Advantages of SOLO Taxonomy

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Revision as of 23:52, 24 November 2013

Advantages of SOLO Taxonomy

SOLO has advantages over Bloom's cognitive taxonomy (Bloom 1965), the traditional taxonomy for differentiating learning experiences. SOLO is a theory about teaching and learning based on research on student learning rather than a theory about knowledge based on the judgements of educational administrators (Biggs and Tang 2007, p. 80). A second advantage lies in SOLO's facility in enabling student and educator to understand and evaluate learning experiences and learning outcomes in terms of ascending cognitive complexity (Hattie and Brown 2004). Thus if SOLO is used to design the learning experience and its assessment, then it is possible to design the follow-up learning experience at an appropriate level of cognitive complexity in order to challenge yet not overwhelm. SOLO can be used to design a learning experience or ask a question at one level of cognitive complexity whilst at the same time determining different levels of complexity in the student learning outcomes or answers within that level. For example it is possible to design a learning experience using compare and contrast,a declarative knowledge verb at the relational level and at the same time assess a student's learning outcome or answer against success criteria written at unistructural, multistructural, relational or extended abstract levels. Finally and significantly, when working with teachers, SOLO provides greater clarity when writing ILOs. For example an intended learning outcome from the "understanding" level of Bloom's revised taxonomy includes verbs such as classify, compare, exemplify, conclude, demonstrate, discuss, explain, identify, illustrate, interpret, paraphrase, predict, and report (Anderson and Krathwohl 2001). SOLO differentiates these verbs from one level in Bloom into three different levels of learning outcome, allowing a more effective targeting of ILOs and a greater clarity when helping students learning to learn (Biggs and Tang 2007, p. 80). Extract from Hook, P. (2012). Teaching and Learning: tales from the ampersand. In L. Rowan and C. Bigum (Eds),Future Proofing Education: Transformative approaches to new technologies and student diversity in futures oriented classrooms. Springer. p. 123 and 124