Knowledge

I sometimes hear some of my younger colleagues or students contending that rote memorization is an outmoded learning approach in our modern technological era, where we have knowledge at our fingertips via a Google search on our phone. I strongly disagree with this.

A child learning about written text from an adult 

Credit: woman teaching girl by Jerry Wang is licensed under Unsplash and is free to use.

Consider a child learning to read. The first thing they must master is memorization of the alphabet. Children learn (memorize) their ABCs through repetition and song (did you learn to sing your ABCs?). Being able to recite the alphabet, however, does not mean you comprehend that the letters represent sounds and have meaning. Learning to count is the formation of knowledge about numbers, their quantity, and numbers in sequence.

A learner at this stage in their development can be observed demonstrating:

• observation and recall of information
• knowledge of dates, events, and places
• knowledge of major ideas
• mastery of subject matter

Verbs that demonstrate knowledge:

list, define, tell, describe, identify, show, label, collect, examine, tabulate, quote, name, who, when, where, etc.

Comprehension

Consider our pupil once again. They have memorized their letters and numbers. They now need to understand that these letters and numbers have meaning. Letters have certain sounds. Numbers represent a numerical value such that one equals one star but three equals three stars and is more than one.

Quantities of 1, 2, 3 stars

Credit: M. Corson © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 

A learner at this stage in their development can be observed demonstrating the ability to:

• understand information
• grasp meaning
• translate knowledge into new context
• interpret facts, compare, contrast
• order, group, infer causes
• predict consequences

Verbs that demonstrate comprehension:

summarize, describe, interpret, contrast, predict, associate, distinguish, estimate, differentiate, discuss, extend

Application

Our student is progressing nicely. The next step is application, or applying their knowledge and comprehension. As our pupils string letters together into words and then sentences, they are beginning the process of learning to write. As they take numbers and add, subtract, multiply, and divide them, they are calculating new values. The next thing you know, they are doing calculus and inventing artificial intelligence. Hopefully, having mastered these foundational skills, they will use their higher-order thinking skills to make good decisions.

Person at chalkboard making diagrams

Credit: Physics Teacher by Tra Nguyen is licensed under Unsplash and free to use.

A learner at this stage in their development can be observed demonstrating their ability to:

• use information
• use methods, concepts, and theories in new situations
• solve problems using required skills or knowledge

Verbs that demonstrate application:

apply, demonstrate, calculate, complete, illustrate, show, solve, examine, modify, relate, change, classify, experiment, discover

Knowledge Check

These two pages offer a chance for you to apply what you've learned about Bloom's Foundational Skills. Consider some of the terms and verbs that will serve as building blocks as you become adept and fluent in thinking critically. Demonstrate your understanding of the levels for foundational skill development according to Bloom's Taxonomy.

Knowledge Check 

Analysis

Now that we’re moving on to the higher-order thinking skills, I am going to use the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis as an example of how these skills were used in a real-life situation. I am pulling much of the information about this from the fascinating book by J.A. Nathan, Anatomy of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Person analyzing multiple overhead photographs

Credit: Francisca Montes by Antenna is licensed under Unsplash.

Consider the photo above, in which a person is observing several aerial photos. To the untrained eye, these may be just pretty pictures. The question is, do they have the training to actually “analyze” the imagery to determine: what they see, where it is, when it is, and perhaps how it got there?

Analysis is, simply stated, taking things apart or deconstructing them.

This item is a high altitude aerial reconnaissance photograph of medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) launch site number 1 in San Cristobal, Cuba.

Credit: Photograph of MRBM Field Launch Site No. 1 in San Cristobal, Cuba, 14 October 1962. National Archives Collection (Department of Defense)(Public Domain).

Let us go back to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1961. US photo reconnaissance aircraft took photos (see above) of odd installations in Cuba that were newly installed. Image interpreters used their knowledge and comprehension of image interpretation keys, including density, concentration, pattern, spatial association, and Soviet aircraft, missile, and vehicle identification guides to analyze the images. They used change detection to determine that what they were seeing was new, as it was not on previous images. The fact that the density, concentration, and pattern of objects were regular and symmetrical indicated they were most likely human-engineered. The shapes of objects on the ground matched those of Soviet missile systems and support equipment.

A learner at this stage in their development can be observed demonstrating their ability to:

• see patterns
• organize parts
• recognize hidden meanings
• identify components

Verbs that demonstrate analysis:

analyze, separate, order, explain, connect, classify, arrange, divide, compare, select, explain, infer

Synthesis

For our Cold War image analysts looking at Cuba, they clearly have something that appears to be newly installed and human-engineered. As they look at the location and time of these new installations, it is clear they are in relatively remote and easily securable areas. They see a specific pattern or layout. Given knowledge of the US-Soviet-Cuban relations at the time, the analysts know that the USSR is hostile to the US and that the USSR and Cuba are allies. This leads to a hypothesis that these new installations may be Soviet installations. Comparing imagery of various Soviet military sites leads to the conclusion that these sites may house Soviet offensive surface-to-surface missiles.

A learner at this stage in their development can be observed demonstrating their ability to:

• use old ideas to create new ones
• generalize from given facts
• relate knowledge from several areas
• predict, draw conclusions

Verbs that demonstrate synthesis:

combine, integrate, modify, rearrange, substitute, plan, create, design, invent, compose, formulate, prepare, generalize, rewrite

Evaluation

As our analysts evaluate the data available, they conclude that these types of offensive missiles typically carry nuclear weapons. This means the Soviets have likely installed offensive nuclear weapons only 90 miles off the coast of the US, capable of hitting Washington, D.C., and other targets on the Eastern Seaboard with less than ten minutes' warning.

This information was critical to US President John F. Kennedy’s decision to blockade Cuba, and brought the world to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

It was aerial imagery and interpretation that later assured President Kennedy that the Soviets had kept their word and removed the weapons from Cuba, thus averting a catastrophic war.

Soviet Missile Buildup in Cuba

Credit: 141020-G-AB123-001. Defence Intelligence Agency. (DIA) (Public Domain).

Note that the air photos by themselves were just pictures. It took trained air photo interpreters using their foundational and higher-order thinking skills and critical thinking to make the photos understandable and useful to policy makers and the public. The photos with associated interpretation were key evidence to make President Kennedy’s claims and actions credible.

A learner at this stage in their development can be observed demonstrating their ability to:

• compare and discriminate between ideas
• assess value of theories, presentations
• make choices based on reasoned argument
• verify value of evidence
• recognize subjectivity

Verbs that demonstrate evaluation:

assess, decide, rank, grade, test, measure, recommend, convince, select, judge, explain, discriminate, support, conclude, compare, summarize

Interpretation

Know the difference between a fairy tale and a war story? A fairy tale starts with “Once upon a time.” A war story starts with “And this is no kidding.” Let’s use a war story from Operation Iraqi Freedom. If you want the long version, you can read US Army Transportation School Historian Gregg Adam’s version here: 450th Transportation Battalion (USAR) | U.S. Army Transportation Corps and Transportation School | Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia.

The battalion commander (BC) of the 450th Movement Control Battalion (MCB) arrived at Talil Airbase, Iraq, two weeks into Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. He was greeted by BG Jack Stultz with a sneer and the query, “Where the hell have you been?” BG Stultz explained that theater transportation (especially the movement of critical meals ready to eat —MREs—also known by the troops as meals refusing to eat, and bottled water to support the warfighters) was not working. The general’s actual language was much more colorful. The general wanted the problem fixed yesterday.

Credit: M. Corson © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Used with permission. 

Having just arrived, the BC had little situational understanding. In other words, he didn’t know what was going on. He thought he had better gain that situational understanding or he would be at best out of a job, and at worst—dead.

The first of the cognitive skills is interpretation. Interpretation means to comprehend and express the meaning or significance of a wide variety of experiences, situations, data, events, judgments, conventions, beliefs, rules, procedures, or criteria. So, step one was to understand the mission and the commander’s desired effect. This was easy. Do not let US Vth Corps starve or die of thirst. The next step towards situational awareness was how to navigate the battlefield without getting killed. If you can’t move around the battlefield safely, then you can’t gain information. The solution in unarmored HUMVEEs was to drive fast and bristle with weapons so no one dared mess with you. The next step was to get out on the road, to talk to everyone involved, observe the current operation and operating procedures, and develop that situational awareness of the process from the origin depots in Kuwait up to the destination at Balad Airbase (later Logistics Support Area Anaconda and later Joint Base Balad) 40km north of Baghdad. Gaining situational understanding was the interpretation phase.

Credit: M. Corson © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Used with permission.

The three sub-skills of interpretation are categorization, decoding significance, and clarifying meaning.

Analysis

The second cognitive skill is analysis. Analysis is to identify the intended and actual inferential relationships among statements, questions, concepts, descriptions, or other forms of representation intended to express belief, judgment, experiences, reasons, information, or opinions. In normal English, it means to take things apart to understand how they work.

Credit: M. Corson © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Used with permission. 

Having gained situational understanding via extensive visits to every transportation node, base, and unit, the BC and his staff were able to start deconstructing and charting many moving pieces of the theater distribution effort. Some parts of the operation seemed very clear-cut. Other parts of the operation were hampered by differing perceptions, variable willingness, and in some cases, outright lies, fraud, theft, and waste. Not everything was black and white—that was for sure. Oh—and don’t forget the enemy had a vote and they showed their displeasure with the US presence.

Credit: M. Corson © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Used with permission. 

The three sub-skills of analysis are examining ideas, detecting arguments, and analyzing arguments.

Evaluation

The BC and his movement controllers—having utilized interpretation and analysis —now turned to evaluation. Evaluation is to assess the credibility of statements or other representations which are accounts or descriptions of a person's perception, experience, situation, judgment, belief, or opinion; and to assess the logical strength of the actual or intended inferential relationships among statements, descriptions, questions or other forms of representation.

Credit: M. Corson © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Used with permission. 

The BC and his movement controllers' evaluation determined that theater distribution did not suffer from one problem, but from a series of problems starting at the origin and perpetuating all the way through delivery at the destination. These problems fed into one another, creating a cascading effect. There were no simple answers. To solve this challenge would require a fairly complex plan with buy-in from numerous stakeholders (some of whom were hostile to each other, and many of whom had their own agendas and priorities).

Inference

The next cognitive skill is inference. Inference is to identify and secure elements needed to draw reasonable conclusions; to form conjectures and hypotheses; to consider relevant information and to deduce the consequences flowing from data, statements, principles, evidence, judgments, beliefs, opinions, concepts, descriptions, questions, or other forms of representation. Some might say inference is the ability to read between the lines.

Credit: M. Corson © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Used with permission. 

The BC, his staff, and his unit commanders learned to read between the lines very quickly. As former President Ronald Reagan said when talking about arms control, “Trust but verify.” It was not that people often lied (although some did), but that people had bad information due to the fog of war, or their situational understanding was poor. Thus, while movement controllers analyzed the theater distribution system, they also had to probe deeper to read between the lines. This often meant observing operations from start to finish to get the real story, making friends with people to gain their trust and get their candid insights (versus the party line), and auditing and crunching data to see if the reports matched the actual performance. When people are tired, dirty, hungry, and in danger, you ought not be surprised that they make mistakes, sometimes cut corners, or even do unethical things to get by. Inference helps you get past that to see the real picture.

The three sub-skills of inference are querying evidence, conjecturing alternatives, and drawing conclusions.

Explanation

All the previous cognitive skills are useless if you can not explain yourself in a way that will achieve your desired effect and complete your mission. Explanation is to state the results of one's reasoning; to justify that reasoning in terms of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, and contextual considerations upon which one's results were based; and to present one's reasoning in the form of cogent arguments.

Credit: 450th MCB / M. Corson © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Used with permission.

The BC’s challenge was to clearly explain all the problems in the system in a clear and concise manner, and then to present a plan that would satisfy all the competing stakeholders. Obviously, the movement controllers had to develop a plan before they could present it. To do so, they worked with their staff counterparts of the stakeholder units so that the plan was feasible and acceptable to them. The BC worked with his counterparts to socialize the plan and ensure no one was going to look (too) bad. By the time it was time to explain the situation and the plan to the brass, the key players were on board. The plan was not perfect, and the colonels and generals made a few changes, but you have to give a little to get a lot.

The sub-skills under explanation are stating results, justifying procedures, and presenting arguments.

Self-Regulation

The highest level of critical thinking is recursive self-regulation. Recursive is a math term meaning to divide infinitely into itself. Self-regulation is to self-consciously monitor one's cognitive activities, the elements used in those activities, and the results educed, particularly by applying skills in analysis and evaluation to one's own inferential judgments with a view toward questioning, confirming, validating, or correcting either one's reasoning or one's results.

US Army UH-60 Blackhawk medical evacuation helicopter evacuating a wounded Soldier on MSR Tampa, Iraq 2003.

Credit: M. Corson © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Used with permission.

Emergency medical personnel use critical thinking and a series of protocols to determine what is wrong with the patient and how to treat them. The final step in their approach is to re-assess the patient to see if their condition, signs, and symptoms have changed thus requiring a change in treatment.

The story illustrating critical thinking focuses a lot on the battalion commander and senior staff officers. The lieutenant, sergeants, and specialist shown above are the true heroes who risked their lives daily to make things happen.

Credit: M. Corson © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Used with permission.

The BC and the movement controllers sold their plan to the brass and implemented it in conjunction with all their partners and stakeholders. No matter how well you think you did, self-regulation is essential so you do not succumb to arrogance and hubris. Situations change, personnel and units change, the enemy has a vote, and sometimes stuff just happens. You must constantly reassess the situation and your understanding, and when the situation and your understanding change, change your approach with it.

When the 450th MCB relocated to Kuwait to conduct theater movement control operations from Camp Arifjan, the BC saw an opportunity to have his very own railroad—and not a scale model one. The Iraqi Republican Railroad (IRR) was reestablishing scheduled operations and the BC wanted to run the Army’s part of it. You don’t get to be a BC by not being an empire builder and maybe having a little arrogant streak. At first, the IRR worked fairly well. Then the war transitioned to the insurgency phase, and the situation changed. But despite the staff’s evaluation, analysis, and inference that the IRR was extremely vulnerable to insurgent attack, the BC was blinded by previous success. Fortunately for the BC, a major general with great wisdom took him aside and told him that while he was highly aggressive, he was also being a numbskull. The general forbade any further involvement with the IRR. Within a few weeks, the IRR ceased operating due to constant insurgent attacks. The BC dodged a bullet on that one, and the mentorship of senior officers may have saved some of his soldiers' lives. You can figure out the moral of this story. 

In conclusion, remember that if you can’t do it with style, then don’t do it.

Credit: © SPC Jaun Franco, 450th MCB. Used with permission. 

The two sub-skills here are self-examination and self-correction.