Cognitively demanding tasks mirror the work mathematicians and scientists do every day. Using such tasks regularly ensures that all students engage in meaningful and challenging learning experiences. This tool allows teachers to identify and, if appropriate, increase the cognitive demand of their classroom tasks.

The majority of students’ learning opportunities in a classroom come from the tasks teachers assign them. Different tasks vary in their levels of cognitive demand – how much they ask students to engage in reasoning and sense-making. This Task Analysis Guide helps teachers identify the level of cognitive demand of each task, so that they can appropriately match high or low demand tasks with their learning goals. With this tool, teachers can distinguish between tasks that emphasize memorization or procedures, tasks that build conceptual connections, and tasks that ask students to engage in authentic mathematical or scientific thinking. Ensuring that cognitive demand aligns with learning goals leads to more intentional and effective instruction.

Knowles Teacher Initiative_ STEM Tasks Anaylsis Guide