Reconceptualizing Curriculum with Complexity
Adapted from “How The Brain Learns” by David Sousa
Complexity and difficulty describe completely different mental operations, but are often used synonymously.
Complexity describes thethoughtprocess that the brain uses to deal with information. It can be described by any of the six words representing the six levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. The question “What is the capital of Rhode Island?” is at the knowledge level, while the question “Examine the role of the state capital” is at the analysis level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. The second question is more complex than the first because it is at a higher level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Difficulty refers to the amount of effort that the learner must expend within a level of complexity to accomplish a learning objective. It is possible for a learning activity to become increasingly difficult without becoming more complex. For example, the question Name the states of the Union is at the knowledge level of complexity since it involves simple recall for most students. The question Name the states of the Union and their capitals is also at the knowledge level, but is more difficult than the prior question since it involves more effort to recall more information. Similarly, the question Name the states and their capitals in order of their admission to the Union is still at the knowledge level, but it is considerably more difficult than the first two.
These are examples of how a student can exert great effort to achieve a learning task while processing at the lowest level of thinking. When seeking to challenge students, classroom teachers are more likely (perhaps unwittingly) to increase difficulty rather than complexity as the challenge mode. This may be because they do not recognize the difference between these concepts or that they believe that difficulty is the method for achieving higher-order thinking.
Connecting Complexity and Difficulty to Ability
Teachers often indicate that complexity is closely linked to student’s ability. Some say that only students of higher ability can carry out the thought processes in the higher levels Bloom’s Taxonomy (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation). Others say that whenever they have tried to bring slower students up the taxonomy, the lesson got bogged down. However, we know that there is no link between complexity and a student’s ability. Brain research indicates that the brain is a pattern seeking device. When students’ tasks incorporate thought processes in the higher level of Bloom’s Taxonomy (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation), the brain is more likely to find meaning, make sense of the information, and make connections between past experience and the new learnings.
The mistaken link between complexity and ability is the result of an unintended but very real self-fulfilling prophesy. Here’s how it works. Teachers allot a certain amount of time for the class to learn a concept, usually based on how long they think it will take the average student to learn it. The fast learners learn the concept in less than the allotted time. During the remaining time, their brains often sort the concept’s sublearnings into important and unimportant, that is, they select the critical attributes for storage and discard what they decide is unimportant. This explains why fast learners are usually fast retrievers -- they have not cluttered their memory networks with trivia.
I:\Teaching & Learning\Curriculum Development Tools\Reading - Complexity.doc Page 1 of 1