Encouraging Higher Order Thinking Skills In Math

I think one of the hardest things to get many students to do is to develop higher order thinking skills, especially in math.   This is one area that I'm having to encourage due to COVID and it is hard but I'm working on ways to help students move past rote to doing more thinking and connecting.

I'll be sharing a few ideas with you since we know that not all suggestions work well with every student. One way is to encourage problem solving rather than encouraging rote memorization of formulas. Encourage students to think creatively by presenting open ended questions that require deeper thinking and multiple ways to find a solution.

One way to encourage problem solving by encouraging students to try different ways to solve a problem.  You might even have a whole class discussion on the different ways used by students to solve the problem, take time to compare and contrast the different methods.  This helps students enhance their understanding and critical thinking skills.

Next, work on connecting the math being taught to real world math so students see relevance to what they are learning.  This helps students understand the value of learning math because they see how it is used.  Take time to teach students how to ask thought provoking questions so they can use these types of questions to prompt them to analyze and evaluate a mathematical concept. In addition, ask them to support their reasoning by providing evidence.  

Encourage true collaboration where students share their ideas, explain their thinking, and learn from different perspectives.  Collaboration can encourage higher level thinking.  In addition, when having students collaborate on open ended questions or projects, it requires students to apply their mathematical knowledge in new and creative ways. Look for questions that are real world based, use data analysis, research, or mathematical modeling. 

Furthermore, encourage reflective thinking into the weekly routine.  Have students reflect on their problem-solving strategies, take time to identify misconceptions and errors, and evaluate their understanding.  Self-reflection helps students identify metacognitive skills so they become aware of their thinking process.

Take the time to ask challenging questions that require students to think beyond their basic level of understanding. These questions should encourage students to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize. One way to help this is to integrate technology to help encourage exploration and visualization.  Look at using dynamic geometric software, graphing calculators, and spreadsheets.  When students use technology, it can support higher level thinking skills by having students manipulate data and create visualization. 

Work on encouraging persistence.  Math can be challenging and when students learn persistence, they can work their way through the more difficult problems that require a lot of work.  It is also important to help students understand that mistakes are good because it helps tell them what doesn't work.  This is not something that can be done in one day, or one month, it will take a while.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.