Depth of Knowledge (DOK)

1. Coffee with the Principal September 18, 2012 Depth of Knowledge (DOK) What are Students Being Asked to Do? How complex is the student thinking? August 2012

2. Common Core - A New Foundation for Success Click here to watch the video

3. Rating Depth of Knowledge (DOK) • DOK measures the degree to which the knowledge elicited from students on a classroom task or assessment is as complex as what students are expected to know (as stated in the standards). What is the Level of Cognitive Demand Needed to Complete the Task?

4. Varying Level of Cognitive Demand

5. Webb’s 4 Levels of Cognitive Complexity • DOK 4: Extended Thinking • DOK 3: Strategic Thinking and Reasoning • DOK 2: Basic Application of Skills/Concepts • DOK 1: Recall & Reproduction Click here to watch a video

6. DOK is NOT • a taxonomy (Bloom’s) NOT • the same as task difficulty NOT • based solely on the “verbs”

7. LEVEL 1: RECALL • Requires recall of information, such as a fact, definition, term, or simple procedure and/or performing simple procedures. • In ELA, the focus is on basic initial comprehension, not on analysis or interpretation. • Students are to work with specific facts or definitions. The activity requires a shallow understanding of the topic or text.

9. Goldilocks and the Three Bears • DOK 1: RECALL OF INFORMATION • Question: How did Goldilocks get her name? • Answer: Goldilocks got her name from the color of her hair which is yellow. • [Note: The information is “right there” in the text, but the reader needs to recognize the relevant content.]

10. LEVEL 2: Skills and Concepts • Includes the engagement of some mental processing beyond recalling or reproducing a response • Items require students to make some decisions as to how to approach the question or problem • Actions imply more than one mental or cognitive process/step

11. Goldilocks and the Three Bears • DOK 2: BASIC REASONING • Question: What is porridge?
 • Answer: Porridge is a breakfast food that is heated. • [Note: The response is based on making an inference using context clues.]

12. Recall vs. Skills & Concepts 1 1 2 2

13. LEVEL 3: Strategic Thinking • Requires deep understanding exhibited through planning, using evidence, and more demanding cognitivereasoning • The cognitive demands are complex and abstract • An assessment item that has more than one possible answer and requires students to justify the response would most likely be a Level 3

14. Goldilocks and the Three Bears • DOK 3: COMPLEX REASONING • Question: How would the story be different if told from another point of view? What information from the story supports your answer? • Answer: Answers will vary.
[Note: The response requires the reader to critically analyze the information presented in the text to draw a conclusion.]

16. 3. Strategic Thinking Level 3

17. Extended Thinking: Level 4 • Requires high cognitive demand and is very complex • Students are expected to make connections, relate ideas within the content or among content areas, and select or devise one approach among many alternatives on how the situation can be solved • Due to the complexity of cognitive demand, DOK 4 often requires an extended period of time

18. Goldilocks and the Three Bears • DOK 4: EXTENDED REASONING • Question: Does the Goldilocks tale appear in any other culture? How is each tale a reflection of its culture? • Answer: Answers will vary. [Note: The answer would require research over an extended period of time.]

20. Extended Thinking Level 4

21. Same Verb – 3 Different Levels of DOK DOK 1- Describe three characteristics of metamorphic rocks. (Requires simple recall) DOK 2- Describe the difference between metamorphic and igneous rocks. (Requires cognitive processing to determine the differences in the two rock types) DOK 3- Describe a model that you might use to represent the relationships that exist within the rock cycle. (Requires deep understanding of rock cycle and a determination of how best to represent it)

22. DOK isabout intended outcomeNotabout Difficulty DOK is a reference to the complexity of mental processing that must occur to answer a question, perform a task, or generate a product. • Adding is a mental process. • Knowing the rule for adding is the intended outcome that influences the DOK. • Once someone learns the “rule” of how to add, 4 + 4 is DOK 1 and is also easy. • Adding 4,678,895 + 9,578,885 is still a DOK 1 but may be more “difficult.”

23. Extending the length of an activity alone does not necessarily create rigor

24. Remember DOK is... … descriptive … focuses on how deeply a student has to know the content in order to respond … NOT the same as difficulty. … NOT the same as Bloom’s Taxonomy

25. Why Depth of Knowledge (DOK)? • A scale of cognitive demand (thinking)to align standards with assessments • Based on the research of Norman Webb, University of Wisconsin Center for Education Research and the National Institute for Science Education. • Will guide item development for SMARTER Balanced Assessments.

26. Resources for Parents Parent Roadmaps to the Common Core Shifts for Students and Parents – Print or view from locker