Long description

Figure 2 shows a diagram with two axes. On the horizontal x axis an arrow labelled as ‘increasing attention to pupils’ thinking’ goes from left to right. On the far left of the arrow relatively little time for thinking is equated with closed questions, for which there is one acceptable answer. On the far right of the x axis more time for thinking is equated to open questioning, in which there will be many acceptable answers.

On the vertical Y axis the scale goes from low to high levels of cognitive demand made on pupils. There are five categories from recall of knowledge at the bottom, to comprehension of data, analysis of data, synthesis and finally evaluation at the top of this scale.

There are four examples of closed questions to make increasing cognitive demands on pupils. They are arranged on the left-hand side of the diagram in text boxes. At the bottom for recall of knowledge is ‘This feature is called an e… ?’ The intended answer is escarpment. For comprehension of data the question is ‘Look at the graph. What is the temperature for April?’ For analysis of data the question is ‘Which three factors were important for the location of this industry?’ Finally, at the top for evaluation, the closed question is ‘Which of these three sites should be used for a hypermarket?’

There are five examples of open questions to make increasing cognitive demands on pupils. They are arranged on the right-hand side of the diagram in text boxes. At the bottom for recall of knowledge is ‘What do you remember about the urban areas shown in this film?’ For comprehension of data the question is ‘In what ways do these average temperature figures not give the full picture?’ For analysis of data the question is ‘What would be the most important factors to take into account in planning a new residential estate?’ For synthesis the question is ‘How would you measure how fast a glacier is moving?’ Finally, in the top right-hand side the open question for evaluation is ‘Do you think this pedestrianisation plan should go ahead? Justify your opinion.’