Higher order cognitive process - Assessment schemes

Setting the assessments based on higher order levels of cognitive process

Level 6 and 5 are high order levels among six cognitive levels based on revised Bloom's taxonomy verbs. These two levels are tricky to include in the assessment especially when the number of students is large and the frequency of examination is more. The ways to include these in the learning process are discussed here.

Level 6 - Creating

Level 6 can be best engaged during classroom teaching as knowing what the students already know is vital at this level. It is a key to long lasting learning experience and developing lifelong learners. It involves 50% participation of student and 50% participation of teacher. It is slightly difficult to include level 6 as a theory paper, short timed assessment. It can rather be wonderfully executed as a course project or a classroom task in which the teacher is not actually teaching but helping the student learn.

Level 5 - Evaluating

Level 5 action verbs found to be used in abundance in the university question papers. The questions based on verbs like judge, choose, select, recommend etc. truly challenge student’s understanding only if the answer to the question is not known or not discussed earlier. In case the question has been asked in earlier exams and the solution is discussed then such question merely becomes level-1 evaluation. With the number of question papers a teacher must set every year and syllabus coverage issues, it is obvious that the number of true-level-5 questions would be much less even though relevant action verbs appear in the questions.  Effective assessment of Level-5 cognitive process can be carried out (again) as classroom activity wherein the topic recently taught can be critically evaluated by asking questions that provoke decision making abilities of student.