Higher-order thinking: a question bank by level
For teachers in Gulf schools, from Grade 1 to Grade 12.
Most test papers are built from what is easy to mark: a question asking for a definition, one asking for a result, and one that looks like the worked example. Higher-order thinking is something else — a student analysing, judging with evidence, designing something new. It is not built by one big question at the end of the year; it is built by small questions added to every lesson. This guide sets out the six levels, gives you question stems you can use today, shows before-and-after examples, and comes with a question bank to print.
The three lower levels and the three higher ones
The questions we write most often sit at the lower levels: recalling a fact, explaining it in the student's own words, applying one rule in one step. That is necessary groundwork, but it does not show understanding. The higher levels begin where recall cannot reach: analysing, judging with evidence, producing something new.
- Recall: brings back a fact, a term or a step.
- Understanding: explains, summarises or represents the idea another way.
- Application: moves the rule to a new but similar case.
- Analysis: breaks something into parts, compares, or explains why a result happened.
- Judgement: takes a position and supports it with evidence or a criterion.
- Creation: designs, proposes or builds a new alternative.
Six levels, and stems that go with them
A stem is the opening of a question; you finish it with the material from your lesson. These are the stems that move a question up a level without an evening of preparation:
| Level | What the student does | Stems |
|---|---|---|
| Recall | Brings it back | List… ; Define… ; What are the steps of…? |
| Understanding | Explains or represents | Explain in your own words… ; Show it as a diagram… ; Summarise in two lines… |
| Application | Moves the rule | Apply the rule to… ; Calculate… ; Use the steps to solve… |
| Analysis | Breaks down or compares | Compare… and… ; Why did… happen? ; Sort… by… ; What separates… from…? |
| Judgement | Decides with evidence | What is the evidence for…? ; Which of the two solutions is better, and why? ; What should we judge… by? |
| Creation | Produces something new | Propose another way to… ; Design a… ; What if… were changed, and how would you respond? |
Lifting a question you already have
You do not need new questions from scratch: raise the one in front of you by a single step. Three moves cover most lessons:
| The question as it is | One step higher |
|---|---|
| "What is the definition of density?" | "Two metals have the same mass and different volumes: which is denser, and what does the calculation show you?" |
| "What kinds of pollution are there?" | "Which kind could be reduced in your own neighbourhood, and what would make that realistic there?" |
| "List the causes of the First World War." | "Which cause do you judge the most significant, and which evidence from the lesson supports that?" |
The objective has not changed. Both versions ask for the same lesson; the second asks the student to think and to support what they say.
Three steps before you write the question
- Write what a good answer will show. One sentence saying what it proves, and it is what stops the question becoming a riddle.
- Pick the level the lesson supports, not the highest every time. A new topic needs application questions first; the higher level comes after students have practised it once.
- Write the question and, with it, a short answer key. An open question with no key is marked on impression, and students stop trusting it.
Time, marks, and the level of the question
- An analysis question needs longer than a recall one. Put it last on the paper with one mark, and nobody will answer it.
- Give the mark for the evidence, not the opinion. "Which is better" is a good question when the student must support the judgement with something from the lesson.
- A short rubric for the open question: three criteria and four levels keep the marking consistent, and the rubric page says how to write one.
The mistakes that repeat
- "Why?" after a definition: if the answer is the definition itself, the question is still at the lower level.
- A question with no criterion to judge by: "What do you think of…?" with no data and no criteria produces answers that cannot be marked.
- Jumping to creation in a new topic: a student who has not mastered the steps cannot design the alternative.
- Higher-order questions in every lesson: they come after students have been shown how to answer them, and gradually.
The question bank, ready to print
Two pages: the first holds the six levels with their stems, one main question for the lesson, and space for three sub-questions at different levels; the second holds twelve fields for your own questions, by level and topic, with a column for the short answer key and columns for expected time and marks. Print it and write on it, or move the table into your school's own file.
The bank is free and needs no subscription. You will be asked for your name and email so we know who downloads our files, and the consent box is optional: you get the file either way. See ourprivacy notice.
And with EdSmartly: teaching by asking
The Socratic Ladder in EdSmartly is a seven-step questioning sequence that teaches by asking rather than telling: it walks a student from something they know towards a conclusion they reach themselves, which is what the higher levels above ask for. Give it the topic and the grade, and the draft it produces stays marked "not yet reviewed" until you approve it.
A teacher can try EdSmartly free for 15 days on their own account, with no card. After that it is $7 a month, and you can cancel at any time. To see everything else, readwhat you can do in EdSmartly.
For school leaders
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