Hot Skills
Hot Skills
Hot Skills
(H.O.T. Skills)
Blooms Taxonomy
Hosted by: Begona Farwell, Susan Grandle, Susan Kreger and Eva Navarro
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?
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.
Blooms 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 levelthe 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.
http://www.cdl.org/resources/reading_room/print/hot_and_successful.html
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.