Recently I was asked to run a workshop on 'Deep Analytical Thinking'. This was essentially a session on Critical Thinking and Higher Order Thinking Skills. The primary remit was to get teachers thinking about what it is they are asking of their students, particularly in assessments. Are they giving students the opportunities and challenges of accessing higher order thinking skills?
Working within the New South Wales Board of Studies (but relevant everywhere) it is particularly important for teachers to know and understand the 'verbs' asked of students in the syllabus, exams and consequently, the assessments the teachers write themselves.
This workshop engaged the teachers in a deep analytical thinking task (whilst getting them to collaborate in a Google Doc); tested their knowledge of the verbs in a fun quiz format (demonstrating the power of Google Doc Forms and Flubaroo script); demonstrated the merit in using unique stimulus data e.g. from http://www.gapminder.org/, thus ultimately allowing for open book/laptop, non-googlable exams; and discussed Bloom's Taxonomy and Bloom's Digital Taxonomy.
Here is the Prezi, enjoy: