those who admired you, and were tender
against you, and disputed the passage
Critical thinking and higher order skills are two concepts that have been given a great deal of attention in education since the 1980s. The primary reason for this focus was a host of research that proved students at all levels of education are lacking in problem-solving and thinking skills, “Problem-solving, higher-order cognitive skills-whatever it’s called, thinking is in big trouble in the American classroom,” (Carr 69). This analysis will focus on a general description and assessment of critical thinking, HOTS (higher order thinking skills-a program developed by Stanley Pogrow), and Bloom’s Taxonomy. A content specific analysis will follow this which focuses on the use of critical thinking skills and higher order thinking skills in language, writing and literature teaching. A conclusion will assess the future direction of critical and higher order thinking.
The HOTS program was developed by Stanley Pogrow , a professor at the University of Arizona. It is based on the concept that traditional direct instruction approaches to education are lacking, because they view the problem with students as “suffering from a knowledge deficit,” (McClure 526). However, Dr. Pogrow based his system of instruction on the contention that “remedial students don’t understand understanding,” (Pogrow 390). Traditional approaches were not viewed as teaching students to tap their intellect. Rote drills and basic skills instruction were eliminated from HOTS, which focuses all its energies on increasing critical thinking abilities. Most HOTS programs are designed to stimulate four thinking techniques: metacognition; inference from context; decontextualization; synthesis of information, (Pogrow 390).
Teachers using the HOTS method are discouraged from using any type of drills or practice in favor of promoting general thinking skills. In ge...