Quotation: High Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)

Onosko dan Newmann (1994) menjelaskan bahawa Pemikiran Aras Tinggi {higher-order thinking) didefinisikan sebagai penggunaan minda secara meluas untuk menghadapi cabaran-cabaran baru. Penggunaan minda secara meluas berlaku apabila seseorang itu perlu mentafsir, menganalisis atau memanipulasi maklumat untuk menjawab soalan atau menyelesaikan masalah yang dikemukakan. Hanya dengan mengaplikasikan maklumat yang telah diperoleh lebih awal untuk menjawab atau menyelesaikan masalah dalam situasi baru mungkin tidak akan membuahkan hasil. Mengikut Zevin (1995), pada kebiasaannya, Pemikiran Aras Tinggi merupakan perluasan maklumat yang sedia ada dalam minda untuk menghasilkan sesuatu yang baru atau asli. Masalah-masalah yang mempunyai pelbagai kemungkinan penyelesaian merupakan nadi kepada Pemikiran Aras Tinggi. HOTS merupakan satu program kemahiran berfikir yang menggunakan aktiviti-aktiviti pemikiran peringkat tinggi melalui komputer untuk memperbaiki kemahiran asas, keyakinan sosial dan kemahiran penyelesaian masalah pelajar (Pogrow, 1985). Penguasaan kemahiran dan keyakinan adalah syarat yang penting untuk pelajar melibatkan diri dengan cekap dalam aktiviti pembelajaran yang kompleks. HOTS biasanya digunakan oleh pelajar-pelajar gred 3-7 (grades 3-7) dan memfokus pada pelajar yang lemah. Masa penggunaan program ini ialah selama tiga puluh lima minit setiap sesi, empat hari setiap minggu untuk dua tahun. Pelajar menggunakan program ini dalam makmal komputer. Sebelum menggunakan komputer, guru mengadakan satu perbincangan pemikiran di mana pelajar diminta menerangkan akibat dari strategi mereka dan guru juga mengutarakan soalan-soalan yang mencabar untuk pelajar selesaikan. Perlaksanaan program HOTS adalah berpisah dari pengajaran kelas yang biasa; di mana HOTS menggabungkan aktiviti komputer yang membolehkan pelajar menguji secara serta merta akibat dari idea mereka terhadap soalan-soalan, dengan kaedah pengajaran yang memberikan peluang kepada pelajar untuk banyak berfikir secara berkesan. HOTS membantu pelajar membina strategi untuk menghubungkan idea-idea mereka secara berkesan. An important facet of developing higher order thinking skills is the ability to reflect on the learning experience and incorporate new knowledge with pre-existing knowledge. Although the importance of reflection is well documented , it is rarely supported as it is internalised by the student often without the instructor being aware of the process (Laurillard, 1995). Teacher oriented classes provide the least amount of time for reflection, but self-paced, resource-based instruction, such as multimedia, is capable of promoting the links between conceptual and experiential learning. This can be achieved by building in a variety of scenarios that offer alternatives to students, giving them choices from which to change their understanding of a concept whilst being able to relate it to their own world. An example of this would be the fact that students are able to get the same information from a variety of sources, such as the telephone, television, on-line experts, the tutorials and the broker. In this way, students learn to sift the relevant from irrelevant information and can relate new information to real world situations. Students also showed that they were keen to draw upon their own experience and knowledge, by talking about topical events. Traditional teaching often employs a lock-step approach to the acquisition of skills, with lower order skills being taught first. There is a belief that lower order skills are prerequisites to higher order skills and that mastery of lower order skills automatically leads to higher order skills. In fact, lower order and higher order skills can be taught concomitantly, with students mastering both levels as they apply their learning, rather than learning the skills, practicing and then applying them. This prevents skills from being learned in isolation and students having to relearn how to apply them to real world tasks. The students are active in the learning process, applying problem-solving in context which, in turn, aids in the acquisition of skills, giving the students a reason to learn and helping them to learn. Kelman (1989) identifies higher-order thinking skills as one of the instruc­tional areas that could be improved by using the computer. Salomon (1990) concludes that for the computer to be an effective classroom tool, "most every-thing in the classroom needs to change in a way that makes curriculum, learn­ing activities, teacher's behavior, social interactions, learning goals, and evalua­tion interwoven into a whole newly orchestrated learning environment" (p. 51).