Assessment of Higher-Order Thinking Skills: Is it Simply Determined by Verbs?

Abstract

The assessment of higher order thinking skills (HOTS) is the important practices in the teaching and learning process. However, various issues raised in the process of developing assessment task, namely i) the vague and diverse understanding of the HOTS concept. and ii) rely on the verb as a determinant to categorize the thinking ability level in the assessment task. The educators should master the five fundamental principles in the development of good quality and high degree of validity of the assessment tasks. Besides, the educators should hold a clear concept of HOTS which can be viewed from three main categories, namely transfer, critical thinking and problem solving. Various assessment strategies are stated for assessing problem solving, creativity and innovative, and decision-making ability. In the scoring process, apart from the accuracy of facts and answers, the assessor should also emphasize the response structure in terms of the ability to apply, analyze or synthesize the concept or content learned, as well as the ability to understand and use the information provided in the scenario. The detail discussions of the main principles for assessing HOTS, concept of HOTS, various strategies to assess HOTS and scoring the response structure for the HOTS tasks would provide a thorough and comprehensive overview of the HOTS task development process. This information is very vital for the educators and teachers who should play the role as professional assessors.