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Show thinking

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Show thinking assessment prompts students to make their reasoning, strategies or processes visible. These tasks focus not only on the final response, but the approach taken to generate the response.

Students engage in a process where they:

  • explain their reasoning and creative choices, including the strategies used and decisions made
  • review their assumptions, consider alternative approaches and reflect on their work or revisions
  • articulate and justify how they approached a task, building greater awareness of their own thinking
  • share their thinking in varied formats, such as annotations, think-alouds, worked examples with explanations or quick reflective prompts (“I chose this method because …”, “I ruled out …”, “Next time I would …”).

Design considerations

 

When designing show thinking assessment, use the identified formative focus to consider: 

  • what prompts will allow students to make their reasoning, strategies or decision-making processes visible 
  • how the task will ensure students explain and demonstrate their reasoning, not just provide a final answer 
  • whether the format (for example, annotation, think-aloud, error analysis, justification box) is appropriate for efficiently capturing reasoning during the lesson. 

For you and your students, consider: 

  • what scaffolds (for example, think-alouds, worked examples or procedural prompts) will clarify your expectations and ensure all students can access and respond to the task 
  • what digital tools or drafting and annotation techniques may help to capture students’ thinking.
Aim

Show thinking assessments help assess students’ ability to:

 

  • understand an idea or concept, or how or why a process works
  • explain their thinking or connect ideas
  • plan, choose, use or adjust strategies when they solve problems or respond to challenges
  • use their learning in different ways or new situations.
Timing

Show thinking assessments are helpful: 

 

  • during the lesson to check student learning and guide teacher response in real time
  • after learning when time between lessons is needed to analyse evidence and decide whether to revisit or move forward
  • across lessons to track how students build, connect or transfer learning over time.
Evidence

Students demonstrate their learning through practical demonstrations, or by constructing short or extended responses.

In the classroom

 

These examples indicate how assessment with show thinking can provide evidence of students’ reasoning, strategies or processes. 

  • Annotations and think-alouds: students demonstrate their reasoning and understanding by annotating worked examples or verbalising their strategies and decisions. 
  • Drafts and prototypes: students demonstrate design choices and revisions through annotations, showing how their ideas evolve. 
  • Embedded reflections or justification boxes: students articulate their reasoning and reflect on choices using short written responses (for example, “I chose this method because …”). 
  • Error analysis tasks: students identify mistakes and justify corrections, demonstrating their understanding of concepts and processes. 
  • Inking thinking: students write or draw to make their learning visible, sharing, refining or deepening their understanding. 
  • Journals and learning logs: students reflect on a specific focus over time, building awareness of their strategies and progress. 
  • Strategy comparisons: students evaluate 2 approaches and explain which is more effective or efficient, revealing their reasoning and decision-making. 

Downloads

 

Formative assessment design guide – Show thinking

Samples

 

Find formative assessment samples related to this assessment type.