A Learning by Construction Approach for HOCS Improvement

Higher Order Cognitive skills (HOCS) relate to the perception that an individual has acquired skills to make a decision under various conditions of uncertainty and time limit. The importance of graduates' HOCS for problem solving and decision making has been highlighted by academia and practitioners. Traditional learning approaches have been criticized for failure to improve HOCS in science education, which suggests the need for new approaches to address this dilemma. In addition to this, there is shortage of ICT capacity and infrastructure especially in the Least Developed Countries. HOCS can be improved if content is designed following the elements we recommend in this book. In our research we carry out a comprehensive theoretical review of published studies that examine the current methods for improving HOCS, which provide the HOCS improvement requirements. This research proposes the Learning by construction approach for introducing an ICT education program for HOCS improvement, building capacity and infrastructure in Least Developed Countries.