A framework for analyzing cognitive demand and content-practices integration: Task analysis guide in science

Abstract

Many countries, including the United States, emphasize the importance of developing students' scientific habits of mind and their capacity to think deeply about scientific ideas in an integrated fashion. Recent science education policies in the United States portray a related vision of science teaching and learning that is meant to guide the improvement efforts of science teachers, professional developers, and school leaders, as well as the design efforts of curriculum and assessment developers. To understand the extent to which this vision is being enacted in science classrooms, we consider the tasks to which students are exposed as representative of the types of opportunities that they have to think, reason, and engage in disciplinary ideas and practices in science classrooms. The purpose of this article is to advance a framework to analyze science tasks and instruction in terms of two dimensions that are critical for science learning: (1) cognitive demand; and (2) the integration of scientific content and practices. We present the Task Analysis Guide in Science (TAGS) framework through a detailed description of its categories along with concrete examples of science tasks in each category. We compare it to other frameworks related to cognitive demand. We conclude by discussing various ways in which the TAGS can serve as a helpful analytical tool for educational researchers and practitioners. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 52: 659–685, 2015.