Interpretation of Results
The focus of the research had two points of interest; 1) where do students struggle in their ability to analyze information, and 2) how does this level of analyzing data compare for different grade level students who are transitioning to college? From the data sample that was collected, both of these questions reached a starting point for discussion and exhibited general trends that will allow teachers to adapt and focus their instruction in order for students to obtain higher level critical thinking skills.
The data showed that the majority of the sample performed at the Understand level (level 2) of Revised Bloom's Taxonomy. Overall the students tend to struggle between the Understand Level and the Apply Level. Data showed students were able to comprehend the prompt through translating, interpreting, and extrapolating but were not able to know when or why to then apply that understanding to other situations. Even though the majority of the students in the Following Jack sample were at the Understand level, there was a statistically significant difference seen between the level of students in grade 9 and grade 13 (college freshman). This was also related to age where a statistically significant difference was seen between 14 year olds and 18 year olds in their analysis level within Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. The results showed that none of the students in grade 12 or 13 were in level 1 Remember, and none of the students in grade 9 or 10 were in the highest level for the research of Analyze (level 4).
Overall, the majority of high school students performed at the Understand level within Revised Bloom's Taxonomy, which is not considered a higher order of thinking. As educators the next step becomes what is necessary to advance or develop students' ability to think at a higher level. Researchers involved with this process have their own thoughts and perceptions of how to use these results to improve their teaching and learning within their classrooms. Below is an individual reflection from each of the Graham High School science teachers involved with this research project. Each reflection shares personal views and future thoughts/goals from the data that will be incorporated into our teachings next year in an effort to move students from lower order thinking skills to higher order thinking skill providing them with the foundation to successfully transition from high school level work to college level work.
Personal Reflections
Leslie Horne
After reflection on the data gathered from students by myself and my colleagues, I began to think about various ways to raise the level of critical thinking skills shown by my students. My first thoughts were on the idea that I believe that our students have little knowledge about the different levels of critical thinking skills. I think that it is important for them to know the difference between lower order thinking skills and higher order thinking skills. I would like to begin by teaching the students the different levels of thinking skills that are found in the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy. To help begin the instruction I plan on putting up bulletin boards in my classroom that highlight each level of critical thinking along with key words and phrases that often match that level. I believe that once a student understands the levels of critical thinking that perhaps when he/she is asked to analyze or evaluate a topic that he/she will analyze or evaluate rather than just remember or understand. To encourage student growth in critical thinking skills, I would like to modify lab questions to move from remembering to evaluating. I would also like to incorporate case studies that encourage students to evaluate and create into the curriculum. In the end, I want my students to understand how important higher level critical thinking skills are to their success in high school, college and life.
Jamie Proctor
Through this research I have learned a great deal about myself, my colleagues, and my students. The data we collected does provide us with insight into where students tend to fall along the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy Levels according to their grade levels. I hope to use this information to improve the critical thinking skills of the ninth graders I teach. Next year I plan to continue this research in my classroom by incorporating the following techniques/activities: 1) use bulletin boards to display the levels of Revised Bloom's Taxonomy with key words and ideas ; 2) give students various prompts related to the unit we are discussing. For the first technique students will become familiar with the vocabulary used within each level of Revised Bloom's Taxonomy. They will be able to see where their writing falls along and within the different levels of critical thinking, allowing students to use terms/concepts to move from lower level thinking skills to higher level thinking skills. The second technique will allow students to highlight their response based on levels, one color for each level. This will allow students to visualize which level they tend to use in their responses and hopefully encourage them to try to respond at higher and higher levels as the semester continues.
Valerie Sellars
The impact of this research has lead the science department, as well as myself, to become more cognitively aware of the the types of assessment assignments we give students. Traditional assessments focus on "HOW" students are learning, examining their skill mastery using multiple choice type questioning. With a closer examination of Revised Bloom's Taxonomy and the knowledge gained about analysis skills among high school and freshman college students I plan to develop more lessons to focus on "WHAT" students have learned, assessing their conceptual learning skills using open-ended type 
questioning.
Next year, I plan to continue my research by using problem based learning activities, including Case Studies and Formative Assessment Probes in Biology classes to assess students analytical skills. It is a goal to use these techniques as a avenue to teach my student that science is more than just a collection of facts, it involves using these facts to develop their critical thinking skills.
Lisa Shaw
In response to the data that was collect in our research I would like to improve the critical thinking skills of the students in my classes by teaching the meaning of each of the levels of Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy through classroom activities. An example of an activity would be to do a matching activity where students match a critical thinking level described by Revised Blooms Taxonomy with a writing sample. Students will then this knowledge to identify the level of RBT of their writing using writing prompts. Students will be given activities to encourage them to move beyond the Apply Level to the Analyze Level by demonstrating critical thinking skills such as debate, discussion, models of thinking and retrospective analysis
Student practice will allow them to develop a more self -aware metacognitive approach to their writing and through this practice hopefully be able to achieve the Analyze Level of the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy.
I will compare the writing prompts to the writing prompts from our research to see if there is any improvement in students critical thinking skills measured by Revised Bloom'
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