What is active learning?

Active learning is a process that has student learning at its centre. Active
learning focuses on how students learn, not just on what they learn.
Students are encouraged to ‘think hard’,
rather than passively receive information from the teacher. Research shows
us that it is not possible to transmit understanding to students by simply
telling them what they
need to know. Instead, teachers need to make sure that they challenge
their students’ thinking. With active learning, students play an important part
in their own learning process.
They build knowledge and understanding in response to opportunities
provided by their teacher.

What is your definition of active learning?

Listen to these teachers giving their personal definitions. How
do their definitions compare with yours?

Transcript

In the rest of this unit we will look at the basics of active learning in more
detail. We will look at the theory behind active learning, discuss the benefits
of an active learning approach
and discover some practical examples. We will also hear from experienced
teachers, who will be sharing their ideas.

Throughout the unit we will ask you reflective questions that will help you to
think about how you can apply active learning in your lessons.

At the end of the unit there is a glossary of key words and phrases.

What is the theory behind active learning?

Active learning is based on a theory called constructivism. Constructivism

emphasises the fact that learners construct or build their own
understanding. Constructivists argue that learning is a process of 'making
meaning'. Learners develop their existing knowledge and understanding in
order to achieve deeper levels of understanding. This means that learners
are more able to analyse, evaluate and synthesise ideas (thus achieving
the higher order skills of Bloom’s Taxonomy). Skilled teachers make these
deeper levels of understanding more possible by providing learning
environments, opportunities, interactions, tasks and instruction that foster
deep learning.
The theory of 'social constructivism' says that learning happens mainly
through social interaction with others, such as a teacher or other students.
One social constructivist, Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934), developed the idea of
the Zone of Proximal Development. This zone lies between what a learner
can achieve alone and what a learner can achieve with their teacher’s
expert guidance. Skilled teachers focus learning activities in this zone.
Skilled teachers scaffold learning by providing guidance and support that
challenges students based on their current ability. This helps students to
develop their understanding in stages.

Skilled teachers also provide rich feedback using Assessment for

learning (AFL). Skilled teachers use AFL to help students to understand two
things: firstly their current strengths and weaknesses and secondly what
they need to do to improve. AFL activities are sometimes based on formal
assessments. However, AFL can also be based on many types of informal
assessment which can include peer assessment, where students assess
each other.

Active learning also links to other theories of learning:

Learning should be relevant and within a meaningful context.

This idea was developed by the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(1712–1778). It influenced numerous educators in the early 20th century
such as John Dewey (1859–1952) and Maria Montessori (1870–1952). The
main idea is that we learn best when we can see the usefulness of what we
learn and connect it to the real world.

Learning is developmental.
Learning experiences for young people should be appropriate to their level
of development. Some of this is linked to their age, although development
level and age are not always the same thing.
What are the benefits of active learning?
Active learning helps students to become 'lifelong learners'
In an active learning approach, learning is not only about the content, but is
also about the process. Active learning develops students’ autonomy and
their ability to learn. Active learning gives students greater involvement and
control over their learning. This means that students are better able to
continue learning once they have left school and college.

Active learning encourages success

Cambridge examinations do not simply test recall of knowledge. Successful
candidates draw on their understanding in order to evaluate and synthesise
ideas. Therefore, Cambridge programmes and qualifications are best taught
using an active learning approach. Encouraging active learning helps
students to achieve higher grades, based on their enhanced skills and
understanding.

Because active learning encourages students to take a central role in their

own learning, it prepares them better for both higher education and for the
workplace. Analytical skills also help students to be better at problem
solving and applying their knowledge. Universities and employers value
this.

Active learning is engaging and intellectually exciting

An active learning approach encourages all students to stay focused on
their learning, which will often give them greater enthusiasm for their
studies. Teachers also find that they enjoy the level of academic discussion
with their students which an active learning approach encourages.

Listen to these educators giving their views on the benefits of active

learning for their students. Which of the benefits are most relevant to your
students?

Transcription: What are the benefits of Active Learning?

Alka Pandey Vice Principal at Daffodil International School Pune, India Mark
Winterbottom University Senior Lecturer, Science Faculty of Education, Cambridge
Michael Palmer Deputy Head of Sixth Form Chelmsford County High for Girls, Essex
Alka Pandey: Getting good scores in summative examinations is very important for
the students and we cannot shy away from those facts, and especially in
Mathematics is such a subject which the students who have opted for at higher level
at IGCSE and A Levels, getting a good score is very important for them. But, at the
same time, we need them to know that being an independent learner is important for
them, because that in itself will lead to good scores. It will lead to higher
achievements and successes in life.

Mark Winterbottom: It’s extremely difficult to forget something that you’ve

understood. So, if you focus on understanding, instead of simply remembering and
memorising facts, then you will be equally as successful, if not more successful, and
that’s what teachers should keep in mind, the two things are not in conflict at all.
Active learning is about learning. Learning is about being good scientists or linguists,
good historians. And if you’ve understood then you will get a good grade, because
you will remember it as well.

Michael Palmer: I think in the short term, the kind of intellectual engagement the
active participation in learning better prepares students for responding to examination
questions and actually specifically answering the questions that is set by examiners
as opposed to throwing down a pre-learnt answer that perhaps is not to the point. I
think in the longer term, active learning speaks to the aims that schools have, the
aims that many schools have of developing life-long learners, of developing people
who have ownership of their own learning and who are, I keep saying this, who are
intellectually engaged in that learning. I think active learning teaches students to ask
questions and to interrogate received wisdom and to approach material in a critical
and reflective way. Active learning is normally shared learning where progress is
often the result of dialogue between the student and teacher, rather than as
something that is given to the students on a plate.
Seven misconceptions about active
learning
1. 'Active learning is all about doing a particular activity'
Active learning is about encouraging students to engage actively with their
studies. The learning objective is more important than the task itself.

For instance, many people think that a small-group task is automatically an

active learning task. People also often think that a whole-class discussion
cannot be an active learning task. In fact, whether something is an active
learning task or not depends on the teacher's planning and style. Skilled
teachers ask themselves questions such as:

In a class discussion am I using open-ended questions to get my students

thinking?
In a group task do the students know what the learning aims are?
In a seminar activity do the students have effective resources to support
them?

All activities must be relevant to what you want the students to learn. Some
learning objectives might lend themselves best to students engaging in
small-group seminars or a collaborative project. Other objectives might be
better with a more lecture-style approach.

2. 'Active learning is the same as enquiry-based learning'

Enquiry-based learning is also known as problem-based learning. In
enquiry-based learning, the student learns by exploring a series of
questions. Sometimes these questions are set by the teacher, and
sometimes by the students themselves. Students will then decide how they
can answer these questions most effectively. Teachers will be on hand to
help, but students lead the process. Enquiry-based learning can be an
excellent technique for encouraging active learning. However, as we will
see later in the 'Active learning in practice' section, it is only one of many
techniques.

As with all teaching, the focus needs to be on the learning not the task. Ask
yourself:

Is a student-led enquiry the most effective way for my students to achieve

their learning objectives in this lesson?

3. 'Active learning means taking away the teacher’s influence'

Active learning does not mean reducing the role of the teacher. The teacher
is still the director of their students’ learning. Skilful planning is very
important. For example, you need to consider: what your students are going
to get from an activity, what resources you need to provide and how you are
going to assess your students’ progress.

4. 'Active learning means a complete change of teaching style and

classroom layout'
Active learning does not have to mean a complete change to classroom
practice. You should think about how your students will learn in each
activity. Occasionally, you might need to design a completely new activity or
major classroom change. However, the changes required will often only be
small ones. You might even realise that you are already promoting active
learning but you did not recognise it.

5. 'Active learning will cause bad behaviour'

If students are actively engaged in a group discussion, the classroom will
be noisier than if you are the only one talking. However, as with any activity,
you will still be in charge of the class. You will need to decide what levels of
noise you are happy with.

One of the exciting things about active learning is that students will want to
engage with you in discussion. Sometimes they will want to discuss your
interpretations and ideas. Healthy discussion is beneficial for students and
teachers. However, you are still in charge of the class, and need to decide
when things are available for discussion, and when the class needs to
move onto the next topic or task.

6. 'Students have to be physically active'

Active learning is about making the brain active, not the person. Active
learning does not mean that students have to move around the room. While
students can move around the classroom if appropriate, they can also
remain seated at their desks.

7. 'Active learning makes students less respectful'

A student who is engaged in thinking for themselves might not always
agree with their teacher. However, healthy discussion in a respectful
environment does not mean that the students will respect their teacher less.
Healthy discussion means that students are engaging with their teacher as
a partner in their learning.

Which of these seven misconceptions do you think you will hear from
parents, students or colleagues? What will you say to them?
An active learning checklist
If you are new to active learning, it will help to ask yourself the following
questions:

What do the students in my class need to learn?

Try to think about skills as well as subject content.

How will the task that I have chosen help my students to learn?
Different learning outcomes need different types of task. You know your
own students’ strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, you can think about
what your students particularly need to help them to achieve.

How am I using questioning?

It is easy for teachers to ask lots of factual-recall questions and other closed
questions. On the other hand, open-ended questions help students to think
for themselves, and to develop their ideas. It is also helpful to ask follow-up
questions that will prompt your students to say (and think) more, such as
‘Tell me more about that’, or ‘Why do you think that?’.
Make sure that all students are involved in a discussion. Consider choosing
students to answer, rather than inviting them to raise their hands. This way,
every student has to think, because every student might be asked to
contribute. Also consider pausing before letting your students answer.
Leaving three seconds, rather than one, before you allow students to
answer gives everyone more time to think about what they want to say.

How far am I creating a positive classroom environment where it’s fine

to take intellectual risks?
Students need to be confident in trying out new ideas. They need to know
that they will not be laughed at, and that there are high levels of mutual
respect.

If I need to focus on content, can I encourage the development of a

skill at the same time?
For instance, if a teacher wants their students to learn important factual
information that they can use in an essay, he/she could try the following
activity:

(i) Ask the students to think of five key facts which they could use as
evidence for a particular essay question.

(ii) Ask the students to use at least one of these facts to write a short
paragraph as part of an answer to this question.

(iii) Ask how the five facts could be re-used for a different essay question on
the same topic. The teacher could either give them these questions, or
could get them to think of their own questions.

(iv) Ask the students to write a paragraph as part of an answer to one of

these new questions. They should use at least one of their five facts to
support their point.

In this way, the students are learning the factual information and also the
analytical application of this information. The same is also true the other
way around – skills development work usually leads to more high-level
thinking if it is linked to meaningful content.

How will I present the task to the students?

Students can be a little nervous about being encouraged to take more
responsibility for their learning. It will help to explain briefly to your students
why they are doing the task and what they will learn from it. If possible,
explain any connection between the task and what your students need for
their final examination, so that they understand why it will be useful.

How will I know that every child in my class has learned something?
If you build in assessment tasks, you can check your students’ learning.
Effective assessment will give you a good idea of what to focus on in the
next lesson, and will also help you to find out which tasks are most helpful
for which students. Assessments do not have to be formal (or marked).
They are a diagnostic tool to help you and your students to find out what
has been learned and understood.
Active learning in practice
When people start thinking about putting active learning into practice, they
often make the mistake of thinking more about the activity they want to
design than about the learning. The most important thing is to put the
student and the learning at the centre of your planning. A task can be quite
simple but still get the student to think critically and independently.
Sometimes a complicated task does not actually help to develop the
students’ thinking or understanding at all. Consider carefully what you want
your students to learn or understand and then shape the task to activate
this learning.

"...put the student and the learning at the

centre of your planning."
There is no typical active learning task. However, all active learning tasks
tend to focus on encouraging the students to 'think hard' for themselves,
rather than being passive recipients of knowledge.

The following interviews show teachers giving some examples of active

learning approaches they have used with their students.

As you listen, think about what it is about each activity that could help
develop the students’ learning. What was the activity that each teacher
chose and why did they choose it?

Transcription: Active learning in practice

‘How have you used active learning with your students?’

Kavita Sanghvi: When I teach physics, I make sure there is a lot of experiments that
the students are performing in the laboratory and more often recently I’ve started
using the experiential learning model to teach my students, where the students
experience a content for themselves and then, after that there’s a reflection sheet
that follows it, so the students understand the concepts for themselves and then they
learn to apply the concepts to new situations.

Cathy Priest: As a science teacher the challenge is always how to communicate

abstract ideas to students and I found that modelling always goes down really well as
they get to grips with an idea better. Last week I was teaching about the idea of
pressure to 11 – 13 year-old students and they were all given a scenario to make out
of plasticine and explain to the rest of the class. For example: ‘How do snow shoes
work?’ ‘Why do we need a sharp knife to cut cheese?’ ‘How do caterpillar tracks stop
machines sinking?’ and the students really enjoyed the modelling and were
completely on task and I could see the penny just dropping with pressure is force
over area. So, if you want to decrease the pressure you need to increase the area
and that’s quite an abstract idea to get and I could see students really getting it. So,
that was an example of active learning.

Mark Winterbottom: So, opening up that discussion, opening up the questioning, is

important. Like you say, with collaboration and trying to engage everybody is an art in
itself. So, for example, you may provide a question to a group of four sitting round a
table. They have to discuss that question before deciding on a shared answer, which
is then contributed to the class discussion, rather than simply one person contributing
on their own and the other three not engaging at all. So, there’s various techniques
and tricks like that to ensure that everybody has some involvement in what they’re
supposed to be learning about.

Zelda Maclear: We do scaffold quite a lot. We’ll give them, perhaps, a project to do.
There’s a great book on the Cambridge Copy Collection called Imaginative Projects,
where we’d give them a project to do and we’d scaffold it very carefully so that every
step of the way is clear to them. Because they don’t speak English yet, you have to
make sure that they know exactly what they have to do. So, we give them a really,
very good scaffold. We tell them, this is what we want, step one you have to take is
this, step two you have to take, step three you have to take, so that you stimulate
them just enough so that they have enough tools to do it and not to be tripped up by
the fact that they’re not yet fluent enough in the language. So, I think we do a lot of
scaffolding, just in terms of making them able enough to then go out and do it
themselves.

Alka Pandey: Basically, first of all, we help the students build up their habit of
reflection on their own learning, observation, on what is being taught and then
analysing, learning from their own mistakes, experiences of other learners and that is
done by a lot of sharing and collaborative learning in the classroom. So, those skills
are built up, that learning, how to collaborate, how to share, how to take the
experiences and mistakes of others forward and basically it’s about collaborative
critical thinking. These are the main skills which we help our students with in
mathematics.

‘How do you ensure students are taking responsibility for their learning in
class discussion?’

Michael Palmer: There are two answers to that question. The first answer is relatively
straightforward and I think that’s about not allowing students to hide from the
discussion and somebody once said to me, “I find that there is nowhere to hide in
your lessons”, and I took that as a reasonable compliment. So, often one might start
a discussion, simply by asking a student at random to speak about a topic and then
asking them to develop their points and then to develop those points and then to pull
somebody else into the discussion to contribute to it. So, rather than asking students
very closed questions, one would endeavour to have much more open discussion.
Open questioning and a less structured discussion that gave more space for the
expression of ideas and the exploration of ideas. And were the teacher’s function is
to simply ask the students to develop their ideas beyond the superficial, and one of
my favourite phrases in discussions like this is, “go on”. Simply asking the students to
say more about the points that they’ve already made, and I think that that notion that
every student in the class can be expected, or is expected, to make thoughtful
contributions, helps to develop an atmosphere where students are more willing to
venture ideas and to speculate and to make suggestions even on topics where
they’re not necessarily abundantly clear what the answer might be. So, I suppose my
second point is the development of the first. That when there is nowhere for them to
hide they are then perhaps forced to begin to think more actively about the material
for themselves and a lot of the skill here is in asking the right questions and trying to
lead the discussion in the way that is best suited to the purposes of the lesson,
without directing the students in too obvious a way.

Next steps
Here are some activities to help you to further explore active learning.

Observation
Observe a lesson taught by an experienced colleague. As you are
watching, ask yourself what opportunities this colleague is creating for
active learning. Think about what it is about the task which makes it an
active learning opportunity.

After the lesson, think about how you might apply this in your own teaching.

Planning
Think of one thing you would like to try in your teaching this week which
would make learning more active for your students. If you can, try it out in
one of your classes. At the end of the session, reflect on what went well:
Why did it go well?
Were there things which did not go well?
Why do you think that was?
How could you make changes next time?

Next think about something you would like to try over the next term. Again,
if you can, try it out with your students.

Then think about what you would like to put into your planning for the next
academic year. What would you need to do to help that to happen?

Some people are not familiar with active learning. What would you say to a
colleague to convince them of the benefits of an active learning approach?

You can use the Reflection worksheet to keep a written record of your

thoughts and ideas.
Finding out more
There are lots of excellent materials to read and watch on Active Learning.
We have listed a small section of these below:

The Visible Thinking Project and the ORBIT Project both have excellent

websites, with lots of examples of activities which can be used to help
students learn in an active way.

Professor John Hattie is a researcher in education. In his book Visible

Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning, Hattie looks at
thousands of studies of teaching and learning. He then uses these studies
to assess the impact of over 100 different strategies. His book includes
reflective questions and activities for teachers and leaders.

John Hattie’s TED talk Why are so many of our teachers and schools so
successful? is a useful introduction to his ideas.

Cambridge's guide, Implementing the Curriculum with Cambridge: A Guide

for School Leaders outlines an active learning approach. It is aimed at
school principals, school leaders and others responsible for the educational
programme in a school.

Information on Cambridge professional development qualifications and

courses can be found on our website.
GLOSSARY

Active learning
Learning which engages students and challenges their thinking, using a
variety of activities

Analyse
To study or examine something carefully and in detail in order to
understand it more.

Assessment for learning

Essential teaching strategies during learning to help teachers and students
evaluate progress in terms of understanding and skill acquisition, providing
guidance and feedback for subsequent teaching and learning.

Autonomy
The freedom to follow one’s will or actions independent of external influence
or control.

Closed question
A question that can be answered with either a single word (usually ‘yes’ or
‘no’) or a short phrase and the choice of answers is limited.

Collaborate
To work together with someone else, or others, for a particular purpose.

Constructivism
A philosophy of learning based on the concept that people construct their
own understanding by reflecting on their personal experiences, and by
relating the new knowledge with what they already know. Individuals create
their own mental-models, known as 'schemas', to make sense of the world.
Individuals accommodate new knowledge by adjusting their 'schemas'.

Critical thinking
The ability, underlying all rational discourse and enquiry, to assess and
evaluate analytically particular assertions or concepts in the light of either
evidence or wider contexts.

Differentiated learning
Adapting one’s teaching to suit the needs of different students for their
current level of understanding and performance, by providing appropriate
learning activities, support, and assessment, so that all students in the
group can learn effectively.

Evaluate
To judge or determine the quality, importance, amount, or value of
something.

Formal assessment
Planned and structured measurement of learning.

Formative assessment
Activity that provides students with developmental feedback on their
progress during the learning programme and informs the design of their
next steps in learning.

Open ended question

A question that allows for a long response and for which the choice of
answers is not restricted.

Scaffold learning
The teacher provides appropriate guidance and support to enable students
to build on their current level of understanding progressively to acquire
confidence and independence in using new knowledge or skills.

Summative assessment
Typically end-of-learning assessment tasks such as examinations and
tests, to measure and record the level of learning achieved, for progression
to the next level or for certification.

Synthesise
To create something new by combining different existing elements or ideas.

Transcribe
To make a written copy of spoken material.

Zone of proximal development (ZPD)

The difference between what a learner can achieve when they receive
support and what they can achieve independently.
CONSTRUCTIVISM
DEFINITION
Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the premise that, by reflecting
on our experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in.
Each of us generates our own “rules” and “mental models,” which we use to make
sense of our experiences. Learning, therefore, is simply the process of adjusting our
mental models to accommodate new experiences.

DISCUSSION
There are several guiding principles of constructivism:

1. Learning is a search for meaning. Therefore, learning must start with the issues
around which students are actively trying to construct meaning.
2. Meaning requires understanding wholes as well as parts. And parts must be
understood in the context of wholes. Therefore, the learning process focuses on
primary concepts, not isolated facts.
3. In order to teach well, we must understand the mental models that students use to
perceive the world and the assumptions they make to support those models.
4. The purpose of learning is for an individual to construct his or her own meaning,
not just memorize the “right” answers and regurgitate someone else’s meaning.
Since education is inherently interdisciplinary, the only valuable way to measure
learning is to make the assessment part of the learning process, ensuring it provides
students with information on the quality of their learning.

HOW CONSTRUCTIVISM IMPACTS LEARNING

Curriculum–Constructivism calls for the elimination of a standardized curriculum.
Instead, it promotes using curricula customized to the students’ prior knowledge.
Also, it emphasizes hands-on problem solving.

Instruction–Under the theory of constructivism, educators focus on making

connections between facts and fostering new understanding in students. Instructors
tailor their teaching strategies to student responses and encourage students to
analyze, interpret, and predict information. Teachers also rely heavily on open-ended
questions and promote extensive dialogue among students.

Assessment–Constructivism calls for the elimination of grades and standardized

testing. Instead, assessment becomes part of the learning process so that students
play a larger role in judging their own progress.
Bloom’s Taxonomy

In 1956, Benjamin Bloom with collaborators Max Englehart, Edward Furst, Walter
Hill, and David Krathwohl published a framework for categorizing educational
goals: Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Familiarly known as Bloom’s Taxonomy,
this framework has been applied by generations of K-12 teachers and college
instructors in their teaching.

The framework elaborated by Bloom and his collaborators consisted of six major
categories: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and
Evaluation. The categories after Knowledge were presented as “skills and abilities,”
with the understanding that knowledge was the necessary precondition for putting
these skills and abilities into practice.

While each category contained subcategories, all lying along a continuum from
simple to complex and concrete to abstract, the taxonomy is popularly remembered
according to the six main categories.

The Original Taxonomy (1956)

Here are the authors’ brief explanations of these main categories in from the
appendix of Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Handbook One, pp. 201-207):

 Knowledge “involves the recall of specifics and universals, the recall of

methods and processes, or the recall of a pattern, structure, or setting.”

 Comprehension “refers to a type of understanding or apprehension such that

the individual knows what is being communicated and can make use of the
material or idea being communicated without necessarily relating it to other
material or seeing its fullest implications.”

 Application refers to the “use of abstractions in particular and concrete

situations.”

 Analysis represents the “breakdown of a communication into its constituent

elements or parts such that the relative hierarchy of ideas is made clear and/or
the relations between ideas expressed are made explicit.”

 Synthesis involves the “putting together of elements and parts so as to form a

whole.”

 Evaluation engenders “judgments about the value of material and methods

for given purposes.”

The 1984 edition of Handbook One is available in the CFT Library in Calhoun 116.
See its ACORN record for call number and availability.

Barbara Gross Davis, in the “Asking Questions” chapter of Tools for Teaching, also
provides examples of questions corresponding to the six categories. This chapter is
not available in the online version of the book, but Tools for Teaching is available in
the CFT Library. See its ACORN record for call number and availability.

The Revised Taxonomy (2001)

A group of cognitive psychologists, curriculum theorists and instructional researchers,
and testing and assessment specialists published in 2001 a revision of Bloom’s
Taxonomy with the title A Taxonomy for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. This
title draws attention away from the somewhat static notion of “educational objectives”
(in Bloom’s original title) and points to a more dynamic conception of classification.

The authors of the revised taxonomy underscore this dynamism, using verbs and
gerunds to label their categories and subcategories (rather than the nouns of the
original taxonomy). These “action words” describe the cognitive processes by which
thinkers encounter and work with knowledge:

Remember

 Recognizing
 Recalling

Understand

 Interpreting
 Exemplifying
 Classifying
 Summarizing
 Inferring
 Comparing
 Explaining

Apply

 Executing
 Implementing

Analyze

 Differentiating
 Organizing
 Attributing
Evaluate

 Checking
 Critiquing

Create

 Generating
 Planning
 Producing

In the revised taxonomy, knowledge is at the basis of these six cognitive processes,
but its authors created a separate taxonomy of the types of knowledge used in
cognition:

 Factual Knowledge
o Knowledge of terminology
o Knowledge of specific details and elements
 Conceptual Knowledge
o Knowledge of classifications and categories
o Knowledge of principles and generalizations
o Knowledge of theories, models, and structures
 Procedural Knowledge
o Knowledge of subject-specific skills and algorithms
o Knowledge of subject-specific techniques and methods
o Knowledge of criteria for determining when to use appropriate
procedures
 Metacognitive Knowledge
o Strategic Knowledge
o Knowledge about cognitive tasks, including appropriate contextual and
conditional knowledge
o Self-knowledge

Mary Forehand from the University of Georgia provides a guide to the revised
version giving a brief summary of the revised taxonomy and a helpful table of the six
cognitive processes and four types of knowledge.

 
Why Use Bloom’s Taxonomy?

The authors of the revised taxonomy suggest a multi-layered answer to this question,
to which the author of this teaching guide has added some clarifying points:

1. Objectives (learning goals) are important to establish in a pedagogical

interchange so that teachers and students alike understand the purpose of
that interchange.
2. Organizing objectives helps to clarify objectives for themselves and for
students.
3. Having an organized set of objectives helps teachers to:
o “plan and deliver appropriate instruction”;
o “design valid assessment tasks and strategies”;and
o “ensure that instruction and assessment are aligned with the
objectives.”

Citations are from A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.

Further Information

Section III of A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, entitled “The Taxonomy in Use,”
provides over 150 pages of examples of applications of the taxonomy. Although
these examples are from the K-12 setting, they are easily adaptable to the university
setting.

Section IV, “The Taxonomy in Perspective,” provides information about 19 alternative

frameworks to Bloom’s Taxonomy, and discusses the relationship of these alternative
frameworks to the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Social Constructivism
The level of potential development is the level at which learning
takes place. It comprises cognitive structures that are still in the
process of maturing, but which can only mature under the
guidance of or in collaboration with others.
Background
View of Knowledge
View of Learning
View of Motivation
Implications for Teaching
Reference

Background
Social constructivism is a variety of cognitive constructivism that emphasizes the
collaborative nature of much learning. Social constructivism was developed by
post-revolutionary Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky was a cognitivist,
but rejected the assumption made by cognitivists such as Piaget and Perry that it
was possible to separate learning from its social context. He argued that all
cognitive functions originate in (and must therefore be explained as products of)
social interactions and that learning did not simply comprise the assimilation and
accommodation of new knowledge by learners; it was the process by which
learners were integrated into a knowledge community. According to Vygotsky
(1978, 57),
Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level and,
later on, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the
child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and
to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships
between individuals.

Vygotsky’s theory of social learning has been expanded upon by numerous later
theorists and researchers.

View of Knowledge
Cognitivists such as Piaget and Perry see knowledge as actively constructed by
learners in response to interactions with environmental stimuli. Vygotsky
emphasized the role of language and culture in cognitive development.
According to Vygotsky, language and culture play essential roles both in human
intellectual development and in how humans perceive the world. Humans’
linguistic abilities enable them to overcome the natural limitations of their
perceptual field by imposing culturally defined sense and meaning on the world.
Language and culture are the frameworks through which humans experience,
communicate, and understand reality. Vygotsky states (1968, 39),
A special feature of human perception … is the perception of real objects … I do not see the
world simply in color and shape but also as a world with sense and meaning. I do not merely
see something round and black with two hands; I see a clock …

Language and the conceptual schemes that are transmitted by means of

language are essentially social phenomena. As a result, human cognitive
structures are, Vygotsky believed, essentially socially constructed. Knowledge is
not simply constructed, it is co-constructed.

View of Learning
Vygotsky accepted Piaget’s claim that learners respond not to external stimuli
but to their interpretation of those stimuli. However, he argued that cognitivists
such as Piaget had overlooked the essentially social nature of language. As a
result, he claimed they had failed to understand that learning is a collaborative
process. Vygotsky distinguished between two developmental levels (85):
The level of actual development is the level of development that the learner has already
reached, and is the level at which the learner is capable of solving problems independently.
The level of potential development (the “zone of proximal development”) is the level of
development that the learner is capable of reaching under the guidance of teachers or in
collaboration with peers. The learner is capable of solving problems and understanding
material at this level that they are not capable of solving or understanding at their level of
actual development; the level of potential development is the level at which learning takes
place. It comprises cognitive structures that are still in the process of maturing, but which
can only mature under the guidance of or in collaboration with others.

View of Motivation
Whereas behavioral motivation is essentially extrinsic, a reaction to positive and
negative reinforcements, cognitive motivation is essentially intrinsic — based on
the learner’s internal drive. Social constructivists see motivation as both extrinsic
and intrinsic. Because learning is essentially a social phenomenon, learners are
partially motivated by rewards provided by the knowledge community. However,
because knowledge is actively constructed by the learner, learning also depends
to a significant extent on the learner’s internal drive to understand and promote
the learning process.

Implications for Teaching

Collaborative learning methods require learners to develop teamwork skills and
to see individual learning as essentially related to the success of group learning.
The optimal size for group learning is four or five people. Since the average
section size is ten to fifteen people, collaborative learning methods often require
GSIs to break students into smaller groups, although discussion sections are
essentially collaborative learning environments. For instance, in group
investigations students may be split into groups that are then required to choose
and research a topic from a limited area. They are then held responsible for
researching the topic and presenting their findings to the class. More generally,
collaborative learning should be seen as a process of peer interaction that is
mediated and structured by the teacher. Discussion can be promoted by the
presentation of specific concepts, problems, or scenarios; it is guided by means
of effectively directed questions, the introduction and clarification of concepts
and information, and references to previously learned material. Some more
specific techniques are suggested in the Teaching Guide pages on Discussion
Sections.

Reference
Vygotsky, Lev (1978). Mind in Society. London: Harvard University Press.
Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (Russian: Лев Семёнович Выго́тский; Belarusian: Леў Сямёнавіч
Выго́цкі; November 17 [O.S. November 5] 1896 – June 11, 1934) was a Soviet psychologist,
known for his work on psychological development in children. He published on a diverse range of
subjects, and from multiple views as his perspective changed over the years. Among his students
was Alexander Luria and Kharkiv school of psychology.
He is known for his concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD): the distance between
what a student (apprentice, new employee, etc.) can do on their own, and what they can
accomplish with the support of someone more knowledgeable about the activity. Vygotsky saw
the ZPD as a measure of skills that are in the process of maturing, as supplement to measures of
development that only look at a learner's independent ability.
Also influential are his works on the relationship between language and thought, the development
of language, and a general theory of development through actions and relationships in a socio-
cultural environment.
Vygotsky is the subject of great scholarly dispute. There is a group of scholars who see parts of
Vygotsky's current legacy as distortions and who are going back to Vygotsky's manuscripts in an
attempt to make Vygotsky's legacy more true to his actual ideas.
The 30-second briefing: What is the zone of proximal development?
Teacher educator Sarah Wright tells you everything you need to know about the
zone of proximal development in just 30 seconds

What is the zone of proximal development?

It might sound like something out of Star Trek, but the zone of proximal development
(ZPD) actually sits within Lev Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of learning, which looks
at the influence of social interactions in learning, amongst other things.

What does that mean?

The basic idea of the ZPD is that we need to identify where a learner is and the level
of guidance they will need to achieve the next step in a task.

The gap between what a learner can do unaided and what they cannot do is the
ZPD. This diagram illustrates the theory:

That still sounds a bit woolly. How do I

translate all this to my pupils?

A German pedagogue called Tom

Senninger created a child-friendly
model based on ZPD. He renamed the
three zones as: the comfort zone, the
learning zone and the panic zone.

The comfort zone is where a learner

feels stable, but unchallenged. The
learning − or "stretch" - zone is just
outside of the comfort zone. This
space offers challenge and asks children to take risks in their learning. The learning
zone is what we are aiming for, but if we push pupils too far, Senninger suggests,
they will reach the panic zone, where they will be stressed, fearful and disinclined to
learn.

That makes more sense, but does it work in the real world?

The ZPD often pops up in books about teaching or CPD sessions, but is often
misused and misrepresented. For instance, it's often used in conjunction with the
term "scaffolding", despite this never featuring in any of Vygotsky's work.

Education has moulded the ZPD for its own purposes, as it does most theories. But
the basic principle is worth paying attention to: trying to find that magic balance to
create a task that is at just the right level for a child. If a task is too difficult, then
children will panic or become disengaged, but if it is too easy then they will become
frustrated.
Looking for that balance is surely something teachers do automatically. Why do we
need a diagram to explain it?

The diagram can be a useful tool for the self-assessment of learning conditions.
Have it displayed and ask your learners to think about which zone they are in. This
means rather than just evaluating their own performance against a task, they begin to
reflect on their own attitudes and feelings towards learning.

Is this something I should be using, then?

Absolutely. In primary, it works well as a large display - children can let you know
which zone they are in by adding their name to the relevant circle. A more subtle
approach for secondary pupils might be to ask them to draw the model in their
margin and use an arrow to indicate where they are.

Skilled teachers also provide rich feedback

using Assessment for learning (AFL).

eaders working in Intial Teacher Education (ITE), or students engaged on ITE course may
find it useful to read the Assessment Overview, which is targeted at ITE providers.
Assessment may take many forms, including whole class, and individual. Readers should
consider reading widely, in particular with reference to Dialogic Approaches in addition
to the guidance given below. Where appropriate links have been incorporated - if you
are a wiki-contributor, please do add further internal links, and if of high quality
(especially CC licenced), external too.

What is effective assessment?

Assessment for learning

The notion of 'assessment' is often bound up with ideas regarding examinations,
accreditation, perhaps even accountability (e.g. OFSTED, league tables, performance
management and so on). However, for some time there has been a growing discussion
regarding 'Assessment for Learning' (AfL), or formative assessment. This form of
assessment stands in contrast to summative assessment, which is understood to be the
form of assessment most often conducted at the end of the unit, which is supposed to
represent the understanding of that unit's content at that point in time. Assessment for
Learning, in contrast, is targeted at assessing understanding throughout teaching,
helping students to understand what stage they are at, and how they might improve. AfL
thus involves assessment to provide feedback for improving learning.

AfL thus
 is embedded in a view of teaching and learning of which it is an essential
part. Assessment for learning is not something extra or ‘bolted on’ that a
teacher has to do. Pupil learning is the principal aim of schools and
assessment for learning aims to provide pupils with the skills and strategies
for taking the next steps in their learning;
 involves sharing learning goals with pupils. If pupils understand the main
purposes of their learning and what they are aiming for, they are more likely
to grasp what they need to do to achieve it;
 aims to help pupils to know and recognise the standards that they are aiming
for. Learners need to be clear about exactly what they have to achieve in
order to progress. They should have access to the criteria that will be used to
judge this, and be shown examples or models where other learners have
been successful. Pupils need to understand what counts as ‘good work’;
 involves pupils in peer and self-assessment. Ultimately, learners must be
responsible for their own learning; the teacher cannot do that for them. So
pupils must be actively involved in the process and need to be encouraged to
see for themselves how they have progressed in their learning and what it is
they need to do to improve. Teachers need to encourage pupils to review
their work critically and constructively;
 provides feedback, which leads to pupils recognising their next steps and
how to take them. Feedback should be about the qualities of the work with
specific advice on what needs to be done in order to improve. Pupils need to
be given the time to act on advice and make decisions about their work,
rather than being the passive recipients of teachers’ judgements;
 involves both teacher and pupil in reviewing and reflecting on assessment
data (information). Pupils need to have opportunities to communicate their
evolving understanding and to act on the feedback they are given. The
interaction between teacher and pupil is an important element of developing
understanding and promoting learning;
 is underpinned by confidence that every student can improve. Poor feedback
can lead to pupils believing that they lack ‘ability’ and are not able to learn.
Pupils will only invest effort in a task if they believe they can achieve
something. The expectation in the classroom needs to be that every pupil can
make progress in his or her learning.

Based on: Assessment Reform Group (1999) Assessment for learning: beyond the
black box. University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education. ISBN: 0856030422. (Adapted
from Assessment for Learning Introduction, section What).

Readers should also refer to Assessment for Learning Research Summary and the
references contained therein.

How might we use AfL

The following table suggests some teaching strategies that will support the
development of assessment for learning in your classroom.
Key characteristics of
assessment for learning
Sharing learning objectives
with pupils
Helping pupils to know and
recognise the standards they
are aiming for
Involving pupils in peer and
self-assessment
Providing feedback that leads
pupils to recognising their next
steps and how to take them
Promoting confidence that
every pupil can improve
Teaching strategies
 share learning objectives at the
beginning of the lesson and, where
appropriate, during the lesson, in
language that pupils can understand
 use these objectives as the basis for
questioning and feedback during
plenaries
 evaluate this feedback in relation to
achievement of the learning objectives
to inform the next stages of planning
 show pupils work that has met criteria
with explanations of why
 give pupils clear success criteria and
then relate them to the learning
objectives
 model what it should look like, for
example exemplify good writing on the
board
 ensure that there are clear shared
expectations about the presentation of
work
 provide displays of pupils’ work which
show work in progress as well as
finished product
 give pupils clear opportunities to talk
about what they have learned and what
they have found difficult, using the
learning objectives as a focus
 encourage pupils to work/discuss
together, focusing on how to improve
 ask pupils to explain their thinking: ‘How
did you get that answer?’
 give time for pupils to reflect upon their
learning
 identify with pupils the next steps in
learning
 value oral as well as written feedback
 ensure feedback is constructive as well
as positive, identifying what the pupil
has done well, what needs to be done
to improve and how to do it
 identify the next steps for groups and
individuals as appropriate
 identify small steps to enable pupils to
see their progress, thus building
 confidence and self-esteem
 encourage pupils to explain their
thinking and reasoning within a secure
classroom ethos

Involving both teacher and  reflect with pupils on their work, for
pupil in reviewing and example through a storyboard of steps
reflecting on assessment taken during an investigation
information  choose appropriate tasks to provide
quality information (with emphasis on
process, not just the correct answer)
 provide time for pupils to reflect on what
they have learned and understood, and
to identify where they still have
difficulties
 adjust planning, evaluate effectiveness
of task, resources, etc. as a result of
assessment

(Adapted from Assessment for Learning Introduction, section How).

High Quality Questioning and Dialogue

A key component of AfL is the use of high quality questioning. For guidance in this
area readers should refer to the general guidance Questioning Research Summary,
and the more practical document on Types Of Question, as well as the resources
under the.
With respect to assessment, should specifically note that closed questions, for which
pupils may offer (and receive feedback affirming) only one correct answer, are likely
to provide limited opportunities for developing understanding of key concepts. It is
important to develop questioning techniques which engage higher levels of
reasoning, and dialogue. Fundamentally dialoguethat includes students in the
sequencing of content - as a cumulative enterprise - may be important, particularly if
they are to move from tuition to self-monitoring behaviours. Blanchard suggests that,
in fact, the original AfL construction might be revised to incorporate a better
understanding of sequencing in the classroom, "The spirit of AfL is instantiated in the
way teachers conceptualise and sequence the tasks undertaken by pupils in the
lesson…. Formative assessment includes both feedback and self-monitoring. The goal
of many instructional systems is to facilitate the transition from feedback to self-
monitoring…. Classroom learning […] depends on learners having some
understanding of how and why tasks are designed and ordered as they are […].
Dialogue is the medium: dialogue about activity that has yet to start, that is ongoing,
and that has been brought to a close." Blanchard (2008, p.145)

Effective Group Work

In whole class contexts high quality dialogue is likely to be bound up with
questioning techniques. However, in smaller group activities it is unlikely that the
sequence of learning will involve direct questioning from teachers for much of the
time. However, group work may still be effective for raising standards for all. Readers
should refer to the section on Collaboration and Group Talk for further discussion in
this area. A key concern which is often raised with relation to group work and
assessment is that it does not stretch the most able, or assist the weakest
appropriately. However, research indicates that this is not the case. In particular it has
been pointed out (for example by Bob Slavin) that effectively orchestrated group
work should make the activity's objective the learning of each member of the group.
That is, groups should not be credited for each member being able to parrot the
correct answer, or for the group (as a collective) to 'have' the correct answer; groups
should be credited only for each member of the group being able to adequately give
and explain the correct answer. In creating such an objective, group work encourages
stronger students to teach weaker students - which is a stretching task in itself - and
maintains ownership of learning.

Group Talk - a Method for Assessment?

Thus in the context of group work, group talk can be understood to have a number
of benefits for assessment Why do it? What are the benefits to the learner?

Higher-level thinking Pupils are challenged to defend, review and modify

their ideas with their peers. It encourages reflection and metacognition
(thinking about one’s own thinking). Pupils often communicate ideas
better with other pupils than with teachers.
Assessment for learning Effectively reveals the progress of the pupil to the
teacher, encouraging the pupil to self- and peer-assess while allowing the
teacher to plan more effectively. As such, group talk complements
methods embraced as Assessment for learning.
Illustrating science in action Working scientists use group talk – in class it
models how they work, supporting the teaching of the ‘ideas and
evidence’ aspects of scientific enquiry.
Developing the whole child The ability to resolve disagreements is a life-
skill. Pupils become more reflective as they try to arrive at a consensus by
expressing different points of view; or work collaboratively to explore
ideas, plan and make decisions. Further, it supports the development of
literacy.
Pupil motivation and emotional involvement When argument is taking
place, and pupils are actively prompted and provoked to defend a point
of view – by the teacher and by others – it raises the emotional
involvement in a topic, so that pupils are more engaged. In essence, they
are being encouraged to ‘care’ about the science viewpoint they have,
and to take a stand for or against it, even if they concede to others along
the way. These features are more common in good English, RE and
humanities lessons.
Variety and learning styles Can be used as an alternative to written or
practical work (for example, experiments), or just listening as the teacher
explains and demonstrates. Group talk encourages the use of different
 learning styles and thus can be inclusive to pupils excluded from more
traditional (and often written) activities. (Adapted from Group Talk - Benefits for Science Teaching, section Why).

Use of ICT
Assessment is one area where ICT has had significant impact. This impact has not
always been strongly pedagogic in nature; Dylan Wiliam and Paul Black have raised
concerns that the use of some ICT has detracted from the aims of AfL in favour of
highly granular, summative forms of assessment which are fed into computer
systems, monitored, and analysed using statistical approaches not appropriate to
their level of data. Readers should refer to the section on Tools for some ideas on
how to integrate Technology into the classroom.

Whole Class Technologies

However, where used effectively ICT can provide useful support for AfL both in and
out of the classroom. Interactive White Boards (IWB), for example, provide useful
visuals for Whole Class dialogue and questioning. Significantly, IWB screens can also
be recorded for future use, allowing a shared space (or 'improvable object') for
dialogic talk which encourages children to understand the cumulative nature of
learning. A Cambridge project (http://dialogueiwb.educ.cam.ac.uk/) explored this
topic in more detail, and the website provides some detail on 'Using the IWB to
Support Classroom Dialogue'.

Automated feedback
One way in which ICT may be effectively used to support assessment is in the use of
automated feedback systems. These are typically for shorter (closed) questions,
although some feedback can be automated for longer sorts of question. Feedback
systems can provide a range of response types, some of which may encourage pupils
to think about how their answers were come to, or why they might be wrong (or
right). These systems may also be useful for 'diagnostic questions' - questions for
which wrong answers may indicate a particular sort of distinguishable confusion to be
addressed.
Many Virtual Learning Environments have powerful feedback functions built in to
them, and there are a range of other tools which may be useful and go beyond such
inbuilt features. Even if feedback is not automated, technology can support 'drag and
drop' commenting, and maintaining a record of such work over time, which may form
a useful point of discussion with students.

Quizzes and Clickers

Quizzes are, of course, an obvious way to provide automated feedback. These may
also be setup for 'in class' use via clickers, other similar devices, or mobile phones
(and of course, mini-whiteboards). The advantage in this context is the ability to use
responses to orchestrate dialogue around the whole class response system, and to
extend the learning beyond the type of 'closed question' system which can be
common in online multiple choice quizzes.

Collaboration
Some tools may also provide for such dialogue online in the context of quizzes and
other activities such as shared extended writing. A number of tools (e.g. Google Docs)
provide chat functions alongside document areas, while others allow collaborative
authoring in different ways (e.g. wikis, see for example [article] on the Thinking
Together approach and the use of wikis).
Such tools may be used for a range of activities, including multimedia creation,
question and answer forums, and collaborative writing activities - on which more
below.

Collaborative tools for orchestrating dialogue

Some research has explored the use of collaborative tools for structuring and
orchestrating dialogue (on and offline) in constructive ways. The [project] is exploring
some possibilities here with respect to dialogic talk. The [Building] approach has also
used software (paid) to engage students in structuring their claims collaboratively to
construct new knowledge. Teachers may find that any resources which aid in
'argument mapping' and constructive turn taking (e.g. concept mapping software
such as [[1]] or many 'forum' based interfaces which may be preinstalled on a VLE).

Assessment for Learning and Writing

Assessment is often focussed on written assignments. While understanding the
concepts one is writing about is important in this process, there are also specific skills
related to conveying understanding and meeting assessment criteria in written forms.
Since writing involves the integration of several processes, re-reading to revise is
important (Norwood, Hayes and Flower 1980). Chanquoy (2001) shows the positive
effect of returning to writing after the event. The time delay seems to help, but the
techniques for revising need to be explicitly taught, that is modelled by the teacher.
Glynn et al. (1989), behavioural psychologists researching in New Zealand classrooms,
found considerable evidence that positive oral feedback has an impact on both
motivation and the amount written. This was found to be more significant when
errors were selectively targeted and when pupils were involved in error correction
and praised for this. The research suggests that teachers’ comments should be
organisational, encouraging, constructive, challenging and push pupils’ thinking. The
work of Black and Wiliam (1998) and Black et al. (2002) looks at formative assessment
and its relationship to raising standards in pupils’ learning. They comment that
effective feedback needs to make explicit to pupils what is involved in producing
high-quality writing and what steps are needed for improvement. They suggest that
pupils should be actively engaged in the thinking and discussion involved. (Adapted from Improving
Writing - Research Summary, section Assessment).
 For further guidance on Improving Writing, refer to the
document Improving Writing - Research Summary. Teachers should consider taking a
range of approaches to assessing writing, and working with pupils to assess each
other's writing.

Assessment for Learning and Reading

Over the last decade we have become increasingly aware of the importance of
metacognition in learning to read (Baker and Brown 1984). One of the characteristics
distinguishing younger readers from older readers, and poorer readers from fluent
readers, is that younger and poorer readers often do not recognise when they have
not understood a text (Garner and Reis 1981); that is, there is evidence that they are
not actively aware of their own level of understanding and are therefore not able to
make an autonomous decision to use a strategy to enhance their understanding.
Other readers show a greater awareness of their own level of understanding for they
will stop when a text does not make sense to them. Some will then go on to select
from their range of strategies that which might help overcome their problem.
In shared and guided reading sessions we can model for pupils how fluent readers
monitor their understanding and use strategies to clarify their own understanding.
These may range from semantic strategies to work out a troublesome word to
sophisticated reflections on whether the meaning is deliberately obscure (as in a
mystery) or perhaps challenging the author/text because the reader thinks they are
incorrect. Such teacher modelling is an important part of the learning opportunities
within reading sessions. (Adapted from Improving Reading - Research Summary, section Assessment).. For further guidance on
Improving Reading, refer to the document Improving Reading - Research