webb’s depth of knowledge

Webb’s Depth of Knowledge

Secondary Level

Webb’s Depth of Knowledge• Norman L. Webb, University of Wisconsin• Began 1997• Complexity of both content and task required

Curriculum & Instruction/Educational Technologies Department

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Depth of Knowledge• Classification of cognitive complexity• Nominative rather than taxonomy• Not about easy vs. difficult• Verb and it’s context

• Considers complexity of both content and task required• Content: simple vs. complex data displays• Task: solving routine vs. non-routine problems using those

data displays


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Depth of Knowledge“The DOK level describes the kind of thinking involved

in the task, not whether it will be completed correctly. A greater DOK level requires greater conceptual understanding and cognitive processing by the students. Therefore, on average, students who reach greater DOK levels more regularly will have increased student achievement.”

Marconi, Smith, and Lombardi; “Depth of Knowledge: An Effective Tool for Education Students” in Shop Talk Vol. 4, No. 2 Spring 2009, The Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program.


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Why Depth of Knowledge?•To ensure that the intent of the standard and the level of student demonstration required by that standard matches the assessment items (required under NCLB)

•To assist in teaching to a level that will promote student achievement


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DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE - Level One

Recall and Reproduction requires recall of information, such as a fact, definition, term, or simple procedure, as well as performing a simple process or procedure. Level 1 problems involve only one step. A student answering a Level 1 item either knows the answer or does not: that is, the answer does not need to be “figured out” or “solved.”


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DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE - Level Two

Skills and Concepts/Basic Reasoning includes the engagement of some mental processing beyond recalling or reproducing a response. The content knowledge or process involved is more complex. These actions imply more than one step. Level 2 activities include making observations and collecting data.


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DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE - Level Three Strategic Thinking/Complex Reasoning

requires deep knowledge using reasoning, planning, using evidence, and a higher level of thinking than the previous two levels. The cognitive demands at Level 3 are complex and abstract. The multi-step task requires more demanding reasoning. In most instances, requiring students to explain their thinking is at Level 3. Other Level 3 activities include drawing conclusions from observations; citing evidence and developing a logical argument for concepts; explaining phenomena in terms of concepts; and using concepts to solve non-routine problems.


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DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE - Level Four

Extended Thinking/Reasoning requires high cognitive demand and is very complex. Students are required to make several connections – relate ideas within the content area or among content areas – and have to select or devise one approach among many alternatives on how the situation can be solved. Performance assessments and open-ended/constructed response assessment activities requiring significant thought will be Level 4.


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Depth of Knowledge• Level 1 — Identify this utensil. • Level 2 — Explain the function of the

fork.• Level 3 — Identify two examples of

when a fork would not be the best utensil for a type of food and explain why.• Level 4 — Design an investigation to

determine the optimal number and length of tines for a salad fork.

From: Lois BarnesSREB/HSTW


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Depth of Knowledge• Level 1 — Identify the type of tree.• Level 2 — Explain the function of the

leaves.• Level 3 — Explain how a drought

might affect the growth of the tree.• Level 4 — Design an investigation of

seedling growth to determine the best fertilizer for this type of tree.


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Your Turn – What Level?Darlene is throwing a ball. Which goal is she most likely to accomplish if she releases the ball at a 45-degree angle?

A. better flexibility B. greater speed C. better accuracyD. greater distance


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Your Turn – What Level?Rosa is on the way home from work when she remembers she needs to stop and purchase a birthday gift for tonight's party. In this situation, which type of purchase will Rosa most likely make? A. ImpulseB. BargainC. ComparisonD. coupon


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Your Turn – What Level?Investigate the causes for and reactions to the Great Depression and compare them to the causes and reactions to today's economic situation, identifying the differences and explaining why those strategies may or may not work.


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Your Turn – What Level?What literary device is the narrator using when he says, "Within the week it sickened to a raging fever, and its pulse went up to a hundred and fifty in the shade"?


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Your Turn – What Level?A user wants to detect and clean a virus infected file as it is opened. Which of the following would best achieve this?A. Schedule a local virus scanB. utilize a real-time virus scanC. perform a scheduled network virus scanD. perform a complete virus scan of all hard disks


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Your Turn – What Level?

What is one way to create a rough texture in a painting?


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Your Turn – What Level?S = a/b + c/d If 0<a<b<c<d in the equation above, then the greatest increase in S would result from adding 1 to the value of which variable?A. aB. bC. c D. d E. There is not enough information.


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Your Turn – What Level?Read and perform the following rhythm. (several measures of a rhythm are given in notation form)


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Your Turn – What Level?Scientists have evidence that the landforms we see on Earth, such as mountains, islands, and canyons, as well as the shapes of continents, are the result of constructive and destructive forces at work over a long period of time. Describe in detail two pieces of evidence that show that landforms on Earth are constantly changing. Provide a specific example for each piece of evidence.


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Your Turn – What Level?Which of these conclusions is best supported by information from the passage? A. If a candidate meets the personal and educational qualifications

and is in fair physical shape, his or her chances of becoming an agent are very good.

B. Compared with other law enforcement agencies in the country, the F.B.I. has a low success rate for tracking down and apprehending suspected offenders.

C. The job of an agent is not for everyone; it takes someone with special training who is not afraid of danger and doesn’t mind being socially isolated at times.

D. The life of a federal investigator is not as interesting as most people think; agents spend most of their time working at desks.


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Increasing Rigor• Recall – Webb’s Depth of Knowledge looks at the

cognitive demand of both content and task• Content: simple to complex• Task: routine to non-routine

• Increase the cognitive demand of either the content, the task or both


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Let’s Increase Rigor• Students were walking to the library when it began

to rain. The 18 students shared three umbrellas. If the same number of students were under each umbrella, how many students were under each umbrella?


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Let’s Increase Rigor - Content• Students were walking to the library when it began to rain. The 7 students in Mr. Snow’s group shared three umbrellas they had with Ms. Winter’s group of 11 students. If the same number of students were under each umbrella, how many students were under each umbrella?


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Let’s Increase Rigor – Task • Students were walking to the library when it began to

rain. The 18 students shared three umbrellas. If the same number of students were under each umbrella, how many students were under each umbrella? Show two different strategies for solving this problem.


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Let’s Increase Rigor - Both• Students were walking to the library when it began to

rain. The 7 students in Mr. Snow’s group shared three umbrellas they had with Ms. Winter’s group of 11 students. If the same number of students were under each umbrella, how many students were under each umbrella? Illustrate your solution with words and diagrams.


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Let’s Increase Rigor – Your Turn• The students are selling cookies for a fundraiser.

There are 24 cookies in each box and each student must sell 5 boxes. How many cookies much each student sell?


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More Information• http://cliu21cng.wikispaces.com


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http://cliu21cng.wikispaces.com/

webb’s depth of knowledge

Documents

higher level

level of student demonstration

lombardi depth of knowledge

content knowledge

deep knowledge

nonroutine problems

greater dok levels

multistep task