Engaging Learners at Higher
Cognitive Levels During Class
Sessions
Dr. M. Susie Whittington
Associate Professor
Department of Human & Community Resource
Development
The Ohio State University
Supported by the Price Chair for Teaching, Advising, and Learning
A Cognitive Experience

You are given four black cards and four
red cards from an ordinary deck. You
have to arrange them in a stack, face
down, so that you can deal them out
(until no cards remain) as follows:
A Cognitive Experience
You place the top card on the table face
up. It is black.
 You place the next card (now on top of the
deck) on the bottom of the deck.
 You place the next card on the table, face
up. It is red.
 You place the next card on the bottom of
the deck. Continue the pattern until no
cards remain in the deck.

A Cognitive Experience
Answer:
BBRBBRRR
Objectives for Session II
To acquaint you with cognition studies
– Professor Discourse (Session I)
– 3-year intervention
– Academic Challenges
– Think-aloud Protocols
– Teaching Techniques, Questioning
Objectives for Session II

To review your:
– Syllabus (before class begins)
– Angelo & Cross, others (during
class)
– Assignments/Tests (outside class)
Objectives for Session II

To apply the results of cognition
studies to your teaching
3-Year Intervention:
Instrumentation
FTCB
 Validity
 Reliability
 Assessments
 Participants

Results: Phase I
Assessments
Knowledge = 47%
 Comprehension = 33%
 Application = 8%
 Analysis = 10%
 Synthesis = 1.5%
 Evaluation = .6%

Phase II: Methodology
Treatment
Level I
• Awareness
 a two-hour
workshop
Phase II: Methodology
Treatment
Level II
• Resources
 a two-hour
workshop
 a monthly
reading
 feedback
regarding
applications
Phase II: Methodology
• Teaching for Critical Thinking
• What Happened to Thinking?
• Thought and Knowledge
• Critical Thinking: How to Prepare
Students for a Rapidly Changing
World
• Discussion Method Teaching
• Learning as Problem Solving
Phase II: Methodology
Treatment
Level III
• Development
 a two-hour
workshop
 a monthly
one-hour
workshop
Phase II: Methodology
 Writing
objectives across the levels of
cognition
 An introduction to learning styles
 Problem solving: Teaching across the levels
and reaching all learning styles
 Sharing your best kept secrets
 Questioning: teaching across the levels
 Documenting your teaching effectiveness
 Barriers to teaching at higher levels
Comparison: Phase I & III
Percentage of Discourse
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Phase I
Phase III
Know Comp
App
Ana
Syn
Eval
Comparison: Phases I & III
By Treatment Level
9
8
7
6
5
4
Participants
Change
3
2
1
0
Treat I
Treat II
Treat III
Academic Challenges: Introduction
“Academic challenges” provided by
professors can be vital to the
learning process” -Doyle & Barber,
1990; Meyers, 1986
 Effective use of academic challenges
has been shown to increase student
achievement” -Foyle & Baily, 1985;
Ziegler, 1986

Academic Challenges
 Assessment
– Spreadsheet
Handout
Academic Challenges: Findings
0
20
40
Number of
academic
challenges
provided per
course ranged
from 3-32.
Mode = 15
Academic Challenges: Findings
Variety of academic
challenges
provided within a
course ranged
from 3-8.
Mode = 3
0
5
10
Activity – Index Card

Answers to these questions may
positively impact the way in which
professors think about teaching
– What difference is being made in
students’ thinking processes, when
comparing being challenged 3 times
with the same type of academic
challenge versus 32 times with 8
types of academic challenges?
Activity – Your Syllabus
– Am I providing thinking opportunities via
the academic challenges I am selecting?
Activity – Your Syllabus
– Which types of academic challenges are
better for developing thinking skills?
Activity – Your Syllabus
– What is the appropriate variety and
number of academic challenges?
Activity – Your Syllabus
– What contribution is each academic
challenge making toward learning?
Academic Challenges: Findings
Assessment of Final Exams (N=27)
–
–
–
–
–
–
Knowledge = 34.4%
Comprehension = 36%
Application = 14%
Analysis = 6.2%
Synthesis = 9.4%
Evaluation = 0%
Academic Challenges
Activity
-Example Tests
-Test Item
Example
Handout
Teaching Techniques:
Introduction
Using a variety of teaching techniques
enables students to continue developing
their own thinking abilities (Gregory, 2001).
Teachers need to vary their teaching
techniques depending on the situation in
which they are teaching (Newcomb, McCracken, Warmbrod,
& Whittington, 2004).
Teaching Techniques: Findings
Group Teaching Techniques
Percent
Cooperative Learning
4
Demonstration
2
Discussion
38
Field Trip
0
Lecture
44
Resource People
1
Role-Play
5
Percent of group teaching techniques utilized
Teaching Techniques: Findings
Individualized Teaching Techniques
Percent
Experiments
0
Independent Study
5
Information Sheets
0
Skill Sheets
0
Supervised Study
1
Percent of individualized teaching techniques utilized
Application: Previous Researchers’
Strategies for Higher Cognitive Teaching
 Students
are able
to learn at higher
cognitive levels
when the teacher
employs multiple
techniques,
because each
student learns in
different ways
(Sternberg, 2002). (X)
Application: Previous Researchers’
Strategies for Higher Cognitive Teaching
Lecture does not allow
for active student
learning (Manguarin,
Feldman, Clements,
Boucher, 2001)
“SAGE on the
STAGE”*
Application: Previous Researchers’
Strategies for Higher Cognitive Teaching
Students should USE
content as it is presented
(King, 1993; McKeachie,
2002)*.
Application: Previous Researchers’ Strategies
for Higher Cognitive Teaching
That which learners DO
determines the level of
understanding they ultimately
achieve” -Glover, Ronning &
Bruning, 1990
Application: Previous Researchers’
Strategies for Higher Cognitive Teaching
Professors should use higher
cognitive level QUESTIONS
(Hunkins, 1989; Blosser, 1991).
Questioning: Instrumentation (x)
Time (min.)
Type of Question (Frequency)
Managerial
0-5
||||
Rhetorical
Closed Open
|
Total
5
6-10
||||
4
11-15
||||
4
||||
5
|||
5
26-30
||||
4
31-35
||
2
36-40
||||
4
16-20
|
21-25
||
41-45
Total
0
5
3
25
0
33
Critical Thinking Stems

First word…
–
–
–
–
–
–
Who?
How?
Why?
Where?
When?
What?

Second word…
–
–
–
–
–
–
Will…
Should…
Is…
Could…
Might
Would…
Application: Previous Researchers’
Strategies for Higher Cognitive Teaching
 Engage
learners in metacognitive
EXERCISES (Angelo & Cross,
2003).
Application: Previous Researchers’
Strategies for Higher Cognitive Teaching
Teach with your mouth
shut (Finkel, 2000).
Planning Premise
“If teachers can teach
students to paint, sing, or
dance, they can teach
students to think
(Mohanan, 1997, p. 1).
Closing Thought
“Thinking is hard”
(vanGelder, 2004, p. 2)
Cognitive Connection
– In Session I we . . .
– In Session II we . . .
Teaching Techniques: Activity
Table group move to the wall charts
Take a marker with you
Teaching Techniques: Activity
Random Reporting