Wow, I hadn't realised it had been so long since last posting! This year has seen so many changes in terms of the new A-Levels, new GCSEs and the potential for 'life after levels'. My only hope is that whatever happens politically someone stops and says perhaps teachers (and students and their parents) have had enough upheaval in recent years and leave education alone!
Anyhow, that brings me on to my posting now. I am preparing for our exciting new History course, I think the students will love the options we have gone for. There are some wonderful options being offered by the exam boards including my favourite Crime and Punishment. I've found myself re-visiting sites, books and topics that I used for my undergraduate degree in particular the proceedings at The Old Bailey. The only danger is it is so easy to lose yourself following cases, readings and crime stats! But, a thoroughly fascinating way to lose a few hours nonetheless.
This term has also seen exciting planning with regards to one of my other areas of interest WomenEd we had a fantastic regional training session earlier in the year where the direction and next steps were thoroughly discussed. There have been tea parties to celebrate the first birthday, regional meets, publications and planning has already begun for the next unconference in October. It has been so exciting and rewarding to be part of this. Not only have I had the chance to meet and work with some incredible and inspiring women but it has given me a renewed energy and confidence.
So the next big step will be exam results day, with the sheer hard work and effort that young people have been putting in I just hope that certain newspapers refrain from their usual 'exams the easiest they have ever been' style headlines. It only serves to belittle the achievements of students and to upset those who haven't got the grades they hoped for. So as this academic year prepares to enter its final few weeks I hope everyone is where they want to be!
Showing posts with label exams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exams. Show all posts
Saturday, 18 June 2016
Monday, 1 February 2016
A taxing taxonomy?
Not, perhaps the most original of titles...
However, something that has concerned a large portion of my waking thoughts has been linked to year 11 revision! As I mentioned in an earlier blogpost I think as teachers we may be more stressed about exams than some of the students. Something that then got me thinking was the implicit assumptions I am perhaps guilty of making. The things I take for granted. This led me to looking at Solo Taxonomy and the way I can apply it to my teaching and student learning.
That is not to dismiss Bloom's Taxonomy at all, and I think that the hierarchy of skills does successfully represent different levels of thinking. What I think is that often we can take for granted that while students may be able to meet some of the higher order thinking skills this does not mean they do not need support in linking some of the elements of the earlier thinking levels. This is one of the things I quite like about the Solo Taxonomy is that students are focusing on seeing and developing connections between elements. The 'levels' or 'steps' of the model, this is not to limit it to being a step-by-step unit.
I can see how this model can be applied to support student progress and development in that it encourages students to focus on connections and the impact of events/actions/people upon the wider world. One way of demonstrating is through the use of hexagonal models, the interlinked models that get produced show how events cause other events and the way in which the consequences and relationships spiral beyond the opening concept or piece of detail. If you are using Solo Taxonomy or hexagonal models and have thoughts or ideas please do share!
However, something that has concerned a large portion of my waking thoughts has been linked to year 11 revision! As I mentioned in an earlier blogpost I think as teachers we may be more stressed about exams than some of the students. Something that then got me thinking was the implicit assumptions I am perhaps guilty of making. The things I take for granted. This led me to looking at Solo Taxonomy and the way I can apply it to my teaching and student learning.
That is not to dismiss Bloom's Taxonomy at all, and I think that the hierarchy of skills does successfully represent different levels of thinking. What I think is that often we can take for granted that while students may be able to meet some of the higher order thinking skills this does not mean they do not need support in linking some of the elements of the earlier thinking levels. This is one of the things I quite like about the Solo Taxonomy is that students are focusing on seeing and developing connections between elements. The 'levels' or 'steps' of the model, this is not to limit it to being a step-by-step unit.
- The first stage is seen as the pre-structural stage, where a student may not understand a task or be able to identify any relevant knowledge.
- The uni-lateral stage is where the student is focusing on one area of detail, they may feel that they can only identify one area of information.
- The next step sees students beginning to include more detail but they see the details as being distinct or separate, this is the multi-structural stage.
- The penultimate stage, the relational stage sees the student making connections between the identified detail or knowledge.
- The final stage, extended abstract sees the student conceptualising the content/detail/knowledge at a higher level. The student is now beginning to see where this connected (relational) model fits into wider topics. For example: a student being able to see how the Scientific Revolution impacted upon wider society, media/art, religion or politics.
I can see how this model can be applied to support student progress and development in that it encourages students to focus on connections and the impact of events/actions/people upon the wider world. One way of demonstrating is through the use of hexagonal models, the interlinked models that get produced show how events cause other events and the way in which the consequences and relationships spiral beyond the opening concept or piece of detail. If you are using Solo Taxonomy or hexagonal models and have thoughts or ideas please do share!
Sunday, 7 June 2015
Exam pressure and revision techniques
Who is more stressed and worried during this period?!
The inevitable articles will start as we near the results days in August that this year's exams were easier than ever. That we will see more and more students getting the top grades, implying that teaching standards have dropped and students are not working as hard. This isn't fair on anyone, having seen the amount of work that students are putting in and the stress that it is causing them, it belittles the work that us, parents and students are putting in.
Every year we teach students not only the content that they need, the exam techniques and skills but also the ways in which to revise. There was a fascinating article from the BBC about different revision techniques and the success or hindrance that some can play.
Highlighting
As someone who loves their stationery and nothing more than colour-coding both their notes and work I've been a fan of highlighting when working. The BBC article, linked above, raises some interesting findings about this approach. That upon reading actually make a lot of sense; the idea that highlighting sections or sentences at a time means you are only focusing on one concept or issue at a time. Rather than building the bigger picture or connecting concepts, which for many subjects is essential.
Making summary points
This is an interesting one with Professor Dunlovsky suggesting that summaries do not help that much. Stating that students who re-visit and re-read learn as much as those who are making summaries as they read. This is an interesting finding, I found (or thought) that when I was at university this was something that helped me. Although I did make summary notes as I went along, as well as part of my revision.
Memory aids/mnemonics
Useful but with a caveat that they are only really of benefit for short bits of information, like remembering the order of the planets or colours of the rainbow. Rather than being of use for longer passages. This is perhaps not surprising. What was surprising was the suggestion in the research that this approach didn't work for subjects like Physics or Maths. I remember at school being taught a number of mnemonics for both these subjects, although as with other things I revised the concepts and tested them out as part of my revision, so perhaps it was that they played more of a role, rather than the mnemonic. Which brings me nicely on to the findings about what worked well.
The successful approaches
This is based upon the research as discussed in the article and I do appreciate that individuals may still find different techniques work well for them. Spreading out revision over a longer period of time and testing yourself regularly were found to be the most effective. This is not surprising, giving yourself more time enables you to review, check and test your understanding in the hope of cementing it fully before the exam. I am sure I am not alone in suggesting that students start revising before May! Planning ahead and revising your subjects over time, acknowledging that you have possibly at GCSE 10 subjects to revise and balancing your time, rather than trying to revise Biology in one block before moving on to Chemistry is the sensible approach. This ensures you are doing little and often rather than trying to 'cram'.
As we are well under way in the exam season there is still time to work on revision! Whilst research has identified the statistically more beneficial approaches, any revision is better than none!
The inevitable articles will start as we near the results days in August that this year's exams were easier than ever. That we will see more and more students getting the top grades, implying that teaching standards have dropped and students are not working as hard. This isn't fair on anyone, having seen the amount of work that students are putting in and the stress that it is causing them, it belittles the work that us, parents and students are putting in.
Every year we teach students not only the content that they need, the exam techniques and skills but also the ways in which to revise. There was a fascinating article from the BBC about different revision techniques and the success or hindrance that some can play.
Highlighting
As someone who loves their stationery and nothing more than colour-coding both their notes and work I've been a fan of highlighting when working. The BBC article, linked above, raises some interesting findings about this approach. That upon reading actually make a lot of sense; the idea that highlighting sections or sentences at a time means you are only focusing on one concept or issue at a time. Rather than building the bigger picture or connecting concepts, which for many subjects is essential.
Making summary points
This is an interesting one with Professor Dunlovsky suggesting that summaries do not help that much. Stating that students who re-visit and re-read learn as much as those who are making summaries as they read. This is an interesting finding, I found (or thought) that when I was at university this was something that helped me. Although I did make summary notes as I went along, as well as part of my revision.
Memory aids/mnemonics
Useful but with a caveat that they are only really of benefit for short bits of information, like remembering the order of the planets or colours of the rainbow. Rather than being of use for longer passages. This is perhaps not surprising. What was surprising was the suggestion in the research that this approach didn't work for subjects like Physics or Maths. I remember at school being taught a number of mnemonics for both these subjects, although as with other things I revised the concepts and tested them out as part of my revision, so perhaps it was that they played more of a role, rather than the mnemonic. Which brings me nicely on to the findings about what worked well.
The successful approaches
This is based upon the research as discussed in the article and I do appreciate that individuals may still find different techniques work well for them. Spreading out revision over a longer period of time and testing yourself regularly were found to be the most effective. This is not surprising, giving yourself more time enables you to review, check and test your understanding in the hope of cementing it fully before the exam. I am sure I am not alone in suggesting that students start revising before May! Planning ahead and revising your subjects over time, acknowledging that you have possibly at GCSE 10 subjects to revise and balancing your time, rather than trying to revise Biology in one block before moving on to Chemistry is the sensible approach. This ensures you are doing little and often rather than trying to 'cram'.
As we are well under way in the exam season there is still time to work on revision! Whilst research has identified the statistically more beneficial approaches, any revision is better than none!
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