| Intellectual quality
Introduction
Higher-order thinking
Deep knowledge
Deep understanding
Substantive conversation
Knowledge as problematic
Metalanguage Deep understanding Do the work and responses of the students demonstrate a deep understanding of concepts or ideas?
Explanation Students develop deep understanding when they grasp the relatively complex relationships between the central concepts of a topic or discipline. Instead of being able to recite only fragmented pieces of information, they understand the topic in a relatively systematic, integrated or holistic way. As a result of their deep understanding, they can produce new knowledge by discovering relationships, solving problems, constructing explanations and drawing conclusions. Students have only shallow understanding when they do not or cannot use knowledge to make clear distinctions, present arguments, solve problems or develop more complex understanding of other related phenomena. Example A Year 12 Art class worked collaboratively on a submission to design a three-dimensional installation for a public space with a youth theme. The collaborative nature of the task required extended dialogue between the students and their teacher to develop shared ideas, concepts, themes and design elements. Because the installation was planned for a public space, they also consulted local government officers. The students demonstrated deep understanding at each stage of the project: the specifications of the design brief, the sourcing of materials, the timeframe for constructing the installation and the preparation of the submission. The students' final proposal was supported by reasoned and creative explanations of the installation's aesthetic and functional appeal. The students needed very little direction from the teacher. They were engaged in the project in ways that demonstrated their complete understanding of what was expected of them; and they showed insight in their artistic explanation of the work. Continuum of practice | Almost all students do at least one of the following: sustain a focus on a significant topic; demonstrate their understanding of the problematic nature of information and/or ideas; demonstrate complex understanding by arriving at a reasoned, supported conclusion; explain how they solved a complex problem. In general, students' reasoning, explanations and arguments demonstrate fullness and complexity of understanding. Students' deep understanding is uneven. Deep understanding in one area, by some students, is countered by superficial understanding in another (by either the same students or others.) At least one significant idea may be understood in depth, but in general the focus is not sustained. Almost all students demonstrate understanding of simple information that they are to remember. | | 
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