The first term (Autumn) is always riddled with flash points of stress, work loads that are ridiculous and hopes that are unrealistic. My work load, as with every other teacher in the country could not accommodate the writing of a literature review, and so it was put to one side time and time again. But, this term (Spring) I have a managed to draft something akin to a review, which will remain in the present tense, but more interestingly enough I have finally started the action research for the study.
I want to evaluate the nature and extent that SOLO taxonomy can be used as a tool to improve the quality of work a student is able to produce. In a recent job interview I was challenged as to the relevance this approach had with students who are achieving the highest grades. While SOLO is geared to allow students to reach the 'extended abstract' where they are able to create and devise ideas and concepts on their own as a result of a structured learning process, the top graders are already there and need different kind of guidance.
I believe that SOLO can be used to level the playing field. For the lower graded students SOLO gives them necessary structure, awareness and understanding of their learning processes, while for the top graders, SOLO allows them the ability to act as advocates or ambassadors of ideas. Their challenge comes from teaching others what they know and so consolidating their own ideas. A concern will be, understandably, who is there to stretch those who are at the top of the scale, when their peers are at lower levels than them: it can be lonely at the top! Here the teacher comes in and acts as the top down facilitator, as they might be to their peers.
I have been having a play with different strategies; notably ones I have adopted from Pam Hook who is based in New Zealand and champion of SOLO. She created a technique where students use hexagons shapes to show the development of their ideas: working through the multistructural stage to the more advanced relational stage. While the students, in years 10-13, found this different from the norm, my impression is that for them, there is not enough permanence in the approach. Writing on little pieces of paper and tessellating them didn't feel mature enough or formal enough for them - they approached it as a cute gimmick. I wonder therefore, whether this approach is best suited for the younger student, rather than ones who are under enormous pressure of external exams and need a more formal strategy.
The main approach which I am currently using with my action research focus group is Pam Hook's HOT maps. Here flow diagrams are used to illustrate the development of an idea:
The response from the students was quite clear - they preferred this way, it gave them a visual representation of how their ideas should look and so the structure provided them with necessary security and reassurance. We used the evaluate map.
'And so just continuing...' doesn't seem to be the right description. It would suggest I am carrying on regardless and therefore any work I do has a restricted value. Perhaps 'And so we make progress...' would be a better one!
HOT maps
