A Quick Guide to
The
SOLO
Taxonomy
Tom Barrett and Chris Harte
The Journey from Surface to Deep,
to Conceptual Understanding
Imagine trying to understand the
importance of a coral reef
ecosystem.
From the surface we can see some rippled
forms and maybe colours of individual corals.
As we dive deeper to look at the reef, we see it
with more clarity and notice it is, in fact, made
up of many individual corals coexisting.
As we explore the reef further, we are able to
observe the interconnections between the
reef, the animals and the environment.
We notice patterns, start to generalise and
make assumptions about the system. We
reach an extended abstract, conceptual
understanding of our learning outcome.
Signals of Learning
Growth and the
SOLO Taxonomy
We know the complexity of cognitive development and
the journey to deeper conceptual understanding is tough
to explain, and even harder to classify.
Teachers understand that every learner is unique, their
experience is unique, and the way they respond to
teaching and learning is unique.
A powerful strategy is to design proxies for learning that
help to generate clear signals of learning growth. But
even once we filter out the noise, we still need a
structure to help us better understand what the signals
mean.
The SOLO Taxonomy is a sorting tool which helps us
make sense of the complex, often noisy, sometimes
muddled, outcomes of learning.
The SOLO Taxonomy
The SOLO Taxonomy is a framework or mental model for
explaining the process of learning.
Kevin Collis and John Biggs first described it in 1982, in their
paper, Evaluating the Quality of Learning: The SOLO Taxonomy.
SOLO is an acronym for the Structure of the Observed Learning
Outcome.
Just like a Taxonomy of Australian Birds* would help you
classify birds you spot, a taxonomy for learning helps you to
accurately classify the learning you observe.
However, the framework holds even more potential in showing
what is next in the process of learning, not merely to classify
and identify.
You might use the SOLO Taxonomy when:
•
You are designing learning experiences and you want to ensure that
your intended learning outcomes are clear, accessible and can
demonstrate learning growth.
•
You are assessing individual learner’s growth by tuning into the
signals of learning they produce.
•
You are in dialogue with learners and providing formative
assessment through feedback and feedforward; it provides you a
common language.
•
You notice signals of learning which were not intended in the
learning design but are valuable to capture and explore with the
learner.
*These are definitely not all Australian birds
The SOLO
Taxonomy
Links extend to other known
concepts and connected knowledge.
Patterns, rules and observations are
abstracted from the connected concepts.
The taxonomy
presents a sequence
of steps to deeper
understanding, and a
clear language of
learning progression.
A range of ideas are shared, and the
connections, links and relationships
are explained accurately.
Note that the initial
levels focus on the
quantity of
understanding while
relational and extended
abstract levels focus
more on the quality and
interconnectedness
of understanding.
Many ideas shared independently
or with little support. Not yet able
to coherently link the ideas.
One, or very few basic
ideas. Lots of support and
scaffolding needed.
Not yet able to share
any relevant ideas.
Extended
Abstract
Relational
Multi
Structural
Uni Structural
Pre Structural
A learner moves from a surface, to
deep, to conceptual understanding.
Combine it with some strategies like
SOLO Question Chains and Growth
Ladders to help learners better
understand their learning growth.
Your Practical Next Steps
Aim High
When planning for the teaching and learning of a concept, aim high by starting
near the top and write out a Relational learning outcome from the point of view of
a learner:
The outcome: to understand a coral reef as an ecosystem.
By the end of this learning experience, I will
be able to explain the interconnected parts
of a coral reef system, including how a reef is part of an
ecosystem.
This gives you a target for all learners. You can then think up towards Extended
Abstract (learners may be able to hypothesise the impacts of climate change on a
reef or they be able to compare a reef system to another system, such as a
rainforest).
You can also then work down; what are the constituent parts of the concept that
might be identified at a Multistructural level.
Share SOLO with
your students
You may want to use adapted language
and hand signals, but a shared language
of learning growth is powerful for teachers
making judgements on learner
performance. Even more importantly, it is
a powerful learner tool.
SOLO gives learners the language to have
agency over their learning.
Mindmap the concept
and share
Create a mindmap of the concept you are
teaching and share it with learners from
the start of the learning experience. This
can help them see the big picture of what
they are learning and how it connects
together in a conceptual framework.
Think of this as showing learners the
whole gingerbread house, not just the
breadcrumbs in the forest.
“As learning
progresses it
becomes more
complex”
~ John Biggs
References
Biggs, J. (1999). Teaching for quality learning at university.
Buckingham: Buckingham Open University Press.
Biggs, J.B., & Collis, K.F. (1982). Evaluating the quality of
learning: The SOLO taxonomy. New York: Academic Press.
Biggs, J., & Tang, C. (2007). Teaching for quality learning at
university. What the student does (3rd Ed.). Berkshire:
Society for Research into Higher Education & Open
University Press.
Images Used
“Yellow-billed magpie, Stellers jay, Ultramarine jay and
Clark's crow. Artist: Audubon, John James, 1785-1851”
photo by Boston Public Library on Unsplash. Originally from
Digital Commonwealth
The coral photo is from the Red Sea by Francesco Ungaro
on Unsplash
A Quick Guide to
The
SOLO
Taxonomy
This introductory resource for the SOLO
Taxonomy was created and designed by Chris
Harte and Tom Barrett.
If you are interested in receiving more professional
learning resources or courses, like this one,
please get in touch.
Tom Barrett
tom@dialogiclearning.com
@tombarrett
Chris Harte
chris@uldtraining.com
@charte