Planning Teaching: Constructive

Alignment
For teaching to be effective, two
ingredients are needed at the outset:

Careful planning and Constructive Alignment.

The former will be especially reliant on

SMART learning outcomes and the latter on
connectivity between strategies for LTA.
Constructive Alignment
A good teaching system aligns
teaching method and assessment to
the learning activities stated in the
objectives so that all aspects of this
system are IN ACCORD in supporting
appropriate student learning.
(Seigel, 2004)
See following diagram:
 Constructive alignment:
the golden triangle
Learning
Outcomes

Teaching
and Learning Assessment
Activity
 Definition:
Learning outcomes are statements of what is
expected that the student will be able to do as a
result of a learning activity (Jenkins and Unwin,
2001).

Learning outcomes are an explicit description of

what a learner should know, understand and be able
to do as a result of learning (Bingham, 1999)
Purposes:
Clear expectations are set for students
Teaching has a specific focus
Appropriate matching strategies for teaching
and assessment are chosen
Helps to keep teaching focused on student
learning
Student-centred learning is developed
Learning Outcomes should be SMART

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Timed
These have major implications for
planning. However.
Using a Framework
Learning outcomes can NOT be written in a
vacuum.
A framework is needed within which to
develop them.
Blooms Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
provides this.
It is depicted diagrammatically thus:
Linking learning outcomes to levels

Hierarchy of learning e.g. Blooms six categories of

cognitive learning:

knowledge

Higher learning levels

comprehension
application
analysis
synthesis
evaluation
Blooms Taxonomy of Educational
Objectives (1956)

Synthesis

Evaluation

Analysis

Application

Understanding

Knowledge
Blooms Levels
Cognitive Domain
6. Evaluation
Making judgement about value against criteria of what has been learnt.
5. Synthesis
Combining together to make a coherent whole. Involves logical
deduction, creativity, discovery of patterns, structure.
4. Analysis
Breaking into component parts, listing elements, establishing the
relationship between them. One infers, compares, contrasts and
categorises.
3. Application
Using something in a specific manner, experimenting, practising,
testing. Applying general principles or theory to practice.
Bloom continued
2. Comprehension
Grasping meaning, assimilating, communicating in ones own words.
1. Knowledge
Recall of factual information, being able to remember, label or
recognise something.

Follow up: examine with a colleague the learning outcomes

for one of your modules.

At which levels of the Taxonomy are they located?

Are your action words found in the handout given?
Is there alignment with the assessment strategies?
Other Essentials of Planning
Decisions about:
How previous content will be built on: high selectivity
KEY topics or points (Lands threshold concepts)
How much time to allocate to each
Strategies for learning (PAR and BEM)
Key questions that will be asked
How explanations will be structured
How stimulus variation will be employed
How student attention will be optimised
What will make the learning inclusive
Types of learners (multi-sensory teaching)
PAR and BEM
Present, Apply, Review (PAR)
Beginning, End and Middle Principle (BEM)
The BEM (beginning end middle) principle states
that the beginnings and endings of presented content
are more readily remembered than content in the
middle. (The Primacy Effect)
Thus, the first 10-12 minutes and the last 8-10
minutes of a presentation (The Recency Effect) are
optimum periods for learning.
What are the implications of this?
The PAR Model (Petty)
Present content
Apply content
Review content

Associated skills are:

Set Induction and Closure (P)
Effective Questioning/active learning (A)
Effective assessment strategies (R)
Well begun is half done
Set Induction and Closure:
Cognitive Set: an overview of learning

Perceptual Set: how one is perceived

Social Set: creating a social environment for

learning
Motivational Set: this is worth doing

Cognitive, social and motivational closure

Examples of strategies for cognitive set are:

Advanced organisers, concept maps, fishbones

CLOSURE
This takes two forms:
Transitional closure
Summative closure
Making each student-centred is crucial to
successful learning and teaching.
Closure ensures that learning is formatively
assessed.
It should be undertaken by students
It should be explicit and carefully integrated.
SCL has occurred when:
Students realise that their learning is incomplete
They have engaged in self-assessment facilitated
by their tutors
They make decisions about moving forward,
accepting personal responsibility for learning
They are beginning to bridge the gap between
surface and deep learning
Self-Assessment
What resources are needed to complete this?
How much do I already know?
What do I still need to find out?
Can this be prioritised?
What will help fill gaps?
What is my action plan/time plan?
How might I build on/IMPROVE previous work?
Why is this topic important?
What links are there between theory and practice?
Surface Learning encouraged by:
Recall rather than application and analysis etc.
Anxiety creating assessments (too many/too difficult)
Poorly timed assessments: end-loading
Excessive amounts of material/absence of threshold concepts
Poor or absent feedback/formative feedback
Lack of independence in studying/ no peer learning
Lack of interest in and background knowledge of subject matter
Previous experiences of educational settings that encourage
these approaches
Few, if any, opportunities for self-assessment
Deep Learning is fostered by:
Active and long-term engagement with tasks
Self-assessment of learning
Stimulating and considerate teaching through which relevance
and meaning are clarified and emphasised
Clearly stated academic expectations
Opportunities to exercise reasonable choice in the method and
content of study
Interest in and background knowledge of the subject matter
Previous experiences of educational settings that encourage
these approaches
(See: Ramsden, P (1992), Learning to Teach in Higher
Education)