Analysis of the questions in 11th Grade Philosophy Coursebook in terms of higher-order thinking skills

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the questions included in the 11th grade Philosophy Coursebook prepared in 2018 by the Ministry of Education in Turkey in terms of higher-order thinking skills. Document analysis was utilized in the study, and frequencies and percentages were used in answering the first sub-research question. Cognitive processes domain of Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy was utilized in conducting analyses to answer the second sub-research question. And Moodley’s (2013) categorization supported the analyses to answer the third sub-research question. The results suggested that the distribution of warm-up, practice, discussion, text analysis, writing, and measurement and evaluation questions were organized in a similar systematic across the coursebook. As a result of the research, not only summative but also formative assessment methods were included in the coursebook. Most of the questions were in the understand level of cognitive processes. The book included only a limited number of questions on the ‘apply’, ‘analyze’, and ‘create’ levels included in Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. Most of the questions were designed for the mid-level of the cognitive domain and the low-level questions were the second most frequently used questions. Only 6.1 % of the questions were designed for high-levels of the cognitive domain. Last but not least sample questions for the analyze, evaluate, and create dimensions were prepared in an effort to encourage more frequent uses of such types of questions.