According to Moulds (2006), cognitively demanding tasks•Are culminating performances that are purposeful and have value
in the real world.
•Involve students in solving problems.
•Require students to develop and use complex reasoning processes
(higher-order thinking processes such as analysis and problem solving).
•Engage students in the learning process.
•Draw on widely accepted topics in subject areas.
•Connect to the world beyond the classroom.
•Are rich in their application as they represent an outcome of sub-
stantial intellectual and educational value.
Effective teachers frequently include these kinds of cognitively
demanding tasks throughout their lessons and units of work. In fact, when
schools first come across the Habits of Mind, their initial response may be
that they already “do” habits of mind. The difference is that the task pro-
vides a vehicle not only to engage in provocative, intriguing content and
to use skillful problem solving, but also to explicitly experience the ben-
efits of using one or more of the Habits of Mind.
After introducing the task, teachers may alert the students to the use
of one or more of the Habits of Mind:
•You’ll be working in groups on this task. Let’s review some of the
skills we learned about thinking interdependently.
•Since we are trying to determine historical truth, it will be very
important to strive for accuracy and precision and to communicate our
ideas with clarity.
During the activity, teachers may wish to remind students about the
use of the particular habit the class is focusing on:
•Alicia, how did your sharing the information about Pocahontas that
you found on the Internet further your group’s thinking?
•Assad, tell us how you thought about the magnet experiment. What
was the metacognitive process you used?
Is Your Instruction Habit Forming? 73