STRUCTURE OF OBSERVED

LEARNING OUTCOMES
(SOLO) TAXONOMY

Adopted from
Pam Hook and Julie Mills
Pre-structural

Uni-structural

Multi-structural

Relational

Extended Abstract
 The SOLO levels
I’m not sure about…
Prestructural

I have one relevant idea about…

Unistructural

I have several ideas about…

Multistructural
I have several ideas about…
…and can relate them to the BIG PICTURE
Relational
I have several ideas about…
…and can link them to the BIG PICTURE
…and can look at these ideas in a new and different way
Extended Abstract
In my classroom I find currently that SOLO provides
a great framework for students to progress, where
students learning becomes deeper as they move
through the levels.
We are finding out about
photosynthesis.
State what photosynthesis is

Identify what is needed and produced

during photosynthesis.

Connect these to produce an equation

for photosynthesis.

Compare and contrast the processes

of osmosis and diffusion. Explain why
plants need energy for active
transport.

Relate the importance of

photosynthesis to its functions and
predict the consequences of a
reduction in photosynthesis on the
future of our planet.
The SOLO taxonomy & constructive alignment

(Deep learning image from Tait Cole. SOLO level verbs and examples Adapted from Pam Hook & Julie Mills: SOLO
Taxonomy: A Guide for Schools and using
http://issuu.com/pamhook/docs/solotaxonomy__constructivealignment/1)
Why do I think you should use it?
It is excellent for both formative and summative assessment. It
makes learning challenging but visible and provides a framework
for progression.

Its great for finding out what students know before you start
and then at any point there after progress can be checked.

It is easy to use when planning lessons or a scheme of work as

you can scaffold the learning experiences for the outcomes
(constructive alignment) at unistructural, multistructural, relational
and extended abstract levels.

It supports metacognition: what am I doing? – how well is it going?

– what should I do next?

Challenge can be provided through feedback and feed forward,

which could be: teacher to student, student to teacher and
student to student.
There are a growing number of people out there who are or have tried SOLO.
Many are writing or have written about SOLO and are using SOLO in their
everyday teaching. I highly recommend the following who have helped and
inspired me on my SOLO journey:
•Pam Hook – http://pamhook.com/ - SOLO taxonomy a guide for schools pam
Hook and Julie
Biggs and Tang- Teaching for quality learning at university. (excellent introduction to
constructive alignment amongst other things)
•Lisa Ashes – http://thelearninggeek.com/ (excellent blogs on a range of topics
including SOLO) “SOLO teaches pupils to make relationships between ideas
and then use these to question ideas further.”
•David Didau – http://www.learningspy.co.uk/solo-taxonomy/ (excellent blogs
that are always thought provoking)
•Tait Coles – http://taitcoles.wordpress.com/2011/11/12/solo-taxonomy-part-3/
(great blogs and some nice videos of a year 8 class new to SOLO)
http://taitcoles.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/ctl_3-2_full_version_2.pdf (great
article from “Creative teaching and learning” p57)