Does activation of higher-order thinking skills lead to students (dis)satisfaction with their academic experience?

Although satisfaction with academic experience in the context of higher education has been an area of research for nearly 40 years, it is still unclear how pedagogical practices in the development of thinking skills are related to students’ satisfaction. This study aims to investigate the relationships between students’ satisfaction and the levels of thinking skills aligned with Bloom’s revised taxonomy (BRT) taking into account students’ characteristics. Relying on survey data (14 341 undergraduate students from five US universities), this study shows that when students are engaged in thinking skills higher on cognitive hierarchy of BRT, they are more likely to feel satisfied. Whereas engaging students in low thinking skills activities does not increase satisfaction with their academic experience. This study contributes to better understanding of how course design can be associated with student satisfaction and how instructors can implement the principles of BRT in their courses.