SOLO Taxonomy is something I have only recently started using. During the Christmas holiday, I wanted to find a way of differentiating lessons easily. Being a PE teacher, we have the luxury of being able to see whether a student is working towards or working below, the set intended learning outcomes.
So, I set about researching different methods of differentiation, looking through various handouts from my teacher training year, INSETs and general ideas I have picked up from other teachers. I come across a blog by David Fawcett (twitter @davidfawcett27) who has been researching the benefits of using SOLO in a GCSE PE class, I highly recommend following him, as he has done some amazing work using SOLO.
This is an absolutely amazing concept and it is very easy to get your head around, thanks to the resources he has put into his blog. Here is a video of the INSET he delivered to staff at his school (David Fawcett SOLO Taxonomy INSET video).
So, I set about researching different methods of differentiation, looking through various handouts from my teacher training year, INSETs and general ideas I have picked up from other teachers. I come across a blog by David Fawcett (twitter @davidfawcett27) who has been researching the benefits of using SOLO in a GCSE PE class, I highly recommend following him, as he has done some amazing work using SOLO.
This is an absolutely amazing concept and it is very easy to get your head around, thanks to the resources he has put into his blog. Here is a video of the INSET he delivered to staff at his school (David Fawcett SOLO Taxonomy INSET video).
SOLO Taxonomy
This is a basic description of what it is and how it works
It is was developed by Biggs and Collis (1982) and it involves five stages. The stages start from students having no knowledge and understanding (Prestructural) to the final stage (Extended abstract) where the student has several ideas about a particular area, being able to link them to a big picture, and being able to look at these ideas in a new and different way. Obviously, not all students will get through each of the five stages, but as a result you can guarantee that they will learn a lot more from using it.
The five stages
1. Prestructural - I have no idea what you are talking about....
2. Unistructural - I have heard one thing, or I have one relevant idea about....
3. Multistructural - I know a few things, or I have several ideas about....
4. Relational - I know a few things, or I have several ideas about... and I can link these together
5. Extended abstract - I know a few things, or I have several ideas about... and I can link these together. I can also look at these ideas in a new and different way.
When looking at this for the first time you can see it is well structured.
But then, what if the student/learner already knows something about this, this is where I have found that it is an amazingly awesome concept.
Obviously, no learner is the same and that goes for their knowledge as well. Every person will have a different starting point, they might know a lot about a particular topic or they might not. When using this in lessons you can quickly identify the stage that everyone is at, in their learning. From there, you can differentiate the learning very clearly. The best thing I have found when using this, is that the students/learners can clearly see their progression at the end of the lesson. As a result, their confidence will improve as they can see they have made progress.
It is was developed by Biggs and Collis (1982) and it involves five stages. The stages start from students having no knowledge and understanding (Prestructural) to the final stage (Extended abstract) where the student has several ideas about a particular area, being able to link them to a big picture, and being able to look at these ideas in a new and different way. Obviously, not all students will get through each of the five stages, but as a result you can guarantee that they will learn a lot more from using it.
The five stages
1. Prestructural - I have no idea what you are talking about....
2. Unistructural - I have heard one thing, or I have one relevant idea about....
3. Multistructural - I know a few things, or I have several ideas about....
4. Relational - I know a few things, or I have several ideas about... and I can link these together
5. Extended abstract - I know a few things, or I have several ideas about... and I can link these together. I can also look at these ideas in a new and different way.
When looking at this for the first time you can see it is well structured.
But then, what if the student/learner already knows something about this, this is where I have found that it is an amazingly awesome concept.
Obviously, no learner is the same and that goes for their knowledge as well. Every person will have a different starting point, they might know a lot about a particular topic or they might not. When using this in lessons you can quickly identify the stage that everyone is at, in their learning. From there, you can differentiate the learning very clearly. The best thing I have found when using this, is that the students/learners can clearly see their progression at the end of the lesson. As a result, their confidence will improve as they can see they have made progress.
Example lesson
Starting a new topic, it is always interesting finding out how much a student already knows!
I have recently taught the personal health (section 1.1.5 Edexcel GCSE PE), to find out how much the students already knew, I posed the question.....
What is nutrition?
(using the template below)
I have recently taught the personal health (section 1.1.5 Edexcel GCSE PE), to find out how much the students already knew, I posed the question.....
What is nutrition?
(using the template below)
At the beginning of the lesson, I went through how SOLO works with David Fawcett's 'What are the principles of training' PowerPoint presentation.
I was extremely surprised at the response, and how much the students brought into the idea! I then proceeded to ask them the question, 'what is nutrition?'. Straight away, some students went to the Multistructural section and started writing down information on carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins. Some students, struggled and after a few minutes started to write pasta is carbohydrates. One student, wasn't quite sure about nutrition and told me 'I don't know', after a couple of minutes, I could clearly see who had an idea, and who didn't.
This gave me a very good picture, of what the students knew, and as a result where they needed to start from. Before the lesson, I had used a learning activity called 'Upwardly Mobile'. This activity uses: All, Most, Some as a starting point to help provide a simple, but well differentiated structured lesson.
At the end of the lesson, the results where amazing. The students could clearly see how much progression they had made. The student who was in the Prestructural stage, at the beginning of the lesson had progressed to the Relational stage, and was know brimming with confidence, and was very excited to tell me how much they could link! 'Sir, you need a balance and a variety of Macro, and Micronutrients. These include.......
Students that has started in the Multistructural stage had know progressed to the Extended abstract stage, and where know confidently answering long answer questions to good effect.
I was extremely impressed with this concept, and will ensure I use this in all theory lessons.
I was extremely surprised at the response, and how much the students brought into the idea! I then proceeded to ask them the question, 'what is nutrition?'. Straight away, some students went to the Multistructural section and started writing down information on carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins. Some students, struggled and after a few minutes started to write pasta is carbohydrates. One student, wasn't quite sure about nutrition and told me 'I don't know', after a couple of minutes, I could clearly see who had an idea, and who didn't.
This gave me a very good picture, of what the students knew, and as a result where they needed to start from. Before the lesson, I had used a learning activity called 'Upwardly Mobile'. This activity uses: All, Most, Some as a starting point to help provide a simple, but well differentiated structured lesson.
At the end of the lesson, the results where amazing. The students could clearly see how much progression they had made. The student who was in the Prestructural stage, at the beginning of the lesson had progressed to the Relational stage, and was know brimming with confidence, and was very excited to tell me how much they could link! 'Sir, you need a balance and a variety of Macro, and Micronutrients. These include.......
Students that has started in the Multistructural stage had know progressed to the Extended abstract stage, and where know confidently answering long answer questions to good effect.
I was extremely impressed with this concept, and will ensure I use this in all theory lessons.
Resources
The resource below, is what I give to my students during a lesson.
SOLO Taxonomy | |
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