|
The extensive use of lower cognitive levels of
questions leads to some problems: *
- When students are asked to simply recall
information, they are not actively involved in the learning process; much of the work
consists of memorization.
- Most lower level questions have one specific answer;
this does not lead to the kinds of discussions that should take place in the classrooms.
- The students' ability to express themselves verbally
is not enhanced when there is too much reliance on one or two word responses.
* Orlich, Harder,
Callahan, Gibson. Teaching Strategies: A Guide to Better Instruction. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, Co. 1998. p. 80.
| COGNITIVE LEVEL |
STARTS WITH |
EXAMPLE |
| KNOWLEDGE
recognizing and recalling facts, matching, listing |
list, define, describe, label, outline, match, select,
recite, state, recall, what did the book say about, list examples of..., reproduce,
restate the major... |
The student will be able
to list the 4 major causes of World War I.
Given
a map of the US, the student will correctly label the states with 80% accuracy. |
Specific
facts |
Who was the President during the Civil War? |
| Terminology or
definitions |
What does primary
source mean? |
| Rules |
What items
must be put on a title page for a report? |
| COMPREHENSION/
(understanding)
understanding, ability to state in own words |
defend, explain,
predict, summarize, explain, generalize, matching, listing, conclude which, use your own
words to ..., give reasons or evidence why ... |
By the end of the first
semester, the student will be able to summarize the major foreign policy accomplishments
of FDR. The student will be able to list the
differences between socialists and communists. |
Interpretation |
What are the
differences between Junior High Schools and Middle Schools? |
| Translation |
In your own
words, explain Wilson's 14 points. |
| Examples |
Find two other
examples of pure democracies world history. |
| Definitions |
Using your own
words, explain what an objective is in your lesson plans. |
| APPLICATION
(solving)
using learning in a new situation |
compute, use, solve,
organize, modify, develop, perform, solve, demonstrate, what other reasons ..., suppose
that ..., what might they do with .... |
Given a list of causes
and events and persons related to the Vietnam war, the students will correctly organize
the events and persons. |
| ANALYSIS
breaking down into parts and understanding their
relationship to the whole |
infer, outline,
distinguish, differentiate, diagram, compare, contrast, what is another purpose in ...,
fact vs. opinion, what do you need to know to...., how does A relate to B? |
After listening to the
President's speech, students will be able to distinguish fact from opinion in the speech.
The students will be able to outline the major differences
in the economic policies of the Democrats and Republicans. |
Identify
issues |
Explain the
major components of a well written objective. |
State
implications |
What are the
reasons why many teacher education programs emphasize the research on effective teaching? |
| SYNTHESIS (creating)
putting parts together to form a new whole |
compose, design,
create, can you develop a new way to ..., Can you make up ..., what would you do if ... |
Given the causes of the
Viet-nam war, what would you have done had you been Lyndon Johnson? |
| Uniqueness |
Write a lesson
plan which includes questions from each cognitive level. |
| Plans for operation |
Develop and
teach a lesson about how to write effective questions from each cognitive level. |
| Abstractions |
After observing
at least five classes, develop at least five procedures to improve classroom management. |
| EVALUATION
(judging)
judging learning against criteria |
rate, weigh, appraise,
justify the actions of ..., compare and contrast ...., provide arguments to support .... |
Compare and contrast the
causes of World War I with those of World War II.
Compare and contrast the foreign policies of John Kennedy and Richard
Nixon.
Should teachers be allowed to hit students who
misbehave?* |
Establish
Criteria on which to base judgment |
*
using
this example, students would need to figure out what roles parents, schools and the state
play. |
Use
the criteria to justify statement |
The response to
the question will depend on the person's view of the role of the parents, school, and
state. |
In addition to being concerned about the cognitive
levels of your questions, your planning also needs to consider the varying learning styles
of your students. Gardner's research on multiple intelligences suggests at least 7
intelligences. Good lesson plans will address more than one intelligence during your
class; over the span of a unit, be sure to include activities to appeal to all
intelligences.
| INTELLIGENCE * |
LIKES TO |
IS GOOD AT |
LEANS BEST BY |
Linguistic
|
read, write, tell stories |
memorization of facts and
dates, places |
hearing, seeing words,
speaking |
Logical/mathematical
|
do experiments, figure
things out, work with numbers, ask questions |
math, logic and reasoning |
classifying, categorizing;
works well with abstract patterns and relationships |
| Spatial |
create things, play with
machines, build, draw, design things |
puzzles, reading maps and
charts, can imagine things |
visualizing, working with
colors and pictures, use of maps |
| Musical |
listen to music, hum tunes,
play an instrument, respond to music, sing |
remembers tunes and can pick
up sounds, notices change in pitch, keeps time |
melody, music |
| Bodily/kinesthetic |
uses body language, touch
and talks, moves around a lot |
any type of physical
activities - sports, dancing, crafts |
processes knowledge well
through bodily sensations - touching, feeling, manipulating |
| Interpersonal |
likes to join groups, talks
to people, likes having lots of friends |
understands people,
organizing, communicating, conflict resolution |
cooperative groups, sharing
and comparing |
| Intrapersonal |
pursues own interests, likes
to work alone |
understands self, follows
instincts, is very original |
works alone, likes to do
individual projects at self determined pace, likes to have own space |
|
Naturalist |
|
|
|
* based on Howard Gardner's Frames of Mind
back to
|