Depth of Knowledge | Professional Development | DOK

In this brief presentation, we will look into Webb's Depth of Knowledge, a popular conceptual learning framework. We will have an overview of DOK, as well as look at the relation to Bloom's Taxonomy. We will work together to complete a task identifying DOK levels, as well as coming up with questions and tasks to satisfy a given DOK level for a specific standard. Let's begin. Depth of Knowledge refers to the depth of understanding required to answer or explain an assessment-related item or a classroom activity. The concept of Depth of Knowledge was developed in the 1990s through research by Norman L. Webb, a scientist at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. DOK levels were originally developed for math and science standards. The model has since been expanded to include language arts and social studies. Classroom activities and assessments should contain a diversified set of tasks. Students should have the opportunity to engage in a range of problem-solving skills at each of the DOK levels. Let's take a look at the DOK levels. Level 1 is Acquired Knowledge. This level involves recall and reproduction. At this level, students remember facts or define a procedure. We can think of this level as, what is the knowledge? Level 2 is Knowledge Application. This level involves using skills and concepts. Students use learned concepts to answer questions. At this point, we can think, how can the knowledge be used? Level 3 is Analysis. This level involves strategic thinking. At this level, complexity increases and involves planning, justifying, and complex reasoning. Students explain how concepts and procedures can be used. At this point, we can think, why can the knowledge be used? Level 4 is Augmentation. This level requires extended thinking. Students must go beyond the standard learning and ask, how else can the learning be applied in a real-world context? Level 4 can be thought of as, how else can the knowledge be used? DOK is not synonymous with difficulty. Difficulty is subjective. DOK levels focus on the kind of thinking required to be successful at the task. Take a moment to review the DOK overview chart. What do you notice? Let's take a look at the relationship between Bloom's Taxonomy and Webb's DOK. What do you notice?