“Learning is a consequence of thinking.” – David Perkins
What are rigorous habits and higher order thinking skills?
We can’t add minutes to the school day, but we can make more time for student learning by incorporating rigorous thinking into instructional routines. Through slight shifts in the routines that we are currently implementing, we can increase the quantity and quality of thinking required of students to result in increased learning as “learning is a consequence of thinking” (Perkins, 1992). This blog post provides examples of how to add rigorous habits and higher order thinking in instructional routines that focus on reading, discussion, homework, and note-taking.
Rigorous thinking is related to complexity and how information or knowledge is used to solve a problem or create a product. Norman Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (1997) helps us in analyzing a task to determine how deeply students need to know the content to complete the task. Using Depth of Knowledge (DoK) as a gauge, we can see that performing routine procedures where students recall information is important, but not complex. Recall activities, such as recalling the details from a story, are considered DoK Level One, which are an essential part of learning; however the learning benefit may be higher when the complexity level increases and students have to “think with what they know” or use the recalled information to solve a problem or create a product (Perkins, 1997).
Small shifts can significantly change the complexity or rigor of a task. For example, shifting the short discussion routine “Turn and Talk” to “Turn, Exchange, Rank” ensures that students are engaging in higher order thinking.. Students sharing ideas with a partner through a short “Turn and Talk” conversation is often considered DoK Level One because the purpose of the task is for students to tell or recall ideas that they heard or understood. However, with “Turn, Exchange, Rank”, students engage in DoK Level One by turning to a partner and exchanging ideas, but then each student ranks the most important idea that they discussed and explains their reasonings to the class or by writing it on an index card, The analysis of the ideas shared and the presentation of the highest ranked idea along with the rationale for choosing it increases the depth of knowledge to DoK Level Three: Strategic Thinking. In addition, it provides the teacher with evidence of student understanding. Some partners also can work at a Level Four: Extended Thinking, by combining several ideas to create a new idea built on their exchange. “Turn, Exchange, Rank” requires no additional resources and uses about the same amount of time as “Turn and Talk;” however, the depth of knowledge students are using in the conversation greatly increases.
Why is rigorous thinking important?
We need learners to do more than just acquire information at school. Students need opportunities to think with what they know. Recalling information in the short term results in gains in knowledge, but, information that is only remembered is forgotten quickly (Ritchhart, 2002). Knowledge that is used becomes part of our experiences. Experiences connect to our feelings and have outcomes that mean something to us. We typically remember experiences longer and use those experiences to guide decision making. Therefore, knowledge connected to an experience will has more longevity and utility than knowledge that is only remembered. Experiences result in a negotiation and prioritization of knowledge.
How can we tweak classroom routines to increase the level of student thinking required?
Rigorous thinking does not mean adding time consuming projects to curriculum. If we reflect on the tasks that students are asked to complete during our normal classroom learning routines then we can easily find ways to increase thinking and learning using the allotted time. Small tweaks to routines that increase the quantity and quality of thinking usually also increase the clarity of the learning objective for students, provide an opportunity for learners to self-reflect or self-evaluate and result in concrete evidence of learning progress that teachers can use to adjust further instruction. For more examples see the resource chart Tweaking Routines to Increase Thinking.
How do we teach students to recognize their own thinking?
Tweaking the routines to increase rigorous thinking creates the opportunity for learning. However, the ultimate goal is for students to develop a disposition to think for themselves, without teacher prompting. To develop a disposition of thinking, students need to recognize when they are thinking, how they are using thinking, and the results of their efforts. To help students recognize their own thinking, teachers use specific language to point out thinking dispositions (such as creative, strategic, intellectually careful) and tie those abstract ideas to specific behaviors (Ritchhart, 2002). For example, behaviors such as checking for accuracy and corroborating evidence mean a student is using intellectually careful thinking. Teachers’ help students know how to think by pointing out specific behaviors such as connecting two disparate ideas or articulating a novel solution that shows creative thinking.
Where to begin?
Reflect on the learning activities in a lesson. Identify one routine where a tweak in the directions given to students will offer time for students to think with knowledge. See chart, “Tweaking Routines to Increase Rigorous Thinking”, for example activities. Small shifts in everyday activities increase learning time by providing opportunities for rigorous thinking.
References
Perkins, D. (1992). Smart Schools: Better thinking and learning for every child. New York: The Free Press.
Richhart, R. (2002). Intellectual Character: What it is, why it matters, and how to get it. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
