Higher-Level Learning

In a piece in To Improve the Academy, Dee Fink of the University of Oklahoma outlines how to formulate goals for higher-level learning. He describes six categories for teachers to address if they wish to move students to higher levels of learning. I have found the following categories and questions Fink provides useful as I have worked on my own course designs.

I. Foundational Knowledge: What key facts, terms, formulas, concepts, etc. are important for students to understand and remember?

II. Application: What kinds of thinking and skills do students need to learn?

III. Integration: Are there important connections students are to recognize and make?

IV. Human Dimension: Is there anything students are to learn about themselves and interacting with others?

V. Motivation: Are there any changes you want to see in what students care about, feel, value?

VI. Learning How To Learn: Do you want students to learn how knowledge is constructed for this subject or how to become a self-directed learner relative to this subject?