Measuring Student Opportunities for Deeper Learning

• In Event: 34.018 - Excellence in Education Research: Early-Career Scholars and Their Work

Abstract

In the rapidly changing 21st century context, higher-order thinking skills such as complex problem solving, creativity, and critical thinking are required for the success of individuals and societies. Therefore, providing opportunities for deeper learning, during which students may develop such higher-order skills, is currently of paramount importance in schools. However, educational researchers, policy makers, and school leaders have not as yet had access to a fully calibrated measure of student opportunities for deeper learning, and therefore instances of deeper learning have been difficult to identify.
In response to this identified need, the Student Opportunities for Deeper Learning Instrument (SODLI) was systematically developed featuring 62 Likert-type items on nine scales, each designed to tap a separate dimension of deeper learning: student opportunities for complex problem-solving, creative thinking, communication, collaboration, learning to learn, receiving feedback, assessments aligned with deeper learning, interdisciplinary learning, and making real-world connections. The SODLI was then administered to a large sample of U.S. high-school students. The resulting data was examined using multidimensional item-response theory (MIRT)

Author

• Denis Dumas, University of Denver