When students engage in higher-order thinking, they must solve problems and develop new meanings for themselves. There is an element of uncertainty and unpredictability in the process. Depth of knowledge. Depth of knowledge means that students deal with the significant concepts or central ideas of a discipline.
Students use knowledge to understand arguments, solve problems, or construct explanations.
Connectedness to the world beyond the classroom. This feature involves considerable discussion and interaction about the ideas of a topic that develop and build on ideas presented by others in the conversation. It involves the sharing of ideas and multiple exchanges in which students and other participants develop shared understanding of a theme or topic. Social support for student achievement. Social support is more than token acknowledgement or praise for participation.