Teaching Online at UTAS

Anderson and Krathwohl’s (2001) taxonomy of educational objectives (see a useful summary here) classifies cognitive (thinking) tasks into six levels. Remembering and understanding, and to some extent, simpler forms of applying, are lower-order tasks that are less demanding. It is relatively easy to design activities that encourage these thinking levels, for example:

• Lectures or short videos;
• Readings;
• Quizzes;
• Application of procedures or formulas; and
• Finding and sharing resources.

Applying, analysing, evaluating and creating are higher-order tasks, which tend to be more difficult to design.

The following model activity designs may be applied to a range of disciplinary contexts, face-to-face or online, to encourage higher-order thinking. For further advice about adapting these activities to the context of your unit, or to discuss other possible designs, please contact the Flexible Education Team.

Analyse – Top 3-5-10

Objective: Students will break down a phenomenon, concept, topic or skill into its component parts (and potentially order the parts in terms of importance).

Evaluate – Pick or Mix

Objective: Students compare and contrast the value of given theories/strategies/solutions to a specific context.

Evaluate – Worth reading

Objective: Students compare and contrast the value of set readings/articles to their understanding of a specific context or topic.

Create – 25 words or less

Objective: Students represent the essence of a complex theory, concept or idea in 25 words or less.

Create – Generate a Hypothesis or Strategy

Objective: Students will create an original strategy/solution in response to a need/problem/client brief.

Create – Teach the novice

Objective: Students will create a method of explaining a specific concept/theory/idea to a novice.

*Do you have an idea for an activity encouraging higher-order thinking? Please share it with us, so we can share it with others.