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Wendy Conklin - Higher-Order Thinking Skills To Develop 21st Century Learners
Wendy Conklin - Higher-Order Thinking Skills To Develop 21st Century Learners
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Shell Education
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http://www.shelleducation.com
ISBN 978-1-4258-0822-8
©2012 Shell Educational Publishing, Inc.
The classroom teacher may reproduce copies of materials in this book for classroom use
only. The reproduction of any part for an entire school or school system is strictly
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without written permission from the publisher.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgements
References Cited
Foreword
These days, more and more employment opportunities are requiring people
who can think adroitly—and often think on their feet. In no way am I
suggesting that learning facts is out of date. Rather, I am suggesting that facts
and data alone will not cut it in our 21st century. This is not only because
front-line workers are called upon to make critical judgments, but also
because the data and information is constantly changing, evolving, and being
updated. The task of evaluating new information is never-ending. For
decades, we have heard the phrase “life-long learners.” The necessity for this
is truer than ever in this 21st century.
There are other materials on higher-order thinking skills. Why use this
book?
For those who question when to begin working with students on these skills,
Conklin provides a chapter on cognitive development. For those wondering
what curriculum areas will be conducive to higher-order thinking skills,
Conklin’s chapter on platforms for higher-order thinking will be invaluable.
For those wondering what various strategies and approaches will enhance
these thinking skills, the extensive chapter on strategies will be exciting and
motivating. Conklin even provides material on classroom management
techniques, differentiation, and higher-order thinking skills for the English
language learner. She concludes by addressing the questions of assessment
and planning.
It has long been my belief that emphasizing higher-order thinking skills is not
so much a complex instructional model as it is the addition of a variety of
simple strategies to enhance thinking. One simple strategy has to do with the
kind of questions the teacher asks. It means asking more than yes-no
questions. It means asking a question on how the student arrived at a
response. It means asking students to wrestle with the material to compare
and contrast or to explain why. It means asking students to figure out the
relevance and meaning to his or her life. These questions do not take that
much time, but end up dramatically transforming the classroom experience.
As Conklin emphasizes, the teacher can also enhance critical and creative
thinking with graphic organizers, problem-solving exercises, decision-
making strategies, games, creative activities, project-based learning, or very
open-ended tasks.
I am indebted to all of you for helping me see (in the words of Ralph Waldo
Emerson) that it is not the length of life that I should covet, but the depth.
Thank you.
—Wendy Conklin
Chapter 1
A Brief Introduction to Higher–Order
Thinking Skills
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