Low Cognitive Demand
Memorization |
Procedures Without Connections |
Task D: Marcy has a jar full of 103 marbles. She gave 27 of the marbles to her friend Jamie. How many marbles does Marcy have left? Solve the problem two ways.
We classified this task as memorization because the student does not have to engage in their thinking to explain how they solved the problems. They can just use two memorized strategies to solve this problem. Task H: There are 30 people in the music room. There are 74 people in the cafeteria. How many more people are in the cafeteria than in the music room. We classified this task as memorization because the student can use a previously learned procedure to complete this task. Little ambiguity exists on how to solve this problem, therefore requiring little engagement and effort. |
Task E: Solve. 3 5/6 - 1 1/6
This task is classified as procedures without connections. The student uses a memorized procedure to solve this subtraction problem, and doesn't engage the student in any cognitive effort to explain the concept or procedure. Task F: 3 1/6 - 1 3/4 Like task E, we classified task F as procedures without connections because the problem is not asking for any explanation of thought process and it's only focused on producing the correct answer. A procedure can be followed to solve task F. Task G: The Ben Franklin Bridge was 75 years old in 2001. In what year was the bridge 50 years old. We classified this task as procedures without connections because although there is no algorithm explicitly given to the student, making it appear more difficult, the problem focuses on producing a correct answer without the student explaining the connection between the procedure and the concept. Task K: Solve: 38+___=81 This task can be classified as procedures without connections because the student is only filling in the missing number. There is no attention to underlying concepts and no demand for an explanation of the connection between subtraction and addition. Task L: This task is classified as procedures without connections because the only question the task is asking of the student is to state how they would solve this problem. There are several examples presented in the task, but no request for the student to examine the strategies is asked, therefore making it a low cognitive demand task. This task is not focused on the student exploring how the concepts are connected to the way in which the child solves the problem. |