Depth of Knowledge

I recently became familiar with Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK).  At the heart of DOK is the premise of how deeply a student needs to know the content in order to be successful.  Dr. Norman Webb developed four levels in his framework.  The levels measure the students’ depth of knowledge and push our students to higher level thinking.  Level 1 is Recall, Level 2 is Skill or Conceptual Understanding, Level 3 is Strategic Reasoning, and Level 4 is Extended Reasoning.  Level 1 objectives are simple, while Level 4 objectives are complex.  The questions we ask our students that align with these levels enable us to gauge how deeply our students have learned the content.  By creating tasks or learning activities that are at a level 3 or 4 level we are pushing our students to have a deeper knowledge and understanding by allowing them to reason.  DOK questions can be used in assessing learning or on formative and summative tests.

The Depth of Knowledge framework is different from Bloom’s Taxonomy, which focuses on the students’ thinking.  Bloom developed the taxonomy, or system of classification, in 1948.  The categories then were: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation.  Bloom’s Taxonomy was revised in 2001 and the categories now are: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create.  The learning sequence begins at Remember. Content is simple at this level and would increasingly build as the learning moves from one level to the next.  Content at the Create level is more complex.  Each category places a critical piece in the learning process.  Bloom’s Taxonomy is best used for planning instruction and can be used as a basis for lesson planning.

I am excited to implement the Depth of Knowledge framework into my teaching.  I think my students will have a deeper understanding of what they are learning and we will have more meaningful class discussions.  Although I realize that this will be an adjustment for my students as they are not accustomed to the type of learning activities and questioning that aligns with the framework, so I will have to implement the framework incrementally and provide modeling.  I plan to create an anchor chart with my students that can serve as a guide for what learning looks like at each level.  Students will be able to take any task they are working on and know which DOK level they are practicing.  I would also like to challenge my students to think of some questions that would align with each depth of knowledge level.  These are questions that I will purposefully integrate into my teaching and assessments and I will encourage my students to ask each other during their group or partner learning tasks. 

     

      

My main focus in incorporating Depth of Knowledge will be making sure I am purposeful in the way I introduce it to my students, integrate it into lessons, and consistently use it throughout the school year.  By the middle and end of the school year my students will be used to thinking at a higher level, which will lead to deeper and more meaningful discussions.  Instead of a discussion on the meaning of force in science, students will be able to discuss how it affects objects; questions will move into why and how, rather than what.  This is exciting! In addition to the anchor charts in my classroom, I plan to have DOK level questions built into my lesson plans so I am able to have a reference and a reminder to utilize these questions.  Additionally, I often use exit tickets with my students. I would like to integrate DOK questions into my exit tickets.

Another thing I really wanted to implement next year (my first year in my own classroom as I co-taught last year) is more Project Based Learning (PBL).  In PBL, students are given a problem or challenge and they must research and collaborate to eventually arrive at their solution.  There is not one right answer or one assigned project; rather the students gather information that may lead them all in different directions as it is open-ended.  This is an example of higher level thinking, or extended thinking in Webb’s DOK, as the task enables students to come up with a plan, analyze, evaluate, and explain concepts, and synthesize information. 

It is important to remember that the levels of Depth of Knowledge, unlike Bloom’s Taxonomy, are not sequential.  We do not have to go in order through the levels.  Students can be given a level 3 task and during the task they may do some level 1 or 2 activities. The important thing is getting students to think more deeply on a regular basis.  Focusing on DOK and higher level thinking is a powerful way to engage students in learning that is self-centered.