Designing High Cognitive Demand Tasks to Support Student Sensemaking in the Math Classroom: Knowles

The Knowles Academy offers state-of-the-art professional development experiences for teachers. All Academy courses are designed and facilitated by experienced teachers who understand the complexities of teaching in today’s world.

Through this Knowles Academy online short course, teachers will learn how high cognitive demand tasks increase opportunities for students to access learning and explore ways of modifying tasks to increase students’ abilities to engage in sensemaking in the math classroom.

Designing High Cognitive Demand Tasks to Support Student Sensemaking in the Math Classroom

When students engage in high cognitive demand math tasks, they are invited into sensemaking and developing their own identities and capacities as doers of math. High cognitive demand tasks support students in making meaning of their actions rather than simply following rote directions. But how can we create or modify tasks to support this type of learning in the math classroom, where students are at the center of constructing and working with math concepts that are the target of your instruction? In this professional development course, teachers will learn how high cognitive demand tasks increase opportunities for students to access learning. Teachers will explore ways of modifying tasks to increase students’ abilities to engage in sensemaking. Facilitated by teachers with experience in designing and implementing high cognitive demand tasks, this course will assist teachers in gaining the knowledge and confidence needed to design and modify tasks for their math classrooms.

Course Highlights

Engage as learners in a high cognitive demand task
Identify the cognitive demands of tasks and consider how the tasks influence students’ opportunities to learn
Examine the alignment between learning goals and the tasks you give your students
Modify the cognitive demand of tasks to increase opportunities for students to learn