Application: How can you apply these insights to your teaching?

Challenges: What challenges might you face when implementing these ideas?

New Perspectives: Did the article change or reinforce your beliefs about teaching and learning?

Next Steps: What is one action you will take based on what you learned?

1) Transfer of learning comes in two forms - near and far

2) Retrieval practice comes in many forms to help students to improve their learning

3) Feedback + retrieval practice help the students to strengthen their knowledge and also fill in the gaps in their knowledge

Application:

To include different forms in retrieval practice for students to improve in learning the content and applying it.

Challenge:

Readiness of students

New perspective:

There are different forms of retrieval practice to help students to improve their learning. Depending on the abilities and readiness of the students, we should select and incorporate different forms to help students in improving their learning.

Next step:

I will like to include more opportunities for students to construct meaningful explanations.

1) Retrieval practice should always be combined with feedback. It helps students to strengthen the knowledge they had, and at the same time, this could fill in the gaps in their prior knowledge.

2) Beyond "correct answers", it is more important for retrieval practice to be done to strengthen student's understanding and improve student's engagement.

Application:

To use post-retrieval feedback together with explanatory to allow students to strengthen their understanding and close the gaps in understanding.

Challenges:

Students might not be able to apply knowledge in new situations and context.

New Perspective:

The method of retrieval practice and transfer of learning introduces in depth thinking and allows students to see relations in the knowledge acquired

Next steps:

To introduce post-retrieval feedback and combine it with explanatory during lessons.

Applications: Alongside with the Blooms and Solo, the common alignment for application will the 5E approach of science teaching. Ultimately, I feel that we should set realistic targets- reaching the analyze stage of the Blooms and Relational Level of Understanding.

Challenges: Need to revisit the 5E approach and perhaps use ICBL pedagogy to deliver our science lessons.

New Perspective: Use Flipped classroom for science lessons especially the pre-learning stage.

Next Step: To be discussed with science dept

• The article highlights the importance of active student engagement in learning.

• It emphasises differentiated instruction to cater to diverse learning needs.

• It discusses the role of formative assessment in improving student outcomes.

2. Application (Relational)

• I will incorporate more hands-on activities to enhance student engagement.

• I will use differentiated instructional strategies to support students with varying abilities.

• I will implement more formative assessments to track student progress and adjust my teaching accordingly.

3. Challenges (Multi-structural/Relational)

• Time constraints may make it difficult to plan differentiated lessons.

• Managing diverse student needs within a single lesson may be challenging.

• Students may require additional scaffolding to fully benefit from active learning strategies.

4. New Perspectives (Extended Abstract)

• The article reinforced my belief that engagement is key to effective learning.

• It broadened my perspective on the role of formative assessment in driving student progress.

5. Next Steps (Relational/Extended Abstract)

• I will experiment with exit tickets to assess student understanding after each lesson.

• I will collaborate with colleagues to develop differentiated activities to assess students learning.

• I will attend a professional development workshop on formative assessment strategies.

1. Active recall involves taking a topic you wish to learn, creating questions based on that topic, and then repeatedly testing yourself on those questions. By forcing your brain to retrieve the information, it ensures that you actively learn it instead of passively reading it. Not only are you significantly more likely to remember the information, but active recall makes you acutely aware of topics that you don’t yet understand and that require additional attention. This is strong basis as to why daily AFL strategies work as students are required to retrieve the information to answer, either verbally or written.

2. One of the greatest powers of SOLO Taxonomy is that it can be used to feed forward and feed back.

   The different levels make it easier to relate to success criteria and in turn designing Afl as well as giving feedback. There is also opportunity for self or peer assessment

   It is a means to classify learning outcomes in terms of their complexity, enabling us to assess students’ learning based on quality and not just how much they know.

3. Learning is not just about grades or a tick list of knowledge and skills. (relate to change in mindset of assessment)

   Students see learning as a progression (Growth mindset) and they can also experience small successes as they conquer each level. This is an opportunity to let students see how they can take the next steps to go to the next level (surface, deep and transfer stages)

Application:

I usually design questions based on CER to expose students to different contexts to see transference in learning. But I usually skip the first part of designing the Level 1 type of questions. I intend to design AFL worksheets/ activities that are tiered based on SOLO taxonomy.

In order to increase transfer of learning:

1. we can get students to retrieve broadly to encourage them to think about multiple aspects of the material to be learned.

2. Ask students to construct meaningful explanations which involves more than retrieving “what” they have learned but also the “why” and “how” of material to be learned.

3. Use a variety of questions (lower and higher order, factual and conceptual, etc.) which involve retrieval of different parts of information to be learned.

Challenges:

I must first be able to discern the different Success criteria and link to the different levels in SOLO. Also, students in the class may be at different readiness levels.

Designing questions based on novel contexts is also not an easy task so we need collective effort.

New Perspectives:

My current understanding of AFL is daily checking of understanding and to sieve out misconceptons. However, after reading more, I realise that retrieval practice or low stakes testing is not just a simple and quick way to show understanding, gaps, and misconceptions but is also defined as independently recalling learned information from memory.

Next steps:

Besides designing tiered worksheets, I would like to include hints which act as simple reminders for students to be able to transfer learning in a different context.

1) Transfer involves applying learned knowledge or skills to new situations. Near Transfer: Applying knowledge to situations closely related to the original learning context. Far Transfer: Applying knowledge to situations that differ significantly from the original context.

Retrieval Practice as a Tool for Transfer:

2) Engaging in retrieval practice strengthens memory and facilitates the application of knowledge to new context. This practice not only reinforces basic recall but also promotes deeper understanding, aiding both near and far transfer.

Challenges in Fostering Transfer:

3) Achieving effective transfer is often challenging due to differences between learning and application contexts.

Practical Strategies for Educators:

a) Incorporate Varied Retrieval Practice: Use diverse question formats and scenarios during retrieval exercises to prepare students for applying knowledge in different contexts.

b) Provide Timely Feedback: Offer immediate feedback during retrieval activities to correct misunderstandings and reinforce accurate knowledge.

c) Encourage Metacognition: Prompt students to reflect on their thinking processes, enhancing their ability to transfer knowledge by recognizing connections between concepts.

Studying

I have always believed that repeated testing is essential to ensure students have learnt. The gap between when it was taught and when it is retested is as important.

I was intrigued by this line in the article-the

present research shows that it is also important to consider how the

conditions of initial learning can be arranged to better promote transfer.

As we plan lessons we must look at how students are exposed to the concept in the first place. The experience, scaffolding, questioning techniques used in the lesson must be considered. Before we speak about retention, let's focus more on how students learn in the classroom. Yes, its important that they transfer their learning to new situations but what is more crucial is their deep understanding of the concept. Only then can they apply the concept, confidently in new situations.

It will be useful to read the email

From DGE's Desk (Jan 2025) - Our Amazing Learning Machine! (Attached photo)

1) SOLO taxonomy classifies learning outcomes in terms of complexity.

2) It can be adapted and used in other ways according to the requirements of the students.

3)It helps the students to build on their knowledge and link their prior ideas to new ideas.

Application:

I would like to adapt it with the KWL strategy and help the students make connections with the previous concepts that they have learnt in the earlier years.

Challenges:

There will be different levels of student readiness in terms of recalling basic knowledge and/or concepts.

New perspective:

It has given me a new perspective on having a structure to build on prior knowledge and develop one's learning.

Next steps:

To try out in one of my lessons in the upcoming topics.