International Journal of Innovative Interdisciplinary Research Issue 4 2013

Higher Order Thinking Skills and Academic Performance in Physics of College Students: A Regression Analysis
JenniferLynS.Ramos1,BretelB.Dolipas2,BrendaB.Villamor3
1,2 3

BenguetStateUniversity,Philippines

PhilippineNormalUniversityAgusanCampus,Philippines

ABSTRACT
Thestudydeterminedtherelationshipbetweenhigherorderthinkingskills(HOTS)ofstudentsand theacademicperformanceinphysics.TheresearchwasconductedatBenguetStateUniversity duringtheschoolyear20102011andrespondentswerestudentsenrolledinPhysics.Resultsshow that49.5%offemalestudentshaveaverageHOTSlevelonanalysiswhile54.4%ofmalestudents havebelowaveragelevel.Oncomparison,almost50%ofbothmaleandfemalestudentshave belowaveragelevelwhilemorethanhalfofmaleandfemalestudentshaveaveragelevelon inference.AlmosthalfofmalestudentsandfemalestudentshaveaveragelevelofHOTSon evaluation.MaleandfemalestudentshavesimilarlevelofHOTSonallfourareas.Moreoverthe HOTSlevelonanalysis,comparisonandevaluationsignificantlyinfluencethephysicsperformance ofmalestudentswhiletheHOTSlevelonanalysis,inferenceandevaluationsignificantlyinfluence thephysicsperformanceoffemalestudents. Keywords:Higherorderthinkingskills,academicperformance,physics,collegestudents,regression analysis

INTRODUCTION
Thetypeofthinkingprocessthatstudentsmustdeveloptopreparethemtoconfronttherealworld mustgobeyondsimplelearningoffactsandcontent.Knowledgeobtainedthroughhigherorder thinkingprocessesismoreeasilytransferable,sothatstudentswithadeepconceptualunderstandingof anideawillbemuchmorelikelytobeabletoapplythatknowledgetosolvenewproblems(Teaching HigherOrderThinking,n.d.).AshighlightedinthewebsiteofCentralBoardofSecondaryEducation (CBSE)Physics: theconceptofhigherorderthinkingskillorHOTSisafundamentalshiftinevaluationreformthat aimsatpromotingthinkingskillsinlearnersandtakingthemawayfromrotelearning.Higherlevel mentalabilitiesofthelearnerssuchastoanalyze,interpret,reasonout,synthesizeorevaluatethe giveninformationarelikelytoenablethemtransferlearningtototallydifferentsituations. (http://cbse.nic.in/phycareer/hots.html).

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Acrosssubjectareas,whenteachersaskhigherorderquestionsandprovideopportunitiesforstudents todevelopdeepexplanations,learningisenhanced.Higherorderquestionsoftenstartwithquestion stemslike:why,whatcaused,howdiditoccur,whatif,howdotheycompare,orwhatistheevidence? Whenteachersaskhigherorderquestionsandencourageexplanations,theyarehelpingtheirstudents todevelopimportantcriticalthinkingskills. Physicsisauniqueandfascinatingdiscipline.Itshardtoteachandhardertocomprehend.Physicscan beconsideredasHOThigherorderthinking.Itmakesimmenseacademicdemandsonstudentsinits learning(Adeyemo,2010).Thelearningofphysicsisdifficultatbestandalmostimpossibleatworst.But becauseofitsenormousimportancetoscienceandtechnology,thereisunderstandablyhugeinterestin studentsachievementinPhysics,hencetheconceptualizationofthisstudy.

BACKGROUND

HigherOrderThinkingSkills
Higherorderthinkingbasicallymeansthinkingthatistakingplaceinthehigherlevelsofthehierarchyof cognitiveprocessing.Themostwidelyacceptedhierarchicalarrangementofthissortineducationis BloomsTaxonomy,viewingacontinuumofthinkingskillsstartingwithknowledgelevelthinkingto evaluationlevelofthinking.AsHammond(n.d.)stipulates: Critical/creative/constructivethinkingsimplymeansthinkingprocessesthatprogressupwardinthe givendirection.Firstonecriticallyanalyzestheknowledge,information,orsituation.Thencreatively considerpossiblenextstepoptions,andfinally,constructanewproduct,decision,direction,orvalue. (http://xnet.rrc.mb.ca/glenh/hots.htm) ThesignificanceofhigherorderthinkingintheclassroomisbestclarifiedintheDepartmentof Education,TrainingandEmployment(DETE)Educationwebsite: Higherorderthinkingbystudentsinvolvesthetransformationofinformationandideas.This transformationoccurswhenstudentscombinefactsandideasandsynthesise,generalise,explain, hypothesiseorarriveatsomeconclusionorinterpretation.Manipulatinginformationandideas throughtheseprocessesallowsstudentstosolveproblems,gainunderstandinganddiscovernew meaning.Whenstudentsengageintheconstructionofknowledge,anelementofuncertaintyis introducedintotheinstructionalprocessandtheoutcomesarenotalwayspredictable;inother words,theteacherisnotcertainwhatthestudentswillproduce.Inhelpingstudentsbecome producersofknowledge,theteachersmaininstructionaltaskistocreateactivitiesorenvironments thatallowthemopportunitiestoengageinhigherorderthinking. (http://education.qld.gov.au/corporate/newbasics/html/pedagogies/intellect/int1a.html) Correspondingly,higherorderthinkingskillsorHOTSincludeskillssuchascreativeandcriticalthinking, analysis,problemsolvingandvisualization(HigherOrderThinkingSkills,n.d.).Theseskillsinvolve categorizingitems,comparingandcontrastingideasandtheories,andbeingabletowriteaboutand solveproblems.Intheclassroom,abilitiesandskillsthatincludetheuseofHOTSarecomplexthinking thatgoesbeyondbasicrecalloffacts,suchasevaluationandinvention,enablingstudentstoretain informationandtoapplyproblemsolvingsolutionstorealworldproblems. Thus,higherorderthinkingskillsarevaluedbecausetheyarebelievedtobetterpreparestudentsforthe challengesofadultworkanddailylifeandadvancedacademicwork(Higherorderthinking,n.d.).

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QuellmalzFrameworkofThinkingSkills
Althoughdifferenttheoreticiansandresearchersusedifferentframeworkstodescribehigherorderskills andhowtheyareacquired,allframeworksareingeneralagreementconcerningtheconditionsunder whichtheyprosper.Inthisstudy,theQuellmalzFrameworkofThinkingSkillswasutilizedsinceit collectsalloftheelementscommontomanyothertaxonomicstructuresofthinkingskills(Stiggins& Conklin,1992).Thelevelsareconsideredtobeconceptuallyclearandstraightforwardmakingcodingof questionseasy.Thefourcognitiveprocessesofanalysis,comparison,inferenceandevaluationare collectivelycalledhigherorderthinkingskills(HOTS)orcriticalthinkingskills.Thesearethefourareas consideredinthestudy. Analysisincludeunderstandingrelationshipsbetweenthewholeanditscomponentpartsandbetween causeandeffect;sortingandcategorizing,understandinghowthingsworkandhowthepartsof somethingfittogether;understandingcausalrelationships;gettinginformationfromcharts,graphs, diagramsandmaps.Analysisismorethanroterepetition;insteaditinvolvesreflectivelystructuring knowledgeinnewways(Stiggins,Rubel,&Quellmalz,1988).Comparisoninvolvesexplaininghowthings aresimilarandhowaretheydifferent.Comparisonsmayeitherbesimpleorcomplex.Simple comparisonsarebasedonasmallnumberofveryobviousattributes.Complexcomparisonsrequire examinationofamoreextensivesetofattributesoftwoormorethings;startwiththewhole/part relationshipsintheanalysiscategoryandcarrythemastepfurther. Inferentialthinkinginvolvesreasoninginductivelyordeductively.Indeductivetasks,studentsreason fromgeneralizationstospecificinstancesandareaskedtorecognizeorexplaintheevidence.In deductivetasks,studentsaregiventheevidenceordetailsandarerequiredtorelateandintegratethe informationtocomeupwiththegeneralization.AccordingtoCorpuzandSalandanan(2003,pp.6876) ascitedinSaingan(2008),inferentialthinkingisanabilitytoformanidea,opinionoraconclusionafter aseriesofreasoningandspeculatingoutcomesofasituation.Studentswhoareabletoformulate conjectures,possibilitiesandsurmiseconsequencesbasedonsufficientproofsareconsideredcapable ofthishigherorderthinkingskill. Evaluation,ontheotherhand,meansexpressinganddefendinganopinion.Evaluationtasksrequire studentstojudgequality,credibility,worthorpracticalityusinganestablishedcriteriaandexplainhow thecriteriaaremetornotmet.FromQuellmalzTaxonomy(n.d.)keywordssuchasassess,appraise, defend,argue,recommend,debate,critiqueareusedifevaluationistobemeasured.

HigherOrderThinkingSkills,GenderandAcademicAchievement
Acrossdifferentlevels,sameresultswereshownontherelationofgenderandhigherorderthinking skills.Bothmaleandfemalestudentshavethesamelevelofhigherorderthinkingskillsinthegrade schoollevel(Eisenman,1995),middleschool(Song,Koszalka&Grabowski,2005),highschoollevel (Saingan,2008)andinhighereducation(Heong,Yunos&Hassan,2011).However,athigheracademic levels,genderseemstobeafactor.Whencriticalthinkingtestsweregiventograduateand undergraduateseniorstudents,thegendereffectwassignificant,withmalesconsistentlyhavinghigher criticalthinkingskillsthanfemales(King,Wood&Mines,1990). Ontheotherhand,severalstudiesshowedmixedresultsontheinfluenceofgenderonacademic achievement.Femalestudentsoutperformedmalestudentsacrosssubjectareas(Dayoglu&TrtAsk, 2004;Hedges&Nowell,1995;Linver,DavisKean&Eccles,2002;Nori,2002ascitedinHabibollah, Rohani,Aizan,Jamaluddin&Kumar,2009);malestudentsperformedbetterthanfemalestudents(King, Wood&Mines,1990;Voyer,Voyer,&Bryden,1995;Wai,Cacchio,Putallaz&Makel,2010);girlsare

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betterinsomeareaswhileboysbetterinothers(Gallagher&DeLisi,1994andLinn&Kessel,1996cited inOdell&Schumacher,1998);nogenderdifferenceinmanynationsandvariabilityofgender differenceacrossnations(ElseQuest,Hyde&Linn,2010);andnodifferencesintheirperformance (Abubakar&Oguguo,2011;Habibollahetal.,2009;Llanes,2002;Moses&Daniel,2008;Peyag,2001).

THE STUDY
Thestudiesmentionedaboveshowconflictingresultsofthegendergaponachievementthatastudy exploringtheroleofgendertoHOTSisalsoworthinvestigating.Unlikemixedresultsongenderand academicachievement,moststudiescitedshowedthatgenderisnotapredictorofHOTS.Inthecurrent study,thelevelofHOTSofcollegestudentswasinvestigatedaswellascomparedtheirHOTSlevel accordingtogender.ItalsoinvestigatedtherelationshipofthelevelofHOTSofstudentstotheir academicperformanceinphysics. Specificallythestudyintendedto:(1)determinethelevelofhigherorderthinkingskillsinphysicsof collegestudentsgroupedaccordingtogenderalonganalysis,comparison,inferenceandevaluation;(2) comparethelevelofhigherorderthinkingskillsofmaleandfemalestudentsalongthefourareas;and (3)determinetherelationshipofthelevelofhigherorderthinkingskillsofmaleandfemalestudents alongthefourareastoacademicperformanceinphysics. Basedontheproblemsstatedandwithalltheconsiderationsmentionedabove,thefollowing hypotheseswereinvestigated:(1)Thereisanaveragelevelofhigherorderthinkingskillsalonganalysis, comparison,inferenceandevaluationinphysicsofmaleandfemalestudents;(2)Thereareno significantdifferencesbetweenthelevelsofhigherorderthinkingskillsofmaleandfemalestudents alongthefourareas;and(3)Therearenosignificantrelationshipsbetweenthelevelsofhigherorder thinkingskillsalongthefourareasandacademicperformanceinphysicsofmaleandfemalestudents.

METHODS
Respondents TherespondentswerestudentsenrolledinPhysics11(GeneralPhysics1)atBenguetStateUniversity duringthefirstandsecondsemesterofschoolyear20102011.Atotalof393studentstookpartinthe study,112aremaleand281arefemale. Instrument Theinstrumentwasateachermadetestconsistingof60multiplechoicetypeofquestionscovering topicsinPhysics11thatincludeKinematics,DynamicsandStatics.TheareagroupingofHOTSwasbased onthecriteriaofQuellmalztaxonomy(Stiggins&Conklin,1992,pp.159160).Theacademic performanceofstudentsinphysicswasmeasuredbasedontheirfinalgradesinPhysics11. DataAnalysis Todeterminethelevelofhigherorderthinkingskillsofthemaleandfemalestudents,thefrequency countwasutilized.AfivepointLikertScalewasusedtodeterminethelevelofHOTSofthestudents basedontheirscores. ThefollowingLikertScalewasusedtomeasurethelevelofHigherOrderThinkingSkillsofthe respondents:

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International Journal of Innovative Interdisciplinary Research ScaleMean Issue 4 2013

DescriptionSymbolUsed LHOTS

TestScore 1 2 3 4 5 13 46 79 1012

LowLevelHigherOrderThinkingSkills

BelowAverageLevelHigherOrderThinkingSkillsBHOTS AverageLevelHigherOrderThinkingSkills AHOTS

AboveAverageLevelHigherOrderThinkingSkillsAAHOTS HighLevelHigherOrderThinkingSkills HHOTS

1215

ThettestwasusedtotestdifferenceinthelevelsofHOTSofmaleandfemalestudentsfromtheHOTS averagelevelandtodeterminethedifferencesintheHOTSlevelofstudentsalongthefourareaswhen groupedaccordingtogender.Finally,thelinearregressionwasemployedtoanalyzetherelationship betweenthelevelofHOTSalongthefourareasandacademicperformanceinPhysicsofmaleand femalestudents.

RESULTS

HigherOrderThinkingSkillsofMaleandFemaleStudents
Figure1.Ashowsthelevelofhigherorderthinkingskillsalonganalysisofmaleandfemalestudents. 49.5%femalestudentshaveanaveragelevelofHOTSonanalysisfollowedby36%withbelowaverage level.TheresthaveaboveaverageandlowlevelofHOTS.Ontheotherhand,54.4%ofmalestudents havebelowaveragelevelwhilealmostonethirdhaveaveragelevelofHOTSalonganalysis.Therest haveaboveaverage(6.1%)andlow(3.5%)levelsofHOTSalonganalysis.

Figure1.A.Levelofhigherorderthinkingskillsalonganalysisofmaleandfemalestudents.

Figure1.BpresentsthelevelofHigherOrderThinkingSkillsalongcomparisonofmaleandfemale students.48.6%offemalestudentshavebelowaveragelevelofHOTSalongcomparison,32.3%have

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averagelevelwhile13.6%havelowlevelandonly5.50%haveaboveaveragelevel.Forthemale respondents,57.9%havebelowaveragelevel,29.8%haveaveragelevel,8.80%havelowlevelwhile only3.5%haveaboveaveragelevelofHOTSalongcomparison.

Figure1.B.Levelofhigherorderthinkingskillsalongcomparisonofmaleandfemalestudents.

Figure1.Cpresentsthelevelofhigherorderthinkingskillsalonginferenceofmaleandfemalestudents. 55%offemalestudentshaveaveragelevelofHOTSalonginferencefollowedby35%havingbelow averageleveland2.7%withlowlevelofHOTS.Forthemalestudents,63.2%averagelevelofHOTSon inference29.4%havebelowaveragewhile6.1%haveaboveaveragelevelandonly0.9%havelowHOTS levelnoninference.

Figure1.C.Levelofhigherorderthinkingskillsalonginferenceofmaleandfemalestudents. Figure1.D.presentsthelevelofhigherorderthinkingskillsalongevaluationofmaleandfemale students.40.9%offemalestudentshavebelowaverageHOTSlevelonevaluation,40.5%haveaverage levelwhilealmost10%eachhaveloworaboveaveragelevel.Formalerespondents,45.6%havebelow

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averagelevel,30.7%averagelevel,13.2%aboveaveragelevelandabout10%havelowlevelofHOTS alongevaluation.

Figure1.D.Levelofhigherorderthinkingskillsalongevaluationofmaleandfemalestudents. Table1presentsthecomparisonofthelevelofhigherorderthinkingskillsofmaleandfemalestudents alonganalysis,comparison,inferenceandevaluationfromtheHOTSaveragelevel.Formalestudents, thetvaluesofallareaswerefoundtobesignificantat0.01levelofsignificance.Thisimpliesthatthe levelofHOTSofmalestudentsalongthefourareasdiffersignificantlyfromtheHOTSaveragelevel. Hypothesis1formalestudentsisthereforerejected.Thelevelsofhigherorderthinkingskillsalongthe fourareasofmalestudentsarebelowaverage. Similarly,thetvaluesofeachareaforfemalestudentsarefoundtobesignificantat0.01levelof significance.TheHOTSleveloffemalestudentsalongallfourareasdiffersignificantlyfromtheHOTS averagelevel.Therefore,hypotheses1forfemalestudentsisrejected.Thelevelsofhigherorder thinkingskillsalongthefourareasoffemalestudentsarebelowaverage. Table1.Comparisonofthelevelofhigherorderthinkingskillsofmaleandfemalestudentsfromthe HOTSaveragelevel. Higherorder thinkingskill(HOTS) Analysis Comparison Inference Evaluation **Highlysignificant tvalues MALE 34.74** 33.32** 49.05** 28.29** FEMALE 54.44** 39.63** 61.08** 43.17**

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ComparisonofHigherOrderThinkingSkillsofMaleandFemaleStudents
Table2presentsthecomparisonamongthelevelofhigherorderthinkingskillsalonganalysis, comparison,inferenceandevaluationofmaleandfemalestudents.Thetvaluesofallareasarenot significant.ThisimpliesthatthelevelofHOTSofmaleandfemalestudentsdonotdiffersignificantly. Hypothesis2isthereforeaccepted.MaleandfemalestudentshavethesameHOTSlevelalongthefour areas. Table2.Comparisonamongthelevelofhigherorderthinkingskillsofmaleandfemalesstudents Higherorder thinkingskill(HOTS) Analysis Comparison Inference Evaluation nsnotsignificant tvalues MALEFEMALE 1.809 0.962 1.429 0.568 0.161ns 0.225ns 0.121ns 0.387ns Sig

RelationshipofLevelofHigherOrderThinkingSkillsandAcademicPerformancein PhysicsofMaleandFemaleStudents
Theregressionequationshowstherelationshipbetweenthefourareasofhigherorderthinkingskills withphysicsperformanceofmaleandfemalestudents.ThefirstequationshowsthatthelevelsofHOTS onanalysis,evaluationandcomparisonhavesignificantinfluencetoacademicperformanceofmale studentsinphysicsasindicatedby <0.05levelofsignificance.Ontheotherhand,thelevelofHOTSon inferencedoesnothaveasignificantinfluencetophysicsperformanceofmalestudentsasindicatedby >0.05.Hypotheses3arethereforerejectedforanalysis,comparisonandevaluation,whilehypothesis 3isacceptedforinference.ThehigherthelevelofHOTSofmalestudentsonanalysis,comparisonand evaluation,thebetteristheirperformanceinphysics. YM=3.4190.035Analysis0.026Comparison0.020inference0.072evaluation (<0.01)(<0.01)(<0.05)(>0.05)(<0.01) Thesecondequationshowsthatamongthefourareas,thelevelsofHOTSonanalysis,inferenceand evaluationhavesignificantinfluencetothephysicsperformanceoffemalestudentsasindicatedby < 0.05levelofsignificance.However,thelevelofHOTSoncomparisonhasnosignificantinfluencetothe physicsperformanceoffemalestudents.Hypotheses3arethereforerejectedforanalysis,inferenceand evaluationtofemalestudentswhilethatforanalysisisaccepted.ThehigherthelevelofHOTSon analysis,inferenceandevaluationoffemalestudents,thebetteristheirphysicsperformance. YF=3.4130.014Analysis0.025Comparison0.037inference0.082evaluation (<0.01)(<0.05)(>0.05)(<0.05)(<0.01)

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DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

ThestudyshowsthatcollegestudentsdonothavethenecessaryskillsneededinPhysics.Thisis consistentwiththeobservationofCotton(1991)students,ingeneral,donothavewelldeveloped thinkingskills(p.10).Studentsshouldbeexposedtoinstructionalapproachesthatpromotehigher orderthinkingskills.Researchhasshownthattheseskillscanbesignificantlyenhancedthrough interventions(Hopson,Simms&Knezek,2001;Ives&Obenchain,1996;Jackson,2000ascitedinKoczij, 2005,pp.56;Saingan,2008;Zohar&Dori,2003).Teachersshouldencouragestudentstoengagein tasksthatinvolvehigherorderthinkingskills(Zohar&Dori,2003).Neverthelessthedevelopmentof theseskillsrequirespractice,andthatthemoreworkstudentshaveinaparticulardiscipline,themore abletheywillbetodemonstratethesesortsofeducationaloutcomes(Haller,Monk&Tien,1993,p. 67). TeachertrainingisakeyfactorinthesuccessoffosteringHOTSinsidetheclassroom.Itisassociated withstudentachievementgains(Cotton,1991).Thereisaneedforphysicsteacherstrainingsasonlya minorityofteachersviewfosteringofhigherorderthinkingasanimportantobjectiveofteaching physics(Barak&Shakhman,2008).Additionally,thesetrainingsshouldbeextensivesinceteachersare notlikelytoimplementnewapproachesthattheyhavelearnedaboutinteachereducationprograms unlesstheirtraininginnewapproachesiscontinuous,largescale,offersincentives,andcanbedone withoutasignificantlygreatertimecommitment(Levine,1994ascitedinIvesandObenchain,2006,p. 73). Thereseemstobenogendergapinthephysicsclassroomasfaraslevelofhigherorderthinkingskillsof studentsisconcerned.ThisnonsignificantroleofgenderalsoconcurswiththefindingsofAbubakarand Oguguo(2011),Habibollahetal.(2009),Llanes(2002),MosesandDaniel(2008)Peyag(2001)and Saingan(2008).Maleandfemalestudentsshouldbegivenequalopportunitiestodeveloptheirhigher orderthinkingskillsinthephysicsclassroom.Strategiestobeadoptedbyphysicsteachersshouldbe designedtoappealtobothgroups.Consequently,itcanbesurmisedthattheteacherplaysacriticalrole forthesestrategiestobeeffective.Differentinstructorsmayenacttheseteachingstrategiesdifferently; andinstructorssetthetone,normsofbehavior,andattitudeintheclassbothexplicitlyandimplicitly (Pollock,Finkelstein&Kost,2007,p.2).AsemphasizedbyBaird(1997),throughtheirattitudesand actions,teachershavethepotentialtomakeasignificantpositiveornegativeimpactongenderbalance inphysicalscience(Chap.6,para.5). Ontherelationshipoflevelofhigherorderthinkingskillsalongthefourareasandacademic achievementinphysics,levelofHOTSofstudentsinfluencethephysicsperformanceofmaleandfemale students.Analysisandevaluationareskillscloselyassociatedtoproblemsolvingskills,soa mathematicalapproachinteachingphysicscouldbebeneficialtomalestudentsingettingbettergrades inphysics.Forfemalestudents,activitiesthatrequirethemtomaximizetheirevaluationwillbehelpful intheirphysicsperformance.TheseresultsareinagreementwiththefindingsofRodriguesandOliveira (2008)whentheypointedoutthatcriticalthinkinglevelisapredictorofthepupilsperformancein physics(p.6).ThisfindingisnotsurprisingsincePhysicsisconsideredasahigherorderthinkingorHOT subject,hence,theimportanceoffosteringsuchskillsinthephysicsclassroom.AsRodriguesand Oliveira(2008)statedintheirconclusion: Itstimetochangephysicsteaching.Teachingphysicsisstilltoofrequentlycenteredonatransmissive approachdemandingthememorizationofphysicsequations,principlesandlawsortheperformance ofmereexercisesbasedonadrillapproach.Thiswayoflearningphysicsisboringanduninteresting

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foryoungpeopleanddoesnotmeettheactualrequirementsofsocietyandofthenewtrendsof physicscurricula(p.6).

CONCLUSION
Resultsofthestudycallforpushtowardhigherorderthinkingskillsintheclassroom.Theseskillsare necessaryforpeopletohaveinthisrapidlychanging,technologicallyorientedworld.Instructionin thinkingskillspromotesintellectualgrowthandfostersacademicachievementgains(Cotton,1991).The importanceforstudentstodeveloptheseskillsisassertedinTeachingHigherOrderThinking(n.d.): Informationlearnedandprocessedthroughhigherorderthinkingprocessesisrememberedlonger andmoreclearlythaninformationthatisprocessedthroughlowerorder,rotememorization. Knowledgeobtainedthroughhigherorderthinkingprocessesismoreeasilytransferable,sothat studentswithadeepconceptualunderstandingofanideawillbemuchmorelikelytobeableto applythatknowledgetosolvenewproblems(p.55). ItcanbenotedfromtheresultsthatthehigherthelevelofHOTSofstudents,thebettertheir performanceinphysics.Thereisaneedtoenhancesuchskillsinthephysicsclassroomassubstantiated byMcLoughlinandHollingworth(2001)whentheysuggested: Thelearningenvironmentforscienceshouldencouragestudentstoengageinhigherorderthinking activities.Teachersofsciencesubjectsneedtomoveawayfromanoveremphasisoncontent masteryandadoptpedagogiesthatenablethedevelopmentofthinkingprocesses.Graduatescannot relyonrecallofcontentknowledgealonetooperateeffectivelyintheworkplace,butmustalsobe equippedwiththeprocedural,strategicandmetacognitiveknowledgetosolvecomplexproblems. Studentsneedadequatepracticeandopportunitiestodeveloptheseskills,andmustbeableto managetheirownlearning(p.8). Accordingly,withappropriatepedagogicalstrategiesalongwithteacherpossessingpropertrainingand rightmotivation,HOTSofstudentscanbeenhanced(Cotton,1991;Halleretal.,1993;Ives&Obenchain, 1996).

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