Cognitive and Quantitative Skills Descriptions for MCAS High School Biology
The lists below are general examples, but they are not a complete list. Depending upon how the item is written, these
descriptions may not always apply.
Cognitive Skill
Remembering
Understanding
Applying
Analyzing
Creating
Description
 Identify or define a basic concept or term with little or no context
 Recall facts with little or no context
Does the item require recalling or remembering facts or definitions?
 Describe, explain, or identify typical classroom examples for a biology concept
 Recognize, differentiate, and define concepts using key phrases (e.g., for viruses, they use “cellular
machinery ,” for evolution, the ability to “survive and reproduce,” for species, they “interbreed and
produce fertile offspring”)
 Recognize and differentiate representations and descriptions of familiar models (e.g., population
growth, cell transport, anatomy diagram, biotic and abiotic cycles)
 Draw conclusions by comparing and contrasting familiar concepts
 Identify a structure or cell part on a diagram of a system or a cell
 Identify carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and/or nitrogen in various compounds or tissues when asked what
are the most common elements
 Identify the number of chromosomes found in body or sex cells of a familiar or novel organism
Does the item require the recognition or a description of a familiar concept?
 Describe, explain, or identify a biology concept presented in a novel situation
(Note: if a key phrase is used, item may be understanding, see bullet 2 above)
 Draw conclusions by comparing and contrasting information in novel situations
 Draw conclusions by interpreting information/data (including graphs and tables) or make predictions
based on data (does not include “critical examination” of data, as is done for analyzing)
 Interpret and construct Punnett squares to draw conclusions or make predictions about offspring or
parent phenotypes or genotypes
 Identify phosphorus and/or sulfur in a given organic compound, molecule, or tissue in a novel situation
when asked what are the most common elements; and identify any of the most common elements in a
novel situation when not directly asked about “common elements”
 Interpret simple food webs to identify direct ecological relationships
 Describe or explain a biology concept using familiar models (e.g., population growth, cell transport,
anatomy diagram, biotic/abiotic cycles) in a novel situation (Note: applies to open-response items)
Does the item require drawing conclusions based on novel information?
 Critically examine and interpret data (e.g., graphs with lines with differing slopes, tables with
multiple variables), diagrams (including food webs), or maps to draw conclusions based on given
information (Note: An item with a graph/diagram/table/map is not necessarily analyzing—it
depends on how the information needs to be interpreted.)
Does the item require critical examination of information to make conclusions?
 Generate an explanation/conclusion by combining two or more biology concepts in a novel situation
 Construct models, graphs, charts, drawings, or diagrams and generate explanations or conclusions
based on the information
 Construct food webs illustrating specific ecological relationships and generate predictions or
conclusions based on the food web
 Propose solution(s) to a scientific problem based on given criteria and constraints and generate an
explanation for the solution(s)
Does the item require the synthesis of different concepts or skills to generate a solution?
Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education
| Cognitive Skills for STE MCAS | Updated Working Draft May 2013