« Minutes with Charlie - Ten | Home | Minutes with Charlie 12 »
Minutes with Charlie - Eleven
By Charlie | March 31, 2008
The second type of learning target from an assessment perspective is that of a reasoning target. Reasoning targets are in essence related to the mental process of applying the knowledge and understanding in various situations or problems.
We often hear teachers say something along the lines of “these kids just don’t know how to think”. In reality, they know how to think very well, what they lack is reasoning ability. Reasoning ability by and large does not increase just by getting older. Reasoning skills must be taught, practiced, assessed, re-taught, re-practiced, and assessed again and again. However, all too often educators teach and assess the knowledge and understanding and somehow expect students to make the leap to reasoning independently.
In general, in any given discipline, the majority of the TEKS that we address fall into the reasoning category. If this is true, then the importance of understanding these reasoning targets and accurately assessing them cannot be overstated.
Reasoning skills have been defined, analyzed, categorized, and classified in any number of ways. To simplify, we are going to look at some of the more common categories of types of reasoning before we talk about them as learning targets.
A common reasoning skill we see in learning standards (TEKS) is that of inference – both inductive and deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning requires the student to use specific facts from which he infers general rules or principles. Deductive reasoning takes the general rule and makes application in specific settings.
Another pair of common reasoning skills is that of analysis and synthesis. Analysis consists of examining the parts of a system and considering how they interrelate. Synthesis consists of looking at parts of different things and forming something new.
Another pair of reasoning skills is that of comparing similarities and differences between two items or ideas. We know this is a powerful instructional strategy, but it is also an essential reasoning skill that surfaces often in the TEKS.
Finally, we have the reasoning skill of sorting and classifying. This seems to become more important in some disciplines than in others, but the skill is essential to student success in learning.
In the TEKS we see verbs that represent the reasoning skills such as compare, evaluate, analyze, classify, and infer.
We must recognize that in order to assess reasoning skills in any of the reasoning types, we must allow the student to demonstrate his reasoning ability in a new and unique problem area. For example, if we teach the similarities and differences between the natural resources of the Northern and Southern states in the Civil War, and then assess the students on the similarities and differences between the natural resources of the Northern and Southern states in the Civil War, then we are assessing knowledge and recall. If however, we teach students the skills of evaluating the similarities and differences and then assess that skill in a situation we have not compared, then we are assessing reasoning.
If our learning target consists of a reasoning skill, we must take caution to not assess it as a knowledge and understanding target. Assessing reasoning skills requires a different approach to assessment than does knowledge and understanding.
Personal Reflection: When considering my learning targets, do I distinguish between knowledge and understanding targets and reasoning targets? Can I recognize the different reasoning skills required in the TEKS?
Topics: Learning Targets, Minutes with Charlie |