Depth of Knowledge

Depth of Knowledge is a simplification of Bloom's Taxonomy that focuses on four levels of understanding: recall/reproduction, skill/concept, strategic thinking, and extended thinking.

Recall/Reproduction

Definition

Students can recall a fact, information, or procedure. Students can process information on a low level.

Correspondence to Bloom's Taxonomy

Know/Remember

"The recall of specifics and universals, involving little more than bringing to mind the appropriate material."

Comprehend/Understand

"Ability to process knowledge on a lowlevel such that the knowledge can be reproduced or communicated without a verbatim repetition."

Key Verbs

• Arrange
• Calculate
• Cite
• Define
• Describe
• Draw
• Explain
• Give examples
• Identify
• Illustrate
• Label
• Locate
• List
• Match
• Measure
• Name
• Perform
• Quote
• Recall
• Recite
• Record
• Repeat
• Report
• Select
• State
• Summarize
• Tabulate

Evidence of Depth of Knowledge

• Explain simple concepts or routine procedures
• Recall elements and details
• Recall a fact, term or property
• Conduct basic calculations
• Order rational numbers
• Identify a standard scientific representation for simple phenomenon
• Label locations
• Describe the features of a place or people
• Identify figurative language in a reading passage

Skill/Concept

Definition

Students can use information or conceptual knowledge in two or more steps.

Correspondence to Bloom's Taxonomy

Apply

"Uses information in another familiar situation."

Executes - Carries out a procedures in a familiar task.

Implements - Uses a procedure in an unfamiliar task.

Key Verbs

• Apply
• Calculate
• Categorize
• Classify
• Compare
• Compute
• Construct
• Convert
• Describe
• Determine
• Distinguish
• Estimate
• Explain
• Extend
• Extrapolate
• Find
• Formulate
• Generalize
• Graph
• Identify patterns
• Infer
• Interpolate
• Interpret
• Modify
• Observe
• Organize
• Predict
• Relate
• Represent
• Show
• Simplify
• Solve
• Sort
• Use

Evidence of Depth of Knowledge

• Solve routine multiple-step problems
• Describe non-trivial patterns
• Interpret information from a simple graph
• Formulate a routine problem, given data and conditions
• Sort objects
• Show relationships
• Apply a concept
• Organize, represent and interpret data
• Use context clues to identify the meaning of unfamiliar words
• Describe the cause/effect of a particular event.
• Predict a logical outcome
• Identify patterns in events or behavior

Strategic Thinking

Definition

Students use reasoning to develop a plan or a sequence of steps, with some degree of complexity.

Correspondence to Bloom's Taxonomy

Analyze

"Breaking information into parts to explore understanding and relationship."

Evaluate

"Checks/Critiques – makes judgments based on criteria and standards."

Key Verbs

• Appraise
• Assess
• Cite evidence
• Check
• Compare
• Compile
• Conclude
• Contrast
• Critique
• Decide
• Defend
• Describe
• Develop
• Differentiate
• Distinguish
• Examine
• Explain how
• Formulate
• Hypothesize
• Identify
• Infer
• Interpret
• Investigate
• Judge
• Justify
• Reorganize
• Solve
• Support

Evidence of Depth of Knowledge

• Solve non-routine problems
• Interpret information from a complex graph
• Explain phenomena in terms of concepts
• Support ideas with details and examples
• Develop a scientific model for a complex situation
• Formulate conclusions from experimental data
• Compile information from multiple sources to address a specific topic
• Develop a logical argument
• Identify and then justify a solution
• Identify the author’s purpose and explain how it affects the interpretation of a reading selection

Extended Thinking

Definition

Students can perform an investigation, which requires extended time to think and process multiple conditions of the problem.

Note:M ost on-demand assessments will not include extended thinking activities.

Correspondence to Bloom's Taxonomy

Synthesize

"Putting together elements and parts to form a whole."

Evaluate

"Making value judgments about the method."

Key Verbs

• Connect
• Create
• Critique
• Design
• Judge
• Justify
• Prove
• Report
• Synthesize

Evidence of Depth of Knowledge

• Design and conduct an experiment that requires specifying a problem; report results/solutions
• Synthesize ideas into new concepts
• Critique experimental designs
• Design a mathematical model to inform and solve a practical or abstract situation.
• Connect common themes across texts from different cultures
• Synthesize information from multiple sources