SOLO stands for “Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes”. I came across this taxonomy when I was researching another resource that I will be offering in tomorrow’s post. I thought it might be helpful to offer this one first just in case you, like me, have never heard of SOLO.
The graphic below, taken from the Otonga Primary School blog, gives an overview of SOLO:
I highly recommend that you visit the Otonga Primary School site, as it gives great examples of each of the thinking stages.
Some of you may note that this looks a bit like Bloom’s Taxonomy. I noticed this, too. So, I dug a bit deeper to try to find the difference, and discovered this page by Pam Hook that outlines what she considers to be the advantages of SOLO over Bloom’s. I am not certain I agree with all of her statements, particularly that Bloom’s Taxonomy is more for teacher use than student use, but this post does help to clarify some of the differences.
I have not had professional development with SOLO, so I cannot speak to its effectiveness, but I do think that it is an interesting concept, and I am particularly intrigued by the Relational stage, which I will discuss more in tomorrow’s post.
