What is Higher-Order Thinking?

For the longest time, humans regarded themselves as the only beings who were capable of rational thought.

Only in recent times have this school of thought been set straight. Studies have shown that animals are capable of what is called episodic memory and that they also have the ability to traverse a landscape by making use of previously encountered landmarks.

Certain animals have even exhibited non-verbal mathematical ability.

There is, nevertheless, a big gap between human cognitive ability and that of other mammals.

While your beloved pet might have some kind of focussed intelligence – for instance, figuring out how to get a toy, a treat or your attention – they can’t employ that same knowledge or skill to solve a different challenge or problem.

Human thought processes, on the other hand, allow the individual to adapt previous learnings to a fresh set of variables and consider the best solution, thus leading to the acquisition of knowledge.

How is that done? Is the individual taught to think or does the learning happen naturally? Is all thinking the same? Does thought have different levels – from mindless to higher level thinking?

Also, what are higher order thinking skills really?

Are these the result of an individual’s life experiences and are they skills that everyone should possess? Is there a way for us to train or learners to think in that way?

Today, we set out to define higher order thinking skills, consider why it is important and how the teacher can assist his or her charges to acquire these skills.

What is the Essential Difference Between Critical Thinking and Higher Level Thinking?

Cognitive science, for a long time, maintained the primary belief that, as one gained knowledge, so one’s ability to reason and think also grew or developed.

This way of thinking gave rise to the idea of Aristotle’s tabula rasa – an empty slate upon which the lessons of life would be written, with teachers being the all-knowing bearers of that knowledge.

This way of looking at human intelligence has largely been debunked because human beings grow the ability to think and store knowledge ahead of their entry into the schooling system.

A person’s thinking and general mental development are shaped by several areas, called domains. They are:

• The psychomotor domain: the use and development of motor skills for the purposes of learning;
• The cognitive domain: dealing with the absorption of knowledge and the development of mental skills; and
• The affective domain: where emotions play a huge role and impact on how information is processed via the filter of feelings.

An excellent example of the psychomotor domain would be the sorting of rings according to size or the stacking of blocks on top of each other.

In contrast, affective learning can be explained as a child knowing that he or she can go to their dad or mom for a hug when they feel sad, tired, insecure or overwhelmed. Yes, this is also a kind of learning that has a bearing on other learning experiences.

The first two years of public schooling tend to focus primarily on these two domains. Grade R learners learn mainly through play, although some academic learning does take place.

Play is over, however, once the young child exits Grade R and starts the Foundation Phase (grades 1 to 3). His or her “formal education” now starts, with the teacher being the fountain of knowledge, pouring it into an empty receptacle.

For educators, this is also a particularly perplexing concept, since their instruction, at college or varsity, has informed them that filling learners’ heads with facts does not equal improved learner achievement.

Where and how are learners supposed to develop essential thinking skills, if not at school under the guidance of trained, knowledgeable persons?

Higher Order Thinking and Effective Problem-Solving

So, let’s try to define higher order thinking skills and critical thinking.

Here the situation arises where you examine which should go first or if both are always necessary – a chicken or egg situation if you will. Does a higher-order thinker always have to apply critical thinking and does a problem always require higher order thinking?

Not necessarily!

All problems do not require higher level thinking and problems do not always have to be present for higher order thinking to be employed.

An example of this is when you render an opinion on a movie.

Notwithstanding, employing critical thinking, you can reflect on a wide range of possibilities which could lead to the best outcome in a particular situation.

So, what are higher order thinking skills? Let’s take a closer look!

• Communication: this includes everything from active listening to body language, the actual words used in a conversation as well as the tone employed.
• Creativity: generating a number of possible solutions to a problem as opposed to considering only a single one.
• Analysis: this could involve brainstorming in a group; which may consider statistics and data or contrast and compare similar scenarios.
• Research: this can entail drawing on your own experience related to a comparable set of circumstances and eliciting input from stakeholders – in our case, fellow students.
• Team-building: relates to building consensus based on similar ideas and values.

All of the above problem-solving facets relate to three domains, of what is essential for effective learning, as listed in Bloom's Taxonomy: the psychomotor, the cognitive and the affective domains, through which particular information is absorbed.

The Limitations of Systemic Evaluations on Higher Level Thinking Skills

Common core subjects are seen as necessary and important in the general education band and are taught to every learner.

No matter what they are named in the different countries, every school curriculum has core subjects: mathematics, sciences and literacy skills – vocabulary, reading, writing and spelling.

In South Africa, the effectiveness of teaching and learning of these subjects are gauged at the end of every three-year school phase –in grade 3, 6 and 9.

Already, a twofold problem presents itself:

1. These exams tend to show how well learners can memorise facts;
2. Teachers and learners spend an inordinate amount of time preparing for these assessments, leaving very little time for the teaching and learning of new information.

These statements are not meant to criticise teachers, who work hard to make a difference in the lives of their charges.

We merely wish to point out that any teacher, worth his or her salt, is quite adept at planning his or her lessons and also fairly well equipped with strategies to employ in the classroom. Why do the authorities not simply allow these competent professionals to test what has been taught, by way of assignments, experiments, group activities and class tests?

For example, the teachers would be allowed more time to assign project-based activities and expose learners to higher-order questions.

Testing at the end of every chapter, term, learning phase or school year does not actually prove a lot – sometimes just who memorises better. It does not prove understanding.

It would be far more beneficial if the curriculum left room for the educator to conduct some form of formative assessment on each learner – a procedure which would be a truer indication of the learner’s level of comprehension.

How Can Tutors Nurture Higher Level Thinking Skills?

It is a well-known fact that teachers are over-burdened: preparing for classes, setting and marking papers, completing never-ending reports and all the while buckling under the pressure of ‘making’ sure that learners do well on exams.

Last on the teacher’s long list of duties seems to be actual teaching.

A disturbing number of teachers, annually, just leave the profession.

Some get involved in private tutoring, which allows them to practise their pedagogy – practising teaching the way they believe it should take place.

In a setting such as this, either at your home or a student’s, you will have an uninterrupted session to deepen your student’s knowledge of their chosen subject.

How do you accomplish that?

Ask your students open-ended questions which will cause them to think. Questions which start with “Why?”, will cause them to ponder and dig deeper for thoughts which have been applied in particular situations and to address particular problems.

When you employ teaching strategies, which are structured around creative thinking, that activity will cause your tutee to draw on his or her personal experience to complete the task.

For example, if you’re aware that bullying is occurring in the school, you could provide the following essay prompt: How I can protect myself against bullying at school.

How Much Higher-Level Thinking Needs to be Developed?

Let’s assume that you actually assigned the ‘Bullying’ essay.

Your starting point was to get learners to think about bullying critically and to cause anyone who had suffered at the hands of such bullies, to feel empowered and, possibly, liberated!

Take careful note of your students’ body language and, if you observe downcast eyes, slumped shoulders and the use of hair or a hand to shield the face, you will know that you’ve overstepped the ‘safe’ line. You do not have to wait for tears!

This is, of course, a very dramatic example of when your ‘pushing’ may have been too much.

As well-meant as any higher-level thinking exercise might be, the teacher or tutor has to take care that the student is at a point where he or she is comfortable to engage in such a topic – whether it is a more advanced maths problem or topic which demands insight and draws on the student’s personal experience.

Do, however, make the most of opportunities like these, when they do arise or, better still, pre-empt them!

Pose open-ended questions and engage your students in debate! Students’ caregivers can even be enlisted to provide their opinions. The more information that is available will lead to better, more informed, reasoned opinions, debate and decision-making!