higher order thinking skills

Higher order thinkingskills include problem solving, criticalthinking, and decision making. They refer to the “ability to identify an issue and take in information from multiple sources to evaluate options in order to reach a reasonable conclusion” (Lippman et al., 2015). Higher order thinkingis sought by employers and is critical for workforce success. Higher order thinking skills also garnered considerable support from the literature as important skills in the prevention of youth violence. Important higher order thinking skills for violence prevention often include accurately interpreting others’ behaviors and using non-aggressive problem solving strategies. When higher order thinking skills are included in studies, the findings are generally positive and consistent. However, research on discrete higher order thinking skills is not as prevalent as the research on self-control, social skills, and empathy.