As we grow in intellect we become adept at thinking beyond our needs, wants and direct environment.
We begin to conceptualise, imagine and problem solve all of which form the basis for developing critical thinking and higher order thinking skills.
Until recently, various types of higher order thinking skills were associated with the acquisition of knowledge which meant that only highly educated people were thought to be higher-order thinkers.
However, it has been discovered that even four-year-old children are able to demonstrate types of higher order thinking skills.
In this article, we will look at a list of higher order thinking skills and discuss what they are and why they are such a big deal.
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What Are Critical Thinking and Other Higher Order Thinking Skills?
I think, therefore I am. René Descartes
These words by a French mathematician and philosopher do not fully reflect what he was trying to convey.
Later, Antoine Thomas, a literary critic developed the idea further when he stated: “I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am.”
Critics stated that the egocentric expression placed one’s existence in doubt and the entire discourse are examples of types of higher order thinking skills to analyse facts to form a judgement.
The only flaw to critical thinking is that it uses one’s own knowledge, experience and beliefs to arrive at a conclusion.
It is also interesting that Socrates was the one that postulated that the blind belief of those in authority should be questioned. He reasoned that those in power are also overwhelmed by their thoughts and ideas, even irrationally so.
He supported that critical thinking and other higher order thinking skills allow individuals to probe ideas before accepting them.
Essentially, Socrates like the 19th century philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, supported self-reliance.
Far from philosophical thought, critical thinking and higher order thinking skills took a turn away from rationalism that required critique, towards a more intellectually disciplined process.
Far from being egocentric, different types of higher order thinking skills emerged that called for dispassionate reasoning that examined facts through logic.
Find out more about limited critical thinking on education.
Developing Critical Thinking and Higher Order Thinking Skills
Besides assimilating information and memorising it, there is a longer list of higher order thinking skills to consider.
Higher order thinking skills (HOTS) is educational reform that is mainly founded on the principles of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Consolidating knowledge through the analysis, evaluation and synthesis requires an alternative pedagogy than the traditional process of presenting information and concepts.
Researchers and educators have long believed that the development of thought was the result of knowledge acquisition.
However, ongoing studies on critical thinking and other higher order thinking skills have determined that cognitive development happens earlier than suspected.
In fact, higher order thinking has been found in small humans who have never been exposed to an academic environment. Not only that but their list of higher order thinking skills outdo those who have committed to formal academic development.
How does one put a giraffe in a fridge?
This simple question has baffled many adults, however, a child will tell you that you open the fridge door, place the giraffe inside and close the door.
No thought is given to the animal’s size in relation to the appliance. For a young mind, the matter is simple.
As the quiz goes on, there are various aspects of thinking ability that can be found on a list of higher order thinking skills. For instance, being able to consider the consequences of one’s decision and being able to contextualise them are two examples.
Why is it that pre-school children can rationalise their way through complex problems with little effort while formally educated adults cannot make sense of simple concepts?
Find out more about critical thinking and higher order thinking skills.
Thinking Skills and Formal Education
Not everyone is in favour of implementing HOTS in place of traditional instructional strategies to impart basic skills.
The basic skills concepts that are directly opposed to HOTS are the following:
- Segregation of academic subjects: maths and science are learned separately and maths is taught independently of art, literature and reading.
- Basic skills education should equal teacher-centred methodology
- Basic skills teaching is for the purpose of academic attainment rather than real life application.
- Alternatively, project-based education applies subject knowledge to real life scenarios.
- Assessments are summative, meaning that they are in multiple choice format.
- Learning and acquiring of facts takes place sequentially.
As an example, consider a standard maths curriculum.
Students learn numbers in order. After that, they learn the sense of numbers. Later, they learn the properties of numbers and then basic arithmetic. As they advance they learn geometry and algebra, all of which are concepts that are taught independently of one another even though they are branches of the same subject.
Basic skills methodology offers that a student’s capacity to understand, absorb and retain knowledge is predicted by the slow unveiling of tricky ideas and concepts.
HOTS advocates a spiral curriculum which introduces new concepts early in a student’s career. It also encourages these concepts to be revisited throughout formal learning and with greater degrees of complexity.
Here is another maths example.
Early Foundation Phase students learn about numbers. They are then given worksheets with patterns and have to identify which patterns are missing.
Can these two activities be combined?
Simple algebraic concepts do not require arithmetic mastery; however, the study of set theory is suitable for Foundation Phase students.
Regardless of whether those students only meet an equation much later in their school years, the understanding for working with algebra will have been adequately laid.
What about using higher order thinking for problem solving?
The best example of how basic skills is applied can be seen in the many literacy and numeracy programmes for adults in South Africa. In these examples, learners are not expected to build on the knowledge that they gain. The maths and reading skills they learn are so that they can better function in society.
When you think of it like this, it is a bit scary that basic education is what is being taught in classrooms all across the country.
Find out how tutors assist to develop higher order thinking in students.
The Role of Tutors
The role of private tutors in the development of their lessons and in accordance with the individual needs of their students is important because they have significant leeway in how they teach.
Due to high class numbers and a lack of time, many school teachers feel constrained when it comes to encouraging debate or independent thinking. This is why it is those very functions where tutors have the capacity to have great impact.
For example, you might be offering homework support in chemistry. Standard activities within the curriculum might involve learning the names of the elements, memorising the periodic table, as well studying their structure at a molecular level.
The homework assignment? What’s the difference between an empirical formula and molecular formula?
Your student may have knowledge of empirical formulae but doesn’t know how to connect them to the ‘true’ formulae. How do you assist?
For starters, you could clue the student into the structural formula including atom arrangement. You could then present the whole number ratio of atoms versus the atoms in each of the elements that make up the molecular formula and then encourage him or her to draw conclusions.
This is just a simple example of how tutors are able to encourage higher order thinking. In a nutshell, they reinforce concepts, blend them with additional students and guide the student to draw conclusions.
By supporting students to navigate their academic challenges rather than simply supplying answers, tutors cultivate new levels of student engagement that are difficult for teachers to match. None of this is because students are not dedicated, it is because their focus in the classroom is firmly on the matter of academics as opposed to allowing students time to develop higher thinking and cognitive skills.
As a tutor, the open-ended questions posed to students force them to think conceptually. When there is focus on concept formation which is the process of connecting ideas along with ongoing formative assessment, learners are enticed into investing in their assignments.
Tutors are an essential link between a student’s learning outcomes and general education. The only caution is to know when and how to push a student’s higher-order thinking skills.
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