Only a few months ago, I used the words “complex” and “complicated” interchangeably as synonyms for “difficult.” Recently I learned about the differences between their meanings and I now see their significance everywhere, especially in math education. Specifically, I am concerned about Depth of Knowledge (DOK) being viewed as a complicated issue when it is really…
In listing the Common Core State Standards’ three shifts, the authors define “Rigor” by stating that: “rigor refers to deep, authentic command of mathematical concepts, not making math harder or introducing topics at earlier grades. To help students meet the standards, educators will need to pursue, with equal intensity, three aspects of rigor in the…
It’s challenging to have a conversation about depth of knowledge (DOK) when everyone has different ideas of what it is. So, I’ve decided to refine how I distinguish between DOK levels and turn it into a tool that can be used to facilitate a conversation. The two-page tool covers topics from 1st grade through high school as well as topics ranging from number sense, fractions, geometry, probability, and functions. The pictures below give you a preview of the tool and you can download it by clicking the button at the bottom of the page.
I recently shared how I came to realize Webb’s Depth of Knowledge’s (DOK) importance and why I believe that it is critical to integrate these types of problems into our curriculum. I also expanded into how to distinguish between the DOK levels using specific examples that covered fractions on a number line, perimeter and area, and…
The most straightforward method I have found for distinguishing between the first three levels of Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK) is to take a single mathematical concept and provide a problem at each DOK level. Here are three examples that illustrate the differences well using: fractions on a number line perimeter and area surface area and…
I am no longer using these posters. If you are interested in a tool to help math teachers make sense of the depth of knowledge in mathematics, please check out this post with a reproducible handout for educators.
I’ll be honest with you: I remember first learning about Bloom’s Taxonomy when I was getting my teaching credential but I never really thought it was that big of a deal. I had a decent understanding of what it was and how you could implement it. What I didn’t get was why it mattered. As…