Thinking Habit 04

Identify
Knowledge Gaps

Assess what you know in relation to what you need to know for a purpose or circumstance.

Driving question

What do I need to know that I do not know yet?

Teacher prompts

  • What do you already know that helps with this task?
  • What information is missing from your decision?
  • Which gap matters most for your next step?
  • How could you find out what you need to know?

What students do

  • State what they need to understand, decide, or accomplish.
  • Separate what they know from what remains uncertain or unknown.
  • Prioritize missing information that could affect the task.
  • Plan a specific way to address a relevant gap.

See the habit in the work

A student recommends a container for a class garden. Identifying missing information shows what must be checked before the recommendation can be justified.

Illustrative classroom example · Mathematics and design · Planning a class garden

Draft

This container will hold enough soil for our garden.

The information available

The student knows that the container holds 60 liters of soil. The class has not yet measured the planting space or chosen the required soil depth.

Knowing the container’s capacity does not establish how much soil the garden needs.

Draft

This container will hold enough soil for our garden.

Teacher feedback

What do you know about the container? What do you still need to know to decide whether its capacity is enough?

The teacher directs attention to information needed for this particular decision, rather than asking the student to research everything about gardening.

Draft

This container will hold enough soil for our garden.

Revised

The container holds 60 liters. We still need the planting area and planned soil depth to estimate the soil volume required. I’ll measure the area and confirm the depth before comparing the volumes.

What changed: The student separated known capacity from unknown demand, named the missing information, and identified how to obtain it.

Try it in class

Known, needed, next

  1. Give students a decision or task. Ask them to state what a useful answer would allow them to do.
  2. Have them list what they know and identify missing information that could affect the answer.
  3. Ask them to prioritize one gap and specify a next step: measure, consult a source, ask someone, or investigate.

Make the gap specific

Have students record the task, relevant known information, a priority knowledge gap, and a concrete way to address it.

Look for a gap tied to the task. “I need to learn more” is a starting point; naming exactly what is missing makes the next step actionable. Not every unknown needs to be resolved.