How to Develop Higher Order Thinking Skills in Youth

As the world is moving fast, our expectation from the youth is also rising. We as parents
and teachers demand from our youth that they should possess higher order thinking skills
so that they may achieve all their goals at once. To understand the terminology ‘higher
order thinking skills’, it is essential that we should reflect that which of the abilities are
important for a youth to develop his/ her higher order thinking skills. We also need to
realize that why do we want to develop these skills in our youth?
In this competitive world, the skills which majorly helps to generate higher order thinking
abilities in our youth are, critical thinking, analytical, decision making, and
problem-solving skills. It is important to develop these skills in youth as these skills will
be helpful for them to make progress in their professional and personal lives.

Now, the question arises how we can develop these skills in our youth. For this purpose,
teachers during their lessons usually use various teaching strategies such as brain storming
activities, group work, class discussion, experiential learning etc. so that they may develop
these skills in the youngsters. But we need to ponder that are all teaching strategies
effective to develop these four important skills in today’s children or there are some other
specific strategies that can be beneficial for the students to be applied by the teachers.
As per the modern philosophy of education, teachers are now playing the role as a
facilitator. It means in today’s world; teachers do not explain the concepts to the students
through traditional way of teaching instead they try to provide opportunities to the
students and create curiosity among them so that students may inquire and investigate
about the taught concepts by himself/ herself. This part of a teacher as a facilitator
encourages students to think rationally, logically and enable them to ask relevant
questions.
The other role a teacher plays as a facilitator is that she encourages students to come up
with their own point of views, thoughts, and ideas where they can participate in classroom
activities in an efficient manner. Provision of a conducive environment is the prime
responsibility of a teacher which supports students to reflect and analyze the situations
with a strong rationale and persuading manner.
A teacher can enhance higher order thinking skills in his/ her students through using
various strategies. One of these strategies that can be more effective is the use of case
studies in classroom activities. Before implementing this strategy, a teacher should know
what a case study is?
A case study is a compelling student-centered teaching strategy that can open up youth
with critical thinking, interaction, and interpersonal skills. It is a teaching procedure
through which youth study the real issue within a specified context and for that they may
use a variety of data sources. Case studies are, by their nature, multidisciplinary, and
permit the use of theoretical concepts…associating the rift between theory and practice.
(Davis & Wilcock).
The other motive of this strategy is that it allows youth to work in collaboration and help
them to examine the given case study in detail which supports them to comprehend the
situation with a different perspective and enable them to relate the given situation with
their own real-life contexts. This strategy also facilitate youth to resolve the given
problem or study the given data through logical explanations and correct interpretations.
In this way, youth will be encouraged to evaluate the root causes of the given problem and
will be able to find solutions or make decisions through discussing the facts within their
own prospects and by building consensus.
How can this strategy be useful in our daily lives?
 This strategy will assist youngsters to make connections while resolving various
case studies with that of their own lives.
 They will be able to explore the given case not only with their own perspective but
from others’ perspectives too.
 This teaching method will assist them to develop their analytical skills as they will
be able to think and reflect the part of that situation and then will enable them to
analyze the situation accordingly.
 Once students will be able to analyze the situation then they will be able to
participate well in classroom discussions because after thorough discussions, they
will be able to justify their stance with rationale and logical reasoning.
Thus, this strategy will also help our youth to explore various ways through which
problems can be resolved. So, in a nutshell, if a teacher will use case study in his/ her
classroom activities then he/ she will be able to develop higher cognitive skills in students
which will made them confident enough to face the challenges of their professional and
personal lives in a subtle manner.

References:
https://www.bu.edu/ctl/teaching-resources/using-case-studies-to-teach/
https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1062108/FULLTEXT01.pdf
https://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/learning-teaching/teaching-resources/teach-a-
course/case-method.pdf
Davis, C. & Wilcock, E. Teaching materials using case studies. UK Centre for Materials
Education, Higher Education Academy. http://www.materials.ac.uk/guides/casestudies.asp

Written By: Anita Saleem

anitasaleemsms@yahoo.com
0334-3744559
https://tribune.com.pk/submit_blog