Problems and possible solutions

One of the concerns shared by a number of staff members in using the SOLO taxonomy is the problem of reliability and consistency. There is some conceptual ambiguity inherent in SOLO's structure which "makes categorization unstable along with the problem of low inter-rater reliability" (Chan et al., 2002, p.512). In fact, when the SOLO taxonomy was first adopted by the English Department, staff members were already aware of this issue of inter-rater reliability. Attempts have been taken to tackle this problem. It has been agreed that parity meetings would be held among teachers periodically during the semester. The purpose of these meetings would be to discuss sample scripts of students' work so as to achieve a fair application of the criteria. Comments from colleagues about this procedural measure indicate that in addition to the parity meetings stipulated for individual subjects, such meetings should also be held at a departmental level because parity across subjects is also needed.

A related problem is the mapping of the criteria onto the specific assessment tasks of the different subjects. Some staff members felt that the criteria should be more refined or more elaborate in order to suit different subjects and different tasks. This is similar to the findings reported in Chan, Tsui, Chan and Hong (2002). They also criticize the assessment criteria of the SOLO taxonomy as being vague. However, if the SOLO taxonomy is meant to be applicable across a wide variety of disciplines, it is bound to be general and hence "vague". Lake (1999) has demonstrated how the structure of the complexity of understanding can be effectively transformed into a template to be applied to the teaching of interpreting graphs and tables in biological sciences. There is no reason why this cannot be accomplished for other subjects.

This problem can only be solved by candid sharing among staff members of their experience in adapting the taxonomy to their respective subjects and to specific assignment tasks. The accumulation of good practices and examples of the application of the SOLO taxonomy thus becomes crucial. This should be administered at the departmental level so as to build a resource base available for staff.

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

قسم التطوير يبحث آفاق التعاون المشترك مع المعهد العالي لإعداد وتأهيل القادة

إدارة العتبة العباسية المقدسة تطلع على آليات تطوير المهارات الحِرَفية بقسم صناعة الشبابيك

سماحة السيد الصافي يؤكد أهمية التدريب المستمر وتطوير قدرات الملاكات الطبية للارتقاء بالخدمات الصحية

العتبة العباسية المقدسة تقيم مجلسًا عزائيًا لإحياء ذكرى شهادة الإمام الكاظم (عليه السلام)

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

6 فواكة تساعدك على الشعور بتحسّن عند المرض

حفاظا على صحة العين.. هذا أفضل وقت لتناول فيتامين أ

الاستخدام اليومي لسماعات الأذن.. أخطر مما تتصور !

هل توقيت نشاطك اليومي يؤثر على صحة دماغك؟.. العلماء يجيبون

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

ابتكار ألماني قد يغيّر مستقبل صناعة البلاستيك

تحديثات وأرباح عبر المشاهدات.. ما الذي تخطط له "لينكد إن"؟

"الكوكايين الوردي".. مخدر جديد يثير قلق السلطات الأميركية

دراسة: تغيّرات في أسلوب القيادة قد تكشف مبكرا عن الخرف !

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Parents with Learning Disabilities CONCLUSION

PROVISION OF SUPPORT

CARING FOR CHILDREN

EUGENICS AND ETHICAL ISSUES

PARENTING

DISCRIMINATION AND DIVERSITY

THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Parents with Learning Disabilities

Legislation and Learning Disabilities CONCLUSION

LEGAL SAFEGUARDS

MENTAL CAPACITY ACT 2005

THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 1998