Case Study - A Skills Map for the Learning Journey

Deliver the Program

Teach the sequence of activities

Since the full program has only recently been developed and structured, the whole sequence has not yet been completed. Therefore it would be impossible to give full results for any one student. However, some of the separate learning outcomes have been taught as integral parts of the literacy and numeracy program with various groups. Students have been very receptive to tasks that have encouraged them to develop their metacognitive skills. One such task asked students “What animal best represents you as a learner?” Most students identified aspects of their learning quite easily with this prompt and were therefore able to begin to describe themselves as learners and to think about what aspects were beneficial and what aspects needed modification. Their writing and oral communication were able to be easily recorded, but even more important was their positive reaction to the question. Weeks later they still recalled the impact it had on them and how they were intrigued by other students’ self-appraisals and how they enjoyed searching for a suitable animal to match their learning personality. It could almost be called a metaphor of metacognition!

Monitor learners’ progress through the course and assess student performance

Learners’ written responses were collected, oral communication recorded and changes in attitude noted. Folios of work have been kept. The Portfolio Approach has now been adopted and is assisting both students and tutors become metacognitive as there is a firm focus on joint recognition of achievement, of skills that need to be improved and preferred methods of learning and teaching. These are in the process of development. The new aspect of the portfolio process for us will be the joint planning of assessment tasks which will develop further student skills in planning and taking responsibility for learning.