CDL's Higher Order Thinking Page

Higher order thinking involves thinking on a more abstract level than just memorizing facts or repeating something back the way it was said to you. Higher order thinking skills include the ability to understand concepts and ideas, solve problems, draw conclusions, make inferences, understand cause-and-effect, connect new facts to existing knowledge, compare and contrast ideas and concepts, and apply what we learn in practical ways. Creativity is also an aspect of higher order thinking.

According to Robert Sternberg, an IBM Professor of Psychology and Education at Yale University, successful intelligence requires three kinds of thinking: analytical, creative and practical. Individuals who possess successful intelligence know how to make the most of what they do well and to find ways to compensate for their limitations. They are "smart" at achieving.

As students move from elementary to middle and high school, the ability to think in more than one way becomes increasingly important. Their teachers ask them to do more and more things with the information they have learned and are learning. They may ask students to write a new ending for a book they've been reading or they may ask why a certain character in a story behaved in a particular way. If the students are studying sound in science, they might be asked to design and construct a new kind of musical instrument. They may also be asked to think of some ways to keep whales from becoming extinct. All of these tasks require higher order thinking. We often think that a student's ability to engage in higher order thinking is determined by his or her IQ, but this is not the case. Higher order thinking skills can be taught. In fact, Robert Sternberg has identified specific ways to develop the skills of practical, creative and analytical intelligence.

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