Problem solving
How do I get from here to there?
Define the real problem, break it into parts you can handle, and test solutions before committing to them.
Think deeper.Solve smarter.Decide better.
Higher-order thinking skills for students – learned by working through real problems, one puzzle at a time.
Can you solve it?
Four ways of thinking
Higher-order thinking brings together four skills. Each has its own colour on this site, so you always know which one a course or puzzle is building.
Problem solving courses
Critical thinking
Is this actually true?
Weigh evidence, spot weak arguments and hidden assumptions, and separate what you know from what you’ve been told.
Innovative thinking
What else could this be?
Generate more ideas than feel comfortable, borrow from other fields, and turn the unexpected into something useful.
Decision making
Which path, and why?
Compare options against clear criteria, account for risk, and make choices you can explain and defend.
Climb past memorising
Most studying stops at remembering and understanding. Higher-order thinking is the top of the ladder: analysing, evaluating and creating.
Every lesson asks you to do one of those three things with what you’ve just learned – that’s where understanding sticks.
- Remember recall facts
- Understand explain ideas
- Apply use in new situations
- Analyse break apart, compare
- Evaluate judge and justify
- Create produce something new
My courses
Pick a skill to see the courses that build it.
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Dr. Omar J. Alkhatib
Founder and instructor
Omar is a faculty member in the Department of Architectural Engineering at United Arab Emirates University. His work in engineering design and management rests on the same skills these courses teach: analysing complex systems, weighing evidence, and making decisions that hold up under scrutiny.
HOTS & Engineering Thinking Skills brings that way of working to students and anyone who wants to think more clearly.
Get in touch
Questions about a course, training for a school or class, or a topic you’d like covered – send a message.
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