Content Analysis of Tasks
Ashley Cottle, CI3030-417
​Modifying Tasks
Why do we modify tasks?
As educators, it is part of our job to differentiate the lessons in our classrooms to ensure that all students succeed and get the education they need. Modifying and changing our lessons is part of that differentiated learning, and in order to get students to the level they need to be at, we need to challenge them. This is here our modifications come in. Modifying tasks is simple to do and does not take much time.
Below is an example of how to modify a math problem to suit the needs of a student. In this case, I went from a low cognitive demand task to a high cognitive demand task.
Original Problem: Procedure without Connections
Think of a real-life situation that describes the following problem:
52 -- 17 = ?
Write the problem then solve it.
Modified Problem: Procedure with Connections
52-17 = ?
Write a problem about a real-life situation that describes the above problem and solve it using two different methods.
In the original problem, there only thing asked of the student was to solve a simple subtraction problem; however, the creation of a real-life application upped the level of cognition. In the modified problem, the student is now asked to solve the problem using two different methods which tests his or her's mathematical fluency and ability. It also ensures that the student fully understands how to subtract, which is why it is considered a higher cognitive demand question now.