+
Transforming Units
STEMstitute – June 23, 2014
Presented by the Clermont County Gifted Program
Fay Wagner, Gifted Intervention Specialist
Bethel-Tate, CNE, and Williamsburg Local School Districts in Partnership with the Clermont Co. ESC
+
Our Mission

To develop a program that challenges students toward
rigorous learning by blending virtual learning with face-toface lessons
+
What are “higher-order”
thinking skills (HOTS)?
+
“Defining thinking skills, reasoning, critical thought and
problem solving is troublesome to both social scientists and
practitioners. Troublesome is a polite word; the area is a
conceptual swamp.”
-Cuban, 1984
+
A Working Definition of HOTS:

Higher Order Thinking takes thinking to higher levels than
just restating the facts. HOTS require that we do something
with the facts. We must understand them, connect them to
each other, categorize them, manipulate them, put them
together in new or novel ways, and apply them as we seek
new solutions to new problems.
-Thomas and Thorne, Center for Development and Learning (2008)
+
The research says…
YES!
+
A Sample Unit…
+

The Mystery of Felix Navidad
GEMS “Mystery Festival” curriculum
+
Dan Meyer:
https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_meyer_math_curriculum_makeover
+
Keeping up with
Cognitive Demand…
We
must pay attention to the kind and
level of thinking our students are
being asked to do.
We
have to allow for a great deal of
interaction with content.
+
Blooms…

The Old

The New
+
Depth of Knowledge (Webb)
+
Depth of Knowledge –
Levels of Complexity
+
Caution #1: The Verb Trap

It’s not about what verb you use!

It is about what follows the verb!

Example:
 Describe
three characteristics of metamorphic rocks.
 Describe
the difference between metamorphic and
igneous rocks.
 Describe
a model that you might use to represent the
relationships that exist within the rock cycle.
+
Caution #2: The Difficulty Trap

A difficult task does not necessarily
involve HOTS!
 We

must focus on the outcome.
Example:
 What is the definition of exaggerate?
 What is the definition of prescient?
+
Let’s try it!
+
Transforming The Mystery of
Felix Navidad…
What needed to change?
+
Student Designed Investigations…
Data Analysis and Graphing…
Claims and Evidence in an Online
Writing Assignment…
+
Blended Learning Component…
+
Advice from the trenches:
Watch
me do this!
(teacher modeling)
Let’s
do this together!
Now
do this on your own!
(guided learning)
(student-led)
+
A note about student engagement…

21st Century Skills (The 4 Cs) – Communication, Collaboration,
Critical thinking, Creativity

Mark Edwards (author of Every Child, Every Day) – Drivers of
Student Engagement: instruction must be relevant,
collaborative, personalized, and connected.

Beers & Probst (authors of Notice and Note) – “…rigor does not
reside in the barbell, but in the act of lifting it.” Students should
be engaged, observant, responsive, questioning, and analytical.

Carol Dweck (author of The New Psychology of Success) - Growth
Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset

Jim Stigler – Struggle for Smarts
+
Take a step back…
Wows? Wonders?
+
Assessing HOTS…
Credits to: Susan M. Brookhart
+
Assessment always involves:
 Specifying
what you want to assess. (Be
clear and exact!)
 Designing
tasks or questions that require
students to demonstrate knowledge or skill.
 Deciding
what you will accept as evidence
that students have shown the knowledge or
skill.
+ Special Considerations for Assessment of
HOTS #1:
Use introductory material for tasks. This will give
students something about which to think!
Example:
Stacey and her friends have noticed a
problem in their neighborhood. The
garbage cans in the public park are
overflowing. Name at least two things
Stacey and her friends could do on
their own to help solve this problem.
Which one would you recommend
they try first? Explain why.
+ Special Considerations for
Assessment of HOTS #2:
Use novel material. The formats should not be
consistently interchangeable.
Example A:
Example B:
A chef opened a jar of olives. He
used them to make 45 identical
plates. There were 2 olives on
each plate. Write an equation,
that when solved, will tell how
many olives were in the jar.
During the canned food drive,
each student collected 10 cans of
food. The students collected 80
cans in all. Randy says the
following equation can express
this: s x 10 = 80. Brian thinks
the equation should be written
as 80 x 10 = s. Compose a text
message to the boys explaining
who is correct and why.
+ Special Considerations for
Assessment of HOTS #3:
Manage difficulty and cognitive complexity separately.
Difficulty and the level of thinking are two different
qualities.
Example:
Easy
Difficult
Recall
Name three examples of
animals that are mammals.
What is the taxonomy for a
bottle-nosed dolphin?
Higher-Order
A scientist just discovered a
new animal in the Amazon
rain forest. Design a flowchart she could use to
determine if the animal
should be classified as a
mammal.
What do you think Carolus
Linnaeus would think of our
modern system of biological
classification? Provide
specific examples to
support your conclusion.
High Level of Difficulty ≠ Higher-Order Thinking!
+
Using Multiple Choice Questions…
Higher Level:
City 1
City 2
City 3
City 4
High
Temp.
65˚ F
80˚ F
48˚ F
25˚ F
Low
Temp.
56˚ F
66˚ F
38˚ F
10˚ F
Precipitation
2 in.
0 in.
1 in.
1 in.
In which city did snow most
likely fall at some time during
the day?
a. City 1
c. City 3
b. City 2
d. City 4
The “thinking” is encoded in
the choosing. If the questions
are to reflect the level of
thinking, the questions must
be designed so that HOTS are
really required to get the
correct answer.
Low Level:
In order for precipitation to fall
as snow instead of rain, the
temperature must be below:
a. 0˚ F
c. 32˚ F
b. 20˚ F
d. 35˚ F
+
Using Rubrics…

The quality of thinking demonstrated in the work should be
included in at least one of the trait scales.

Use rubrics that describe qualities rather than quantities.

It is helpful if the same general scheme can be applied to
different assignments. This will encourage students to see
their thinking as a learning goal, rather than just content.

A caution: Be sure that your rubric doesn’t squash the HOTS
you’re trying to encourage.
+
Student Self-Assessments:

Definitely involves HOTS!

Often takes the form of checklists or rubrics.

Use for:

self-assessing drafts of students’ own work.

analyzing the quality of provided work samples.

student discussion groups.

establishing points of discussion for student-teacher conferences.
+
Assessing HOTS…
Wows? Wonders?
+
Technology Resources that
Encourage HOTS…
Blended Learning…
http://infohio.org
+
Computer Coding
Introduction to Computer
Science: http://learn.code.org/
Scratch:
http://scratch.mit.edu/
Code Academy: http://www.codecademy.com/
http://atlantisremixed.org/
http://nces.ed.gov/NCESKIDS/createagraph/default.aspx
http://www.noetic-learning.com/gifted/index.jsp
+
Other Resources?
+
Transforming Our Units…
What are the next steps?
+
“Progress is
impossible without
change, and those who
cannot change their
minds cannot change
anything.”
George Bernard Shaw
+
Thank you for your time!
 Contact
•
Information:
Fay Wagner, Gifted Intervention
Specialist:
wagner_f@betheltate.org
 Contact
Information for Administrators or
Professional Development Requests:
• Amy Bain, Clermont County Gifted
Coordinator:
bain_a@ccesc.org