Teaching Implications | contentanalysis

Implications for Teaching

High-Level Demand Tasks Encourage Students to Think Critically

While low-level demand tasks can be helpful when introducing new knowledge and information to students, asking students to explore high-level demand tasks takes their understanding to a new level. This type of tasks forces students to think deeper about the material and to apply their knowledge to solve a more complex problem. High-level demand tasks call on students to apply what they know rather than simply regurgitate memorized information. Students must have a deeper understanding of the content to interact with such high-level demands. They must understand not only what they are doing, but also the reason behind why they are doing what they are doing. This leads into how high-level demand tasks allow students to think differently about mathematics.

High-Level Demand Tasks Encourage Students to Think About Mathematics Differently

Many of us think of mathematics as “plug and chug.” We have been taught that mathematics is memorizing a bunch of meaningless formulas and using these formulas to solve equations. This is not how we should be teaching students to think about mathematics and is why many students struggle with mathematics and don’t think highly of the subject. When teachers utilize high-level demand tasks in mathematics instruction, students are able to see the relevance of the mathematics they are using and to have a greater understanding of it. These seemingly meaningless formulas turn into procedures that students can explain and apply. When students understand the meaning behind procedures, they don’t have to worry about memorizing them.

High-Level Demand Tasks Allow Students to Make Connections with Mathematics

While low-level demand tasks are often abstract and have no obvious connection to the real world, high-level demand tasks are the opposite. They allow students to take abstract ideas and apply them to things they know and understand.

High-Level Demand Tasks Help Students Build on Knowledge

High-level demand tasks often lead students to understanding new concepts and seeing things in different ways. Students use what they know to build on what they don’t know. These types of tasks could be used to introduce a new concept. You could give students something to explore that would draw off of their previous knowledge, while also introducing new knowledge and teaching them in the process. Students would get great satisfaction from figuring things out for themselves and it would lead to greater understanding of the material.