A few thoughts on the "spit back questions" discussion:
Thinking questions often tend to demand from students thinking skills
that we have not necessarily taught them in class. Therefore, while
some students can answer these questions "correctly" (however that is
defined) without instruction and practice, many students cannot
because we have not worked on it during class. Assuming that the goal
of our assessments is to assess whether the students have mastered
what we have taught, these questions do not really achieve that goal.
Although I have found that students actually enjoy taking tests that
require them to think and apply their knowledge and not just "spit
back" information, I think that critical thinking should remain an
in-class or at-home activity unless we can honestly say that we have
focused on these skills in class enough such that it would fair to
assess our students on them.
--
Tova
