Wondering: How can I use higher order thinking questions to foster critical thinking skills in science?
Part A
After looking over the first couple Exit Tickets, I used with my students during science, I noticed that many of them had difficulty answering the questions because they did not understand the verbiage used. I know this to be true because many students would ask me what a word meant or what the question wanted them to do. This lead me to complete a mini-lesson with my students on verbiage used in higher order thinking (HOT) questions and what a stem to the question might look like. I explained to the students how there were levels of questioning and the questions pulled from the higher 3 levels make the students think more critically. I gave each student a chart that contained the 3 higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. The levels were level 4- Analyzing, level 5- Evaluating and level 6- Creating. Each section contained a list of key words and question stems. I chose 5 words that I knew I would be using in my Exit Tickets. I had the students write down the word and the definition in their science notebooks. After the lesson, I talked to 3 students and asked them what they thought of my mini-lesson. This helped me find out what they thought of the lesson and if they were going to use the hand out I gave them. 2 of the 3 students said they would most likely forget it was in their science notebooks. I then wrote in my reflective journal about how I now know I need to find a way to display some of the key words and question stems on their desk.
Part B
One piece of powerful data I collected this week were student interviews about what they thought of the mini-lesson I gave them on the verbiage of HOT questions. I have a feeling that one of my students was just telling me what she thought I wanted to hear. The others, I began the interview with, “I want you to be completely honest with me, there are not wrong answers.” This really seemed to help them open-up. One student said that he really didn’t find the mini-lesson helpful but he was glad that at least he knew the words. Another student told me that he was happy about the mini-lesson because it helped him understand the questions. 2 of the 3 students I interviewed told me they would most likely forget the chart was in their science notebooks. This made me realize that I needed to find a way to make this chart more accessible to the students. I thought about making a small chart that can be placed on their desk that would contain the definition of common key words I would use in my Exit Tickets. I believe this is important for my inquiry because I cannot help foster students’ critical thinking skills if they are unable to answer the question. They need to be able to understand the verbiage used in HOT questions to answer them.
Another piece of powerful data I collected were Exit Tickets. I gave the students the same Exit Ticket on day 1 and day 2 of the lesson. I did this because I wanted to see if it would make any difference in their ability to answer the question. One the first day, students kept asking me what the question was asking them to do. I told them and they could answer it, however, on day 2 many students added more to their Exit Ticket than they did the day before. It was nice to see that students were more familiar with the way in which the Exit Ticket was written and what it was asking them to do. This was important to my inquiry because I feel that students were able to think more critically after seeing the question a second time. One student’s Exit Ticket from day 1 stated, “Cause-the water went in to rock and Effect- The rock will break.” On day 2 this same student stated, “The water seeps into the creaks of a rock. Then the water in the rock freezes and breaks the rock.” Looking at the data, I was able to see that after being familiar with the HOT question, students are able to think more critical and are more thoughtful with their answer.
Based on my learning this week, I will come up with a way for students to have easy access to the key words and their definitions based on the type of HOT question I may ask them in their Exit Ticket. I believe I will do this by creating a small chart that the students can tape to their desk and look at when needed. I also plan on continuing to use the same Exit Ticket for lessons that last more than one day. I want to continue to see if this is something that is helping them think more critically.
Based on the data I have collected, I still wonder if I am collecting enough data to support my inquiry. Are Exit Tickets and student interviews enough? Should I collect a student survey about how they feel about the use of HOT questions at the end of a lesson?
Part A
After looking over the first couple Exit Tickets, I used with my students during science, I noticed that many of them had difficulty answering the questions because they did not understand the verbiage used. I know this to be true because many students would ask me what a word meant or what the question wanted them to do. This lead me to complete a mini-lesson with my students on verbiage used in higher order thinking (HOT) questions and what a stem to the question might look like. I explained to the students how there were levels of questioning and the questions pulled from the higher 3 levels make the students think more critically. I gave each student a chart that contained the 3 higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. The levels were level 4- Analyzing, level 5- Evaluating and level 6- Creating. Each section contained a list of key words and question stems. I chose 5 words that I knew I would be using in my Exit Tickets. I had the students write down the word and the definition in their science notebooks. After the lesson, I talked to 3 students and asked them what they thought of my mini-lesson. This helped me find out what they thought of the lesson and if they were going to use the hand out I gave them. 2 of the 3 students said they would most likely forget it was in their science notebooks. I then wrote in my reflective journal about how I now know I need to find a way to display some of the key words and question stems on their desk.
Part B
One piece of powerful data I collected this week were student interviews about what they thought of the mini-lesson I gave them on the verbiage of HOT questions. I have a feeling that one of my students was just telling me what she thought I wanted to hear. The others, I began the interview with, “I want you to be completely honest with me, there are not wrong answers.” This really seemed to help them open-up. One student said that he really didn’t find the mini-lesson helpful but he was glad that at least he knew the words. Another student told me that he was happy about the mini-lesson because it helped him understand the questions. 2 of the 3 students I interviewed told me they would most likely forget the chart was in their science notebooks. This made me realize that I needed to find a way to make this chart more accessible to the students. I thought about making a small chart that can be placed on their desk that would contain the definition of common key words I would use in my Exit Tickets. I believe this is important for my inquiry because I cannot help foster students’ critical thinking skills if they are unable to answer the question. They need to be able to understand the verbiage used in HOT questions to answer them.
Another piece of powerful data I collected were Exit Tickets. I gave the students the same Exit Ticket on day 1 and day 2 of the lesson. I did this because I wanted to see if it would make any difference in their ability to answer the question. One the first day, students kept asking me what the question was asking them to do. I told them and they could answer it, however, on day 2 many students added more to their Exit Ticket than they did the day before. It was nice to see that students were more familiar with the way in which the Exit Ticket was written and what it was asking them to do. This was important to my inquiry because I feel that students were able to think more critically after seeing the question a second time. One student’s Exit Ticket from day 1 stated, “Cause-the water went in to rock and Effect- The rock will break.” On day 2 this same student stated, “The water seeps into the creaks of a rock. Then the water in the rock freezes and breaks the rock.” Looking at the data, I was able to see that after being familiar with the HOT question, students are able to think more critical and are more thoughtful with their answer.
Based on my learning this week, I will come up with a way for students to have easy access to the key words and their definitions based on the type of HOT question I may ask them in their Exit Ticket. I believe I will do this by creating a small chart that the students can tape to their desk and look at when needed. I also plan on continuing to use the same Exit Ticket for lessons that last more than one day. I want to continue to see if this is something that is helping them think more critically.
Based on the data I have collected, I still wonder if I am collecting enough data to support my inquiry. Are Exit Tickets and student interviews enough? Should I collect a student survey about how they feel about the use of HOT questions at the end of a lesson?