Using the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) Taxonomy to Self-Evaluate and Apply Psychosocial Concepts in Healthcare Contexts
Grant Name
Applied Learning and Innovation Grant (ALIGN)Abstract
The Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy is conventionally used as a teaching tool for instructors to assess students’ understanding of a subject topic. A key feature of the SOLO taxonomy is to enable the instructor or learner to identify one’s level of complexity in understanding abstract concepts. Thus, this is relevant to students learning abstract concepts such as psychosocial theories and wish to gain deeper understanding and more sophisticated application of the learnt concepts.
The current research aims to train students to use the SOLO taxonomy to evaluate and enhance their own learning and then assess the students’ objective and subjective efficacy in applying a psychosocial concept in healthcare settings. Up to one hundred allied health students at the Singapore Institute of Technology will be randomised into an intervention group or a control group. The intervention group will learn how to use the SOLO taxonomy by viewing short video presentations on an online learning platform, i.e., Brightspace. Students in both groups write an essay based on a psychosocial concept before the training and review and revise the essay after the training. Two teaching staff who are blinded to the study objectives and hypotheses will mark the essays. The effectiveness of the SOLO taxonomy training will be examined based on the students’ scores for the essays and the perceived efficacy in self-evaluation and enhancement in applying the psychosocial concept. Given the transferability of the SOLO taxonomy across subject matters and its applicability to learning abstract concepts, the taxonomy may continue to be useful in clinical settings and in other disciplines that teach abstract concepts.
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