Knowledge is the lowest level of the

scale. It involves nothing more than
information observation and
recollection. Nevertheless, Bloom
found that over ninety-five percent of
the activities students encountered
required thinking at only this level.
Even today, much of the software
used in schools is of the "skill and
drill" sort. This sort uses repetitive,
flashcard-like mechanisms to help
students retain and regurgitate facts.
Knowledge task words are "name,"

Bloom s Taxonom y2.

Com
prehensi
on ability is called
The
second
level of student
"comprehension." Comprehension requires
students to demonstrate an understanding of the
information.
Students may show this by
summarizing main ideas,
translating a mathematical
word problem to numbers,
or by interpreting charts or
graphs. Students go further
with the information than
simply recalling it.
Comprehension task words
are "predict," "summarize,"
"translate," "associate,"
"translate," and "estimate."

Bloom s Taxonom y-3.Application

"Application" is the third level of ability. It's observed
when students use methods, theories, or concepts in
new situations. Students don't simply interpret a
graph.
Instead, they may construct
a new graph using the data.
Or, they may use a learned
formula to solve an
equation. The key emphasis
is that students use an
abstract idea, theory, or
principal in a new, concrete
situation to solve a
problem. Application task
words are "solve,"
"complete," "calculate,"

Bloom s Taxonom y-4.Analysis

Bloom calls the fourth level of ability "analysis."
Analysis requires the student to examine and break
information down into parts. The student uses these
parts to interpret and understand its meaning.

This level requires students to

"read between the lines," make
inferences, and find evidence to
support generalizations. This is a
more advanced level. It
mandates that the student see
the big picture. The student
must distinguish between facts
and inferences while evaluating
the relevancy of data.
Constructing an outline from a
reading passage is an example
of analysis. Analysis task words
are "separate," "order,"

Bloom s Taxonom y-5.Synthesis

"Synthesis" is the fifth level of student ability. It deals
with putting together parts to form a new whole.
This may involve putting ideas
together in a creative new
way. It may also involve using
old ideas to come up with new
ones. Writing a poem, giving a
well-organized speech, or
proposing a plan for a new
experiment would involve
synthesis. The student takes
information from several areas
and combines it to create a
new structure. Synthesis task
words are "integrate,"
"design," "invent," "modify,"

Bloom s Taxonom y-6.Evaluation

"Evaluation" is the sixth and highest level of student
ability. This level requires the student to perform two
simultaneous tasks. First, the student must present
and defend opinions.
Second, the
student must make judgments about the value of
Students compare and
material and methods.
discriminate between ideas. They
recognize subjectivity. They judge
the adequacy with which
conclusions are supported by data.
The rubric, or evaluation criteria,
may be given to the student. Or,
the student may devise it. The
evaluation level is considered the
highest since it incorporates
elements of all the other levels. It
also requires the student to add a
conscious value judgment based
on clearly defined criteria.
Evaluation task words are

Module: 4
COMPARING
BLOOM
TAXANOMY AND
HIGH ORDER

H igher-O rder Thinking

Overall, higher-order thinking means handling a
situation that you have not encountered before
and is generally recognized as some combination
of the above characteristics.
It is thinking that
happens in the analysis,
synthesis, and evaluation
rungs of Blooms ladder.
By contrast, lower-order
thinking is simple, reflexlike, transparent, and
certain.

Higher order thinking skills are grounded in lower

skills
asThi
discriminations,
simple
Horder
igher
-Osuch
rder
nking Skil
ls
application and analysis, and cognitive strategies
and are linked to prior knowledge of subject matter
content.

W hy H igher-O rder Thinking

Although most teachers learned about Bloom's
Taxonomy, many seldom challenge students beyond
the first two levels of cognition: knowledge and
comprehension.
Because most jobs in the
21st century will require
employees to use the four
highest levels of thinking
application, analysis,
synthesis, and evaluation
this is unacceptable in
today's instructional
programs. We must expect
students to operate
routinely at the higher

Module: 5
SKILLS FOR
HIGH ORDER
THINKING

H igh O rder Thinking (H .O .T.) Skills

Higher order thinking skills include Critical Thinking

skills which are logical, reflective, meta-cognitive
and creative. They are activated when individuals
encounter unfamiliar problems, uncertainties,
questions, or dilemmas.
Applications of the skills
result in Reasoning,
Evaluating,
Problem solving,
Decisions making &
Analyzing products that are
valid within the context of
available knowledge and
experience that promote
continued growth in these
and other intellectual skills.

W ise judgm ent in CriticalThinking

In critical thinking, being able to
think means students can apply wise
judgment or produce a reasoned
critique. The goal of teaching is then
to equip students to be wise by
guiding them towards how to make
sound decisions and exercise
reasoned judgment. The skills
students need to be taught to do this
include: the ability to judge the
credibility of a source; identify
assumptions, generalisation and bias;
identify connotation in language use;
understand the purpose of a written
or spoken text; identify the audience;
and to make critical judgments about
the relative effectiveness of various
strategies used to meet the purpose
of the text.

Module: 6
TEACHING
H.O.T.S

W hy D o W e W ant to Teach H igher-O rder

Thinking?
Knowledge obtained through higher-order
thinking processes is more easily transferable,
so that students
with a deep
conceptual
understanding of
an idea will be
much more likely
to be able to apply
that knowledge to
solve new
problems.

Teaching (H .O .T.) Skills

It is hard to imagine a teacher or lecturer who is
not aware of the importance of teaching higherorder thinking (H.O.T.) skills to prepare young
men and women to live in the 21st Century.
However, the extent to
which higher-order
thinking skills are
taught and assessed
continues to be an area
of debate, with many
teachers and employers
expressing concern that
young people cannot
think.

Teaching (H .O .T.) Skills

Teachers are good at writing and asking literal
questions (e.g., Name the parts of a flower),
but we tend to do this far too often.
Students must be taught to
find the information they
need, judge its worth, and
think at higher levels. There is
simply too much information
in the world for us to waste
students' time with
regurgitations of basic facts.
As Bellanca (1997) states:

III.W hy D o W e W ant to Teach H igherO rder Thinking?

We push toward higher-order thinking skills in the classroom
because they have enormous benefits for our students.

The reasoning here

is similar to the
rationale for
pushing knowledge
into our long-term
memory.

W hy D o W e W ant to Teach H igherO rder Thinking?

First, information learned and processed through
higher-order thinking processes is remembered
longer and more clearly than information that is
processed through lower-order, rote memorization.
Consider for example, the
difference between memorizing
a formula and explaining the
derivation of the formula.
In this case, a student who
has the latter-type of
understanding will carry that
knowledge longer.

D eep Conceptualunderstanding
Research study showed that students are more likely
to apply a skill to solve new problems when they
have a deep conceptual understanding of that skill
than when there is a lack of this conceptual
understanding.
One researcher
used two methods
to teach children
the dropperpendicular
method for
computing the
area of a
parallelogram.

M em orizing a form ula

Group A

lxh =
Students in Group A simply memorized by rote
the drop perpendicular method and applied
it to the shape, successfully finding the area of
the parallelogram.

Explaining derivation ofthe form ula

Students in Group B were provided the reasoning behind
the process. They were shown how one could cut off a
triangular portion of a parallelogram and re-attach it at the
other end to make a rectangle.
Group B

h
l

lxh =
The students were led to understand that the
method is actually a simple variation on the
(length) x (width) = (area) formula that they
already knew for rectangles.

Application ofthe deep conceptual

understanding in problem solving
The students were led to understand that the
method is actually a simple variation on the
(length) x (width) = (area) formula that they
already knew for rectangles.
This set of students, Group
B, then applied the method
and, like Group A,
successfully found the area
of the parallelogram.
Then, when a parallelogram were presented in an unusual
orientation, Group A students incorrectly applied the
process, arriving at an incorrect answer. Group B students,
having an understanding of why the formula works,
adjusted the method to fit the new orientation and derived
the right answer.

W hy D o W e W ant to Teach H igher-O rder

Thinking?
Knowledge obtained through higher-order
thinking processes is more easily transferable,
so that students
with a deep
conceptual
understanding of
an idea will be
much more likely
to be able to apply
that knowledge to
solve new
problems.

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

This sort of higher-order transfer of
understanding is the key to good thinking and
problem solving. Good thinking and problem
solving skills make learned knowledge applicable
As teachers of students who
in the real world.
are often lagging behind
their peers in better
resourced schools, we have
a mandate to do all that we
can to ensure that our
students are engaging new
knowledge at a level that
will allow them to transfer it
to new real-world
applications. If our students
can add numbers with

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

So, you know that your students are engaged in
higher-order thinking when they:

Visualize a problem by
diagramming it

Separate relevant from

irrelevant
information in a word
problem
Seek reasons and causes
Justify solutions
See more than one side of a
problem
Weigh sources of information
based
on their credibility

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

Non-algorithmic

Complex

Effortful

Involving paths of action for solving

problems that are not specified in
advance (creative problem solving)
Involving problem solving where multiple
solutions are possible
Involving considerable mental energy
directed toward problem solving

Nuanced judgments Involving subtle, less-than-obvious

decisions about strategies
Application of
multiple criteria

Involving transferal of some (sometimes

conflicting) criteria to the problem
solving process

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

Uncertainty
about what is
known
Self-regulation

Imposition of
meaning

Involving problems that do

not provide a clear starting
point
Involving some degree of
meta-cognition and selfawareness about strategies
being employed
Involving development and
application of new theories

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking?

If our students can write a persuasive essay, can
they write a letter to their banks requesting a
loan, their senators arguing policy points, or,
someday, their childrens teachers calling for high
expectations for their children?

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking?

If our students can list
the steps in the scientific
method, can they also
recognize that the
conclusions drawn by a
polluting company failed
to be reached using that
scientific method?

IV.H ow D o W e Teach H igher-O rder

Thinking?
Higher order thinking is a very difficult to teach.
Thinking aloud is the most effective. Whenever
students are being pushed to their academic
levels, or being forced to apply what they know,
they often need to be shown how to think.
They need to be aware that
there should be something
going on in their head. I
always model my thinking
aloud. I pretend to be a
student in the class and put
on a special hat. When that
hat is on, I use hypothetical
questions that I ask myself

H euristics:Tools for Solving Problem s

Heuristics are general problem-solving strategies

that may help students tackle difficult questions.
You can practice these techniques with your
students and then provide novel situations for
them to apply their newly acquired skills

10 H euristics Problem s Solving

Do not focus only on the details; try to
strategies 1) see
the forest as well as the trees.
2) Do not rush to a solution rashly.
3) Try working backwards by starting
with the goal.
4) Create a model using pictures,
diagrams, symbols or equations.
5) Use analogies: What does this
remind me of?
6) Look for unconventional or new ways to use the
available tools.
7) Discuss a problem aloud until a solution emerges.
8) Keep track of partial solutions so you can come back to
them and resume where you left off.
9) Break the problem into parts.
10) Work on a simpler version of the problem.

IV.H ow D o W e Teach H igher-O rder

Thinking?
The importance of higher-order thinking makes it
a priority in our classroom, but how does one
teach towards higher-order thinking?
How does one foster the
kind of deep conceptual
understanding that is
transferable to various
academic contexts and,
perhaps more
importantly, to real-world
problems?
We have gathered here
various strategies for
doing just that:

IV.H ow D o W e Teach H igher-O rder

Thinking?
If you are studying persuasive writing, have all
students write a letter to a local leader on some
hot-button topic in your community.
If you are considering
how to teach the
scientific method, look
for community issues
that will simultaneously
motivate your students
and provide them an
authentic context for
applying the skills you
are teaching.

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

(1) Teach skills through real-world contexts.
Because higher-order thinking is difficultafter
all, you are asking students to make decisions,
rather than simply follow a prescriptive pathit
will help your cause if you build motivation for
the tasks you have developed.
If you are teaching your
students when to use
the various equipment
operations, bring them
to the workshop and
demonstrate the
application.

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

(2) Vary the context in which students use a
newly taught skill.
Another prerequisite for
(H.O.T.) is flexible
approaches to problem
solving. Besides an
emphasis on real world
application of skills, a
teacher should work to
introduce students to a
variety of real-world
The more settings in which
a student
usesasome
contexts
in using
new element of knowledge,
the more
the student
particular
skill.
internalizes the deeper conceptual implications
and applications of the knowledge.

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

(For example, to teach addition of numbers with
decimal points, have students work with and add
decimal-laden temperatures, metric-based
measurements of the lengths of walls, and the
scores from skating competitions.)

By coming at a skill from many different angles,

you will loosen the contextual grip that a students
mind may have linking a particular skill with a
particular circumstance.

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

(3) Throughout your instruction, take every
opportunity to emphasize the building
blocks
of higher-order
thinking.
Teach content
in ways that
require students to:
Build background knowledge.
The more your students are
gaining and retaining
information about the world
around them, the more they
bring to the table when
solving complex problems.
Help students tap
into what they already
know, which might just be
the information needed to
answer a challenging

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

Classify things into categories.
You might, for example,
have your first graders develop and create
categories for a series of words based on their
structure.
Students might come up
with categories based on
first letter, ending letter, or
vowel sound.
Arrange
items along some
dimension.

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

As you are teaching students to write persuasive
essays, you might provide students with five
different essays of different qualities, asking the
students to rank them and explain their ranking.

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

Make hypotheses. In any type of discovery

learning, ask students to mentally conduct the

experiment before you actually do conduct it.

What do you think

will happen when I
tape this weight to
the side of the ball
and throw it?

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

Draw inferences.
Having now read these three letters from
American soldiers in Vietnam, what can we tell
about the experience of being there? Analyze
things into their components.
What sound does shout
start with?
How do
you write that sound? or
What influences do you
think were weighing on
the Presidents mind
when he made that
Solve problems. Puzzles and problems can be
decision?
designed for any age level and any subject matter.

M eta-cognitive D evelopm ent

Meta-cognitive development supports students'
internalization of strategies. It does this through a
conscious focus on the implementation of plans of
attack.
Meta-cognitive
development
fosters student
autonomy
through selfmonitoring and
self-assessment
(Walqui, 1992).

M eta-cognitive D evelopm ent

An example is teaching what a "good" reader does
as he or she reads. The actual steps could be
outlined to the students.
This way, the
students can copy
the steps
themselves as they
read. Students can
stop from time to
time during their
reading and examine
whether they're
getting the main
idea, understanding
the theme of the

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

Think about planning (How should I approach
this problem? What additional resources or
information do I need?

Purposefully
allocate time and
energy (How do I
prioritize my tasks
in order to most
efficiently solve
this problem?)

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

Specifically, for a teacher, this means delineating and
teaching specific problem-attack strategies, giving
students time to ponder difficult answers for
themselves, and modeling those strategies by
thinking aloud to solve problems during guided
practice.

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

New Jersey, Susan Asiyanbi realized that many of her
fourth grade math students lacked proficiency in openended questions because of their lack of reading
comprehension:
She then had them break down any higher-order problem
into five steps:
Q. Question,

F.
S.
S.
C.

Facts,
Strategy,
Solve, and
Check.

After modeling how to break down sample problems into

these five steps, she had her students identify and write
down the questions asked by the problem, the important
facts and the strategy they would use to solve the
problem.

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

Only then could they solve the problem. Once
done, they went back to the question and made
sure they answered every part.
Children are very quick to
solve a problem and
often do not recognize
that they have not
finished all the steps or
are not answering the
question being asked.
These basic five steps ensured that all of the
students could feel successful, regardless of reading
and/or math level.

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

The draw a picture strategy is a problem-solving technique in which students make a visual representation of the problem. For example, the following
problem could be ed by drawing a picture:

Problem Solving: Draw a Picture

The draw a picture strategy is a problem-solving
technique in which students make a visual
representation of the problem.

eg. A frog is at the bottom

of a 10-meter well.
Each day
he climbs up 3 meters. Each
night he slides down 1
meter.
On what
day will he reach the top of
Once students became
using this
theconfident
well and with
escape?
strategy, the problems was made more difficult with
larger numbers, which would make the Draw a
Picture strategy pretty arduous.

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

Why Is Draw a Picture method so Important?

Drawing a diagram or other type of visual
representation is often a good starting point for
solving all kinds ofword problems.
It is an
intermediate step between language-as-text and the
symbolic language ofBy
mathematics.
representing units of
measurement and other
objects visually, students can
begin to think about the
problem
mathematically.
Pictures and diagrams are also
good ways of describing
solutions to problems; therefore
they are an important part of

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

Keep in mind that these techniques can be
implemented in all classrooms at all levels. Do not
make the mistake of thinking that higher-order
thinking should be reserved for older students, or
for high performing students, or for supplemental
In fact, one of the
activities.
recommendations
from the National
Research Councils
study of higherorder thinking was
that we not wait to
move to higherorder.

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

The Council suggested that we teach content at
the earliest grades through open-ended complex
problems.
While some degree of
common sense is obviously
called for with younger
students who may not have
the capacity for all forms of
higher-order thinking,
research indicates that even
the youngest of students
can be prepared for higherorder thinking through an
emphasis on basic problem
solving skills.

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

All of the developmental approaches have
emphasized the fact there is a natural
progression in thinking from lower forms to
higher forms with age or experience.
This developmental
progression implies that
students need to have a
certain amount of education,
experience, or practice
before they can become
capable of the highest forms
And yet, each approach
reveals
of also
thought.
. . . that it is
wrong to assume that teachers should do nothing
to promote thinking until students reach a certain
age.

Teaching H igher-O rder Thinking

This also means that the lower-level mastery
of basic facts and skills plays a critical role in
supporting the development of higher-order
thinking.
Teachers must give
their students a lot of
experience making a
data table if they are
going to expect them
to be able to access
that strategy to their
toolbox when tackling
open-ended problems.

IV.The H igh Investm ent ofH igher-O rder

Thinking
Teaching higher-order thinking requires more
work from the teacher. Higher-order thinking
takes considerable time to develop through lots
of practice in different contexts.
As researcher Jere Brophy
emphasizes, teaching higherorder thinking requires a
commitment to class
discussion,
debate, and
problem-solving, all of which
take time.

IV.The H igh Investm ent ofH igher-O rder

Thinking
Teaching involves inducing conceptual change in
students, not infusing information into a vacuum,
[and this] will be facilitated by the interactive
discourse during lessons and activities.
Clear explanations and
modeling from the
teacher are important,
but so are opportunities
to answer questions
about the content,
discuss or debate its
meanings and
implications, or apply it
in authentic problemsolving or decision-

Module: 7
EXAMPLE OF
H.O.T.S

Exam ples ofActivities that Prom ote

H igher O rder Thinking
Examples of Activities: Science
Apply a Rule:
The student could be asked to explain why a
shotgun "kicks" when fired. His response would
include a statement to the effect that for every
action there is an equal and opposite reaction
(Newton's Law of Motion), and that the "kick" of the
shotgun is equal to the force propelling the shot
toward its target. The faster the shot travels and the
greater the weight of the shot, the greater the "kick"
of the gun.

Exam ples ofActivities that Prom ote

H igher O rder Thinking
Classify:
Given several examples of each, the student could be
asked to classify materials according to their physical
properties as gas, liquid, or solid.
Construct:
The student could be asked to construct a model of a
carbon atom.

Exam ples ofActivities that Prom ote

H igher O rder Thinking
Define:
Given several types of plant leaves, the student could
be asked to define at least three categories for
classifying them. NOTE: Defining is not memorizing
and writing definitions created by someone else -- it is
creating definitions.
Demonstrate:
Given a model of the earth, sun, and moon so devised
that it may be manipulated to show the orbits of the
earth and moon, the student could be asked to
demonstrate the cause of various phases of the moon
as viewed from earth.

Exam ples ofActivities that Prom ote

H igher O rder Thinking
Describe:
The student could be asked to describe the
conditions essential for a balanced aquarium that
includes four goldfish.
Diagram:
The student could be asked to diagram the life cycle
of a grasshopper.

Exam ples ofActivities that Prom ote

H igher O rder Thinking
Distinguish:
Given a list of paired element names, the student
could be asked to distinguish between the metallic and
non-metallic element in each pair.
Estimate:
The student could be asked to estimate the amount of
heat given off by one liter of air compressed to onehalf its original volume.

Exam ples ofActivities that Prom ote

H igher O rder Thinking
Evaluate:
Given several types of materials, the student could be
asked to evaluate them to determine which is the best
conductor of electricity.
Identify:
Given several types of materials, the student could be
asked to identify those which would be attracted to a
magnet.

Exam ples ofActivities that Prom ote

H igher O rder Thinking
Interpret:
The student could be asked to interpret a weather map
taken from a newspaper.
Locate:
The student could be asked to locate the position of
chlorine on the periodic table. NOTE: To locate is to
describe location. It is not identification of location.

Exam ples ofActivities that Prom ote

H igher O rder Thinking
Measure:
Given a container graduated in cubic centimeters, the
student could be asked to measure a specific amount
of liquid.
Name:
The student could be asked to name the parts of an
electromagnet.
Order:The student could be asked to order a number
of animal life forms according to their normal length of
life.

Exam ples ofActivities that Prom ote

H igher O rder Thinking
Predict:
From a description of the climate and soils of an area,
the student could be asked to predict the plant
ecology of the area
Solve:
The student could be asked to solve the following: How
many grams of H2O will be formed by the complete
combustion of one liter of hydrogen at 70 degrees C?

Exam ples ofActivities that Prom ote

H igher O rder Thinking
State a Rule:
The student could be asked to state a rule that tell
what form the offspring of mammals will be, i.e. they
will be very similar to their parent organisms.
Translate:
The student could be asked to translate 93,000,000
into standard scientific notation.

Module: 8
CONCLUSION

Conclusion and Key Concepts

By now, you should understand what is meant by
higher-order thinking.
You should recognize
why we want to teach
higher-order thinking,
understanding
that a deeper
conceptual
understanding of ideas
is remembered longer
and is more transferable
You should also understandto
that
higher-order
other
contexts.
thinking is best taught through real-world contexts
and by varying the scenarios in which students must
use their newly-acquired skills.

Conclusion and Key Concepts

You should emphasize the building blocks of
higher-order thinking and encourage students to
think about the strategies they are using to
solve problems.
As victims of the
achievement gap, our
students need to make
significant academic
gains just to catch up
with many other
students and to have an
even chance at lifes
opportunities.
One of the ways that you
can help provide that
chance is to lead, draw, and push students
toward higher-order thinking.