The use of assessment in the development of higher-order thinking skills

Abstract

In an increasingly complex and specialised society, it is imperative that individuals think critically and creatively. This kind of thinking is also required to achieve the critical outcomes as stated in the Revised National Curriculum Statement for South Africa. It seems, however, that higher-order thinking is unlikely to occur unless learners are engaged in activities that deliberately promote this kind of thinking. They should also be guided on how to engage in these complex thinking tasks. The aim of this article is to reflect on the use of assessment to promote learners' higher-order thinking skills. The role of assessment has implications for the nature of teacher training programmes. If lecturers model the way assessment can be done to develop higher-order thinking skills, it is hoped that teachers will have little difficulty in adapting it to their unique classroom situations. Examples from language modules of an in-service teacher training programme are used to show how assessment can be implemented to help learners develop higher-order thinking skills within the framework of outcomes-based education and the Revised National Curriculum Statement.     

Thoughts on teaching thinking: perceptions of practitioners with a shared culture of thinking skills education

This article aims to outline the reported experiences of practitioners in a local authority in England where, since the mid-1990s, a high proportion of teachers have undertaken professional development in the field of teaching thinking skills. The article is based on the main findings from a questionnaire survey which was carried out among first, middle and high school teachers in this area. It was intended to explore their views on the use, benefits and challenges of teaching ‘Thinking for Learning’, a term which encompasses both the use of a range of thinking skills strategies and the Community of Enquiry/Philosophy for Children approaches.

The vast majority of respondents reported a range of positive effects on their pupils, including pupil motivation and cognitive, social and affective benefits. On the other hand, reported challenges mainly referred to a perceived lack of time and to some seemingly inherent difficulties in the teaching of thinking.

Conclusions from this study have the potential to inform professional development practice and policy far beyond this local authority's regional boundaries, and aim to contribute to the body of knowledge about forms of education that are based on dialogue and enquiry.     

Effectiveness of the multidimensional curriculum model in developing higher-order thinking skills in elementary and secondary students

The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the multidimensional curriculum model (MdCM) in the development of higher-order thinking skills in a sample of 394 elementary and secondary school students in Israel. The study employed a quantitative quasi-experimental pre-post design, using a study module based on MdCM, comparing intervention group to control group. Thinking skills were measured using a thinking questionnaire comprising three dimensions: Scientific thinking – focusing on inquiry skills; creative thinking – relating to problem finding and problem-solving; and future thinking – concerning personal and time perspectives. Findings indicate improvement in measured thinking skills in the intervention group by 40% compared to 4% in control group. Most improved skills were future thinking and creative thinking. Differences were detected according to the type of school. It is suggested that when used regularly the MdCM incorporating innovative teaching–learning strategies and embedded thinking tools could improve thinking skills among students from different age groups. General implications for curriculum design are discussed.     

Tools for pedagogical inquiry: the impact of teaching thinking skills on teachers

This paper explores the idea of thinking skills approaches as tools for pedagogical inquiry and in so doing seeks to develop the link between the promotion of inquiry‐based learning, which is a central tenet of thinking skills, and inquiry‐based teaching as an approach to professional development and school improvement. The first part of the paper examines the impact of teaching thinking skills on teachers by drawing upon a systematic review of research evidence. The second part of the paper sets the characteristics identified in the context of research into teachers’ development and considers the contribution of a pedagogy based on thinking skills approaches to continuing professional development.     

Enhancing systems‐thinking skills with modelling

Systems thinking is an essential cognitive skill that enables individuals to develop an integrative understanding of a given subject at the conceptual and systemic level. Yet, systems thinking is not usually an innate skill. Helping students develop systems‐thinking skills warrants attention from educators. This paper describes a study examining the effects of utilising systems modelling as a cognitive tool in enhancing a group of graduate students' systems‐thinking skills. A significant improvement was observed in the systems‐thinking practises of the students. A theoretical rationale for enhancing systems‐thinking skills with modelling and the results of the study will be discussed.     

Some reflections on thinking skills

This paper and the three which follow it, by Dijkstra, Klauer and Tennyson, are based upon a 1987 symposium of the American Educational Research Association: Metalearning theories and instructional design. This paper discusses the other three papers by posing the question “Are there any thinking skills?”, then considering points that need to be taken into account in arriving at a reasonable answer to this question. It concludes “There is thinking, and there are skills. But-are there any thinking skills?”.     

Teaching teaching skills

Abstract

The paper examines concerns about the teaching profession as expressed by students in their teacher education program. Differences are analyzed between the concerns of entry‐level (second‐year) students and students in their student teaching (fifth) year. Items students chose as interview questions to ask a practicing teacher were used as measures of concerns. Using content analysis techniques, categories of concerns were developed. Findings indicate that entry‐level students were primarily concerned with their career choice and with the impact of the profession on their own lives. Fifth‐year students were more interested in technical classroom skills and in the impact they would have on their future students. Implications of these findings for teacher education programs are discussed.     

Enhancing thinking skills in early childhood

A case study approach was adopted to investigate two thinking skills programmes for a maximum variation sample of five- to six-year-olds in four schools, in two local authorities (LAs), in England and Wales, using multiple methods. School staff interviewed felt that thinking skills programmes enhanced critical thinking skills and improved use of language, attentive listening, social cooperation, confidence and independence. Welsh staff indicated that the programmes had a whole-school impact, reflecting national policy, intensive training, coaching and monitoring and leading to transfer to other lessons, such as mathematics. Without a national curriculum mandate, the English thinking-skills practice was vulnerable to disruption and lack of continuity. Observation showed that teachers' delivery varied in open questioning and challenge, group work and pupil talk. Pupils' verbal reasoning and numerical attainments showed modest evidence of change and development. Conditions supporting change and sustainability included: national policy with thinking skills at its core; high-quality professional development and a whole-school approach; coaching with systematic observation and feedback. This promoted changes in leadership, trust and collaboration, structures of interaction between policy and LA, head teacher, teachers and children.     

Toward an understanding of higher-order thinking among minority students

Recent investigations have established the importance of higher-order thinking in the acquisition and application of learning skills in diverse domains of inquiry. Such findings have implications for enhancing the quality of thinking of all children but have particular significance for those minority students who historically have not performed as well as their more economically advantaged peers. Although much has been written about the construct, research is still needed to identify the specific processes underlying higher-order thinking and to examine its use among minority populations. A principal-factors extraction with varimax rotation analysis was used in the present study to clarify the nature and function of higher-order thinking among minority students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The results allowed for a specification of the mental processes associated with the construct and the extent to which students reported an awareness and use of these processes in academic problem-solving situations.     

地方高校大学英语教师教学思辨训练关注调查

论文调查了大学英语教师在教学中对思辨能力训练的关注,以及大学英语教师思辨教学训练在教学过程中和教学方法上的特点.调查发现,大学英语改革班与非改革班教师在关注思辨训练中理解 、 分析和创造能力的训练对比差异较为显著,这说明大学英语改革班教师在英语教学中更倾向于关注学生高层次思辨能力训练,注重学生分析能力和创造性思维训练,而非改革班教师倾向于关注学生理解能力和应用能力的训练.改革班的教师根据教学要求在思辨训练中不仅关注学生对概念 、 事实和理论进行识记 、 理解,而且也会关注学生应用 、 分析 、 反思 、 创造的思辨能力训练.因此,思辨能力的发展是一个从低级思维向高级思维发展的过程,必须运用思辨的标准持之以恒地训练思维的各要素,使良好的思维习惯成为第二本能.大学英语教师在教学中不仅要夯实学生英语语言能力,而且要通过循序渐进的思辨教学训练培养学生思辨思维及解决问题的能力.     

The fundamental skills of higher order thinking

It may be possible to teach reasoning strategies to subjects with poor reasoning, including many subjects with learning disabilities (LD), using curriculum designed around a sameness analysis. The higher order thinking skills of analogical and logical reasoning are defined using the sameness analysis methodology. The sameness in the strategy for forming a generalization from experience is called "reasoning by analogy," while the sameness in the strategy for applying generalizations is described by the syllogism (logical reasoning). The research base for effective instruction in analogical and logical reasoning, particularly with subjects with LD, is summarized. The wide applicability of reasoning by analogy and by syllogism as complementary strategies is illustrated through their use in a critical review of the editorial page of a daily newspaper, and in linking content material in several domains.     

Meta-concepts,thinking skills and religious education

This paper proposes that the acquisition of meta-concepts and thinking skills in order to facilitate scholarly religious thought should be the principal aim of religious education in schools. As a result, the aim of religious education is primarily stated in cognitive terms and religious education is understood as closely related to education about religion. The educational value of this approach is explained in a cultural–historical perspective on learning. It is shown that there is a close connection between learning and development and that school learning especially contributes to development of pupils’ higher cognitive functions, if school learning aims at the acquisition of subject-specific meta-concepts and thinking skills. In order to apply these insights to religious education, the aim of religious education is reconsidered and some examples of meta-concepts and thinking skills that may serve as the content of religious education are discussed.     

Questioning techniques to promote thinking

Research has shown that children as young as three and four can think on many different levels if they are encouraged to do so (Pepler & Ross, 1981; Turner & Durrett, 1975). Educators can promote young children's thinking by asking appropriate questions and by providing learning activities that require children to think beyond the recall or memorization level (What Works, 1986). Asking good questions is an art — an art that can be learned and refined with practice and with conscious effort.Jean M. Shaw and Mary Jo Puckett Cliatt are associate professors in the School of Education at the University of Mississippi in University, MS.     

The critical thinking debate: how general are general thinking skills?

This paper takes up the issue of whether the skill of critical thinking in university education is best thought of as a broad universal generic skill or rather as only a loose category taking in a variety of modes of thought. Through the linguistic analysis of some sample texts, I argue that the discourse of general thinking programs should not be thought of as a generalist discourse at all, but in fact a quite specific one. The implications both for the teaching and testing of critical thinking are considered in the light of this position.