SOLO Taxonomy Poster

Level Up Student Learning In Physical Education With SOLO Taxonomy!

What kind of learning are your students engaging in during your lessons?

Our goal as educators should be to help our students move from a surface level of learning to deeper learning in our lessons. Six outcomes define deeper learning: mastery of core academic content, critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration, effective communication, self-directed learning, and academic mindsets.

SOLO Taxonomy can help you identify ways of promoting deeper learning in your lessons.

SOLO Taxonomy is a mental model that can help teachers and students understand how to extend learning. It is best known for the five hierarchical levels of understanding that make up its framework:

Level One: Prestructural (Beginner)

At the prestructural level, students have no understanding of the content being explored in class.

Level Two: Unistructural (Surface Learning)

Here, students have mastered one relevant aspect of what they are learning in class. For example, they may know one cue of the overhand throw.

Level Three: Multistructural (Surface Learning)

At this level, students have mastered several independent aspects of what they are learning in class. For example, they may describe the overhand throw by listing its five critical elements.

Level Four: Relational (Deeper Learning)

As students move towards deeper learning, they can build connections between the different aspects they have learned in class. At this level, students could use their understanding of a mature overhand throw to analyze their performance and determine ways to improve.

Level Five: Extended Abstract (Conceptual Learning)

Beyond deeper learning is conceptual learning. Conceptual learning involves transferring what you have learned in one situation and applying it to a new domain. For example, a student who learned how rotating their body when overhand throwing leads to more powerful throws could use that understanding when learning how to shoot a hockey puck with power.

SOLO Taxonomy can help you reflect on the learning that your lessons are promoting. In turn, this reflection can help you identify ways of supporting deeper levels of learning in physical education.

One of the issues I always had with SOLO Taxonomy was that I struggled with how the model is represented visually. That’s why I designed this poster to make SOLO Taxonomy easier to visualize with language that students can quickly grasp.

I hope this free resource can help you support your students’ journey into deeper learning.

Happy Teaching!