[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# A Simple Solution to a Complex Problem

## Details

**Authors** Wheeler G

**Year** 2010

**Publisher** ASCD Express

**Kind of work** article

**Discipline** Systems Science

**Secondary disciplines** Education

**Reading level** beginner

**Kind of engagement** reach

[Read it](https://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol5/523-wheeler.aspx)

## In authors' words

### Abstract

When Benjamin Bloom created his taxonomy of educational outcomes in 1956, he faced problems not unlike those educators today must confront. Bloom's taxonomy (Bloom et al., 1956) quickly became one of the most popular frameworks in education. Yet in spite of its popularity and evolution (as evidenced by revisions by Anderson and Krathwohl [2001] and Marzano and Kendall [2007]), we see the same problems almost 60 years later as educators continue to grapple with ensuring students receive a rigorous education and defining what it means to teach "thinking skills." Research scientists Derek Cabrera and Laura Colosi call for a new approach to teaching thinking skills so that all students receive an education that prepares them for the 21st century. In their book Thinking at Every Desk, Cabrera and Colosi (2009) describe research they conducted that led to the DSRP method, a framework for teaching and learning that represents a seismic shift away from other taxonomies. The DSRP method is intimately tied to knowledge. In more than 20 years of research completed at Cornell University, Cabrera examined thousands of disciplines, surveying their histories and interviewing experts in those fields. He also studied how novices and experts construct new knowledge or change existing knowledge. The result was four universal patterns that structure knowledge: 1. Making Distinctions Between Identity and Other 2. Organizing Systems into Parts and Wholes 3. Recognizing Relationships of Cause and Effect 4. Taking Perspectives of Point and View

### What they set out to do (purpose)

An ASCD Express piece introducing educators to the DSRP method from Cabrera and Colosi's Thinking at Every Desk, set against Bloom's taxonomy and its revisions.

### What they found (results)

Sixty years after Bloom, educators grapple with the same problems; DSRP's four universal patterns that structure knowledge represent a seismic shift away from other taxonomies for teaching thinking skills.

## Commentary

### In short

Article in ASCD Express.

### Response

An ASCD Express piece introducing DSRP to educators against the background of Bloom's taxonomy. A record of early reach into teaching practice.

**Patterns it shows** D, S, R, P

**How to cite this** Wheeler G (2010). A Simple Solution to a Complex Problem. ASCD Express.