AUTHOR=Bechard Sue , Karvonen Meagan , Erickson Karen TITLE=Opportunities and Challenges of Applying Cognitive Process Dimensions to Map-Based Learning and Alternate Assessment JOURNAL=Frontiers in Education VOLUME=6 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2021.653693 DOI=10.3389/feduc.2021.653693 ISSN=2504-284X ABSTRACT=
In education, taxonomies that define cognitive processes describe what a learner does with the content. Cognitive process dimensions (CPDs) are used for a number of purposes, such as in the development of standards, assessments, and subsequent alignment studies. Educators consider CPDs when developing instructional activities and materials. CPDs may provide one way to track students’ progress toward acquiring increasingly complex knowledge. There are a number of terms used to characterize CPDs, such as depth-of-knowledge, cognitive demand, cognitive complexity, complexity framework, and cognitive taxonomy or hierarchy. The Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM™) Alternate Assessment System is built on a map-based model, grounded in the literature, where academic domains are organized by cognitive complexity as appropriate for the diversity of students with significant cognitive disabilities (SCD). Of these students, approximately 9% either demonstrate no intentional communication system or have not yet attained symbolic communication abilities. This group of students without symbolic communication engages with and responds to stimuli in diverse ways based on context and familiarity. Most commonly used cognitive taxonomies begin with initial levels, such as