SOLO taxonomy was proposed by Australian educational psychologist John B. Biggs, and Kevin Collis in their 1982 book, Evaluating the Quality of Learning: The SOLO Taxonomy.
The model incorporates five levels of understanding and we will be discussing each level in this article.
SOLO taxonomy was developed as an alternative to Bloom’s taxonomy and offers a structured outline for the learners to use. While Bloom focuses on internal cognitive processes, SOLO focuses on observable results instead.
What Is the SOLO Taxonomy?
SOLO taxonomy was proposed by Australian educational psychologist and novelist John B. Biggs and Kevin Collis in 1982 in their 1982 book, Evaluating the Quality of Learning: The SOLO Taxonomy.
SOLO taxonomy motivates learners to think about their level of understanding, what they have learned so far, and what things they must do to progress.
John B. Biggs and Kevin Collis developed the SOLO taxonomy as a framework that could help educators establish more effective learning experiences.
The aim for developing the framework is based on the idea of different levels of understanding, which students can progress through by engaging in complex tasks.
With SOLO, educators can create learning experiences based on the level of understanding of every student. Using SOLO will help students progress towards an advanced level of knowledge.
Generally, it’s often used with the concept of constructive alignment. This describes the idea that learning outcomes, assessment tasks, and teaching activities should be aligned with each other.
Educators can ensure that students are learning effectively by aligning these three elements mentioned above.
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SOLO Taxonomy vs. Bloom’s Taxonomy
SOLO (structural of observed learning outcomes) taxonomy is considered a more practical framework than Bloom’s and it’s a model that describes levels of the increasing complexity of how students understand subjects.
Bloom describes several unobservable intellectual skills, while the SOLO focuses on observable outcomes of a student’s understanding.
In Bloom’s taxonomy, it’s very common to encounter several unobservable verbs to describe knowledge and understanding.
A well-organized assessment question in the SOLO taxonomy can help learners to show their understanding at a certain level, while Bloom’s taxonomy focuses on the definition of science as well as the classification of learning objectives.
Bloom’s taxonomy provides a framework to easily understand science from a lower-order intellectual skill to a higher-order skill.
Five Levels of the SOLO Taxonomy
SOLO taxonomy provides a certain way to structure the quality and complexity of students’ thinking. The three first levels generally represent quantitative reasoning. The other two levels are more about a quantitative approach and it focuses on depth of knowledge.
#1. Prestructural Level
At this level, students demonstrate they lack understanding and will often miss the whole point. Here, the student’s level of thinking is minimal and they focus more on lower-order verbs like identify and memorize.
This level is the initial level, a developing level that needs to be dealt with before advancing to the next level.
#2. Unistructural Level
At this next stage, learners can comfortably identify an aspect of knowledge. However, their understanding is limited to isolated knowledge.
For example, a learner may easily understand that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius but may not clearly understand the phenomenon behind it.
#3. Multistructural Level
At this level, we have some progress as students are progressing to the next level. At this level, the quantity of knowledge increases and students are able to gather multiple pieces of information.
They however struggle to relate with the information coherently. For example, a learner at this level may fully understand the boiling point of water, knowing that heat is required to raise the temperature of the water but fail to link these facts.
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#4. Relational Level
At this stage, the fast pace of student learning starts to flourish. This is the level where students will begin to connect with multi-structural elements.
At this stage, the student’s level of thinking becomes more complex, understanding a scientific phenomenon and relationships between facts.
For example, a learner at this stage clearly understands that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius because of the increased kinetic energy of water molecules caused by increased heat.
#5. Extended Abstract Level
This level is defined as the zenith of the SOLO taxonomy. This level describes a more advanced understanding stage.
At this level, students can easily connect to facts and can infer by extending known information. The attainment level here is high as students demonstrate the ability to use their coherent knowledge.
For example, a learner at this level may predict the movement and behaviour of other fluids based on his knowledge of the boiling point of water.
Classroom Examples of SOLO Taxonomy
SOLO taxonomy was developed as an alternative to Bloom’s taxonomy and offers a structured outline for the learners to use. John B. Biggs and Kevin Collis developed the SOLO taxonomy as a framework that could help educators establish more effective learning experiences.
Here, we will be looking at six fictional examples of how SOLO can be applied to different subjects.
#1. Mathematics
During a math lesson on fractions, the teacher may begin with the uni-structural level by asking the students in the classroom to identify fractions among other shapes.
Advancing to the multi-structural level, the teacher could ask the students to compare and order various fractions. The students may be asked to find equivalents fractions at the relational level.
While at the extended abstract level, the students can apply their knowledge of fractions to solve real problems.
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#2. English
Students in a narrative writing lesson at the uni-structural level can point out key elements of a story. At the multi-structural level, the students can clearly describe the elements in the story in detail, and at the relational level, they can review how these elements connect to create a story.
At the extended abstract level, the students can create their own narratives.
#3. Geography
During a geography lesson on climate zones, students can start at the uni-structural level and are able to identify various climate zones.
At the multi-structural level, the student can easily describe the characteristics of every zone and could compare and contrast various zones at the relational level.
The student could discuss the impact of these climate zones at the extended abstract level.
#4. History
During a history lesson about the Roman Empire, the students could identify key events at the uni-structural level. They could at the multi-structural level describe these historical events or figures.
At the relational level, the students can explain the effects of relationships between these events, while at the extended abstract level, they could evaluate the impact on the Roman Empire.
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#5. Art
During an art lesson on colour theory, the students can easily identify primary colours at the uni-structural level. They could mix primary colours to get secondary colours at the multi-structural level.
At the relational level, the students can create a colour wheel to show the difference and relationships between primary, secondary, and tertiary colours.
The student can create artwork using various colours at the extended abstract level.
#6. Science
During a science lesson on the water cycle, the students can easily identify different stages of the water cycle at the uni-structural level. They could provide an explanation to describe these stages in detail at the multi-structural level.
They can describe how these stages are interconnected at the relational level.
At the final, the extended abstract level, they could discuss the importance of the water cycle.
Conclusion
SOLO taxonomy was developed as an alternative to Bloom’s taxonomy and offers a structured outline for the learners to use. While Bloom focuses on internal cognitive processes, SOLO focuses on observable results instead.
A well-organized assessment question in the SOLO can help learners to show their understanding at a certain level, while Bloom focuses on the definition of science as well as the classification of learning objectives.
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References
- StructuralLearning: A Teacher’s Guide To SOLO Taxonomy
- EduRSC: What is SOLO taxonomy?
- HelpfulProfessor: SOLO Taxonomy – 5 Levels Of Learning Complexity
- GM Boulton‐Lewis – Education Research and Development, 1995: The SOLO taxonomy as a means of shaping and assessing learning in higher education
- W Hanna – Arts Education Policy Review, 2007: The new Bloom’s taxonomy: Implications for music education
