| This study was designed to examine the SOLO Taxonomy of Biggs and Collis in an application to university and college level undergraduate instruction. Its purpose is to examine the SOLO's possible contribution to the field, and to discuss how this new approach fits into the present theoretical perspectives of cognitive psychology and academic instruction. Undergraduate education is fully defined in terms of the goals of the liberal arts curriculum, higher order thought, theories of learning and the students' experience, instructional techniques, and assessment practices. This paper continues with a theoretical evaluation of the SOLO as a valid instrument for instructional design and assessment for undergraduate education. Following this is a presentation of two studies evaluating the effectiveness of this approach compared to traditional methods, in terms of the quality and quantity of learning, as well as its durability of retention. Three college classes of undergraduate psychology were compared, one class receiving instruction with multiple choice examinations only, one with short essay examinations devised according to the SOLO partial credit model, and one class with the same short essay examinations paired with higher levels of explanation, examples and feedback concerning the SOLO. The general conclusion was that use of the SOLO taxonomy results in better student performance on examinations, especially for students of mid-range academic ability, and most markedly on long term retention of course material. This paper concludes with an indepth analysis of the levels of responses that students had attained, and an overall evaluation of the SOLO as an educational tool in undergraduate education. |
