The Depth and complexity icons consist of 19 pictures or icons, each with a corresponding title and concept. The icons are tools that can be used in many different ways to extend and elaborate curriculum, helping students to delve more deeply into a topic of study, while viewing content from multiple perspectives. They provide a means for students to develop and exhibit abstract thinking, and help students to make interdisciplinary connections. Using these icons and enriching your curriculum and instruction with depth and complexity facilitates student thinking and learning.

These concepts were developed by Dr. Sandra Kaplan, past President of the National Association for Gifted Students and a Clinical professor of Education at USC, with the intention of meeting the needs of the gifted student. These strategies change questioning, utilize thinking and problem-solving, and organize information and planning for teachers and students alike. The dimensions of depth/complexity allow all teachers the opportunity to define, implement, and evaluate their differentiation of instruction and to plan learning experiences that provide activities suited to the content and learners’ needs.

Depth refers to the concept of challenging learners by enabling them to dig deeper, venture further and more elaborately into a current area of study. Complexity refers to the concept of broadening the learners understanding of an area of study by making relationships and associations between and across subjects and disciplines.