What Exactly Is Depth of Knowledge?

Depth of knowledge. It's a concept we in education have heard a lot about since our states transitioned to college and career ready standards — be it the Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, or whatever each individual state has decided to call their academic standards that promote college and career readiness.

It's also one of the most misinterpreted and misrepresented concepts in education that is not only confusing but also frustrating us educators. Most of it is due to the infamous DOK Wheel.

Perhaps you are familiar with this wheel. Perhaps you were presented a copy of the wheel as part of the Race to the Top training that addressed transitioning to the Common Core State Standards. Perhaps you were provided a copy of this graphic as a poster or instructional tool you can use to develop and deliver lessons that not only address depth of knowledge but also promote cognitive rigor.

This graphic is an effective and useful tool — for teaching and learning for higher order thinking. It categorizes the levels of thinking students are expected to demonstrate, which is what cognitive taxonomies such as Anderson and Krathwohl's revision of Bloom's Taxonomy, Cognitive and Metacognitive Systems of Marzano's New Taxonomy, and Biggs and Collis's SOLO Taxonomy do. In fact, out of all the taxonomies that categorize higher order thinking, the DOK Wheel is most aligned to the SOLO Taxonomy and its four quadrants. This should be called the HOT Wheel or even the SOLO Wheel and could be used to plan and provide instruction that marks and measures higher order thinking.

However, it does not designate the depth of knowledge students must understand and use their learning — or, at least, how Webb's Depth of Knowledge designates these levels.

The origins of the DOK Wheel are unknown. No one seems to know from where it came or who designed it. What is confirmed, however, is that it was not designed by Norman Webb and he does not endorse it as a tool for educators to use to plan and provide complex instruction and assessments (Walkup, 2014a).

Unfortunately, the DOK Wheel has been widely distributed and included in professional development trainings and materials on college and career ready standards. The widespread distribution of the DOK Wheel and other poorly designed visuals and maps that inaccurately portray the DOK levels has caused confusion over what exactly teaching and learning for Depth of Knowledge is and involves.

The concept of Depth of Knowledge that is addressed in the college and career ready standards was developed by Norman Webb (1997; 2002). Webb designed his model as a means of increasing the cognitive complexity and demand of standardized assessments.

Essentially, depth of knowledge designates how deeply students must know, understand, and be aware of what they are learning in order to attain and explain answers, outcomes, results, and solutions. It also designates how extensively students are expected to transfer and use what they have learned in different academic and real world contexts.

The focus of these levels are not on the type of thinking or even the kind of knowledge students are expected to demonstrate. That's what taxonomies such as Bloom's, SOLO, or Marzano's do — establish the level of thinking students will be expected to demonstrate as part of a learning experience. Webb's establishes the context — the scenario, the setting, or the situation — which students will express and share the depth and extent of their learning.

• DOK-1: Knowledge Acquisition — Recall and reproduce data, definitions, details, facts, information, and procedures.
• DOK-2: Knowledge Application — Use academic concepts and cognitive skills to answer questions, address problems, accomplish tasks, and analyze texts and topics.
• DOK-3: Knowledge Analysis — Think strategically and reasonably about how and why concepts, ideas, operations, and procedures can be used to attain and explain answers, conclusions, decisions, outcomes, reasons, and results.
• DOK-4: Knowledge Augmentation — Think extensively about what else can be done, how else can learning be used, and how could the student personally use what they have learned in different academic and real world contexts.

These levels may seem to scaffold similarly to taxonomies like Bloom's. However, they establish how in-depth students will express and share their learning. DOK-1 is content-specific, focusing on the specific text or topic being taught and learned. DOK-2 and DOK-3 is item-oriented, focusing on how and why learning can be transferred and used to attain and explain reasons, relationships, and results. DOK-4 is extensive and practical, focusing on how and why learning can be transferred and used across the curriculum and beyond the classroom. Karin Hess (2006) describes these levels not as steps but rather "ceilings" that establish how far or in-depth students will study and share knowledge and thinking.

It was Karin Hess who extended the concept of using depth of knowledge to instruct and assess student learning by superimposing Webb's Depth-of-Knowledge Model with Bloom's Revised Taxonomy to mark and measure the cognitive rigor of learning experiences (2009). In teaching and learning for cognitive rigor, Bloom's determines the cognition or thinking students are expected to demonstrate as part of a learning experience. Webb's designates the context — the scenario, setting, and situation — students are expected to express and share what they are learning.

When planning for teaching and learning for depth of knowledge, consider how deeply or extensively you want your students to go with their learning. Establish the scenario, setting, or situation teaching and learning will be developed, delivered, and demonstrated.

That is teaching and learning that promotes depth of knowledge.

Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S. is an author, educator, and speaker who specializes in teaching and learning that promotes cognitive rigor and college and career readiness. He is the author of Deconstructing Depth of Knowledge: A Method and Model for Deeper Teaching and Learning published by Solution Tree. He is also the owner of Maverik Education LLC, providing academic professional development and consultation to K-12 schools, colleges, and universities.

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