Developing the 'independent learning spiral'

Experience helps us to structure and guide student learning when they are in front of us, but what happens when they go home? Why is it that some students leave a lesson, returning the next to have deepened and developed their learning, while others have forgotten the core material? This blog is a summary of two terms of work supported by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) trying to unpick the ‘magic’ that happens at home which leads to some of our students making brilliant progress. Our aim was to demystify the home learning process by creating a ‘couch to exam day guide’ to support all students to understand what needs to happen beyond the classroom to gain the best results at A Level. We wanted to articulate a process that was accessible to all students, no matter their starting point, to support them to learn in the most effective ways for academic success. 

We know from research, including the work of the VESPA Mindset team, that effort, in particular the right type of effort, makes a significant difference to students at A Level (Oakes & Griffin, 2016).  Further, we know how important it is for our students to develop autonomy over their learning. This autonomy helps with motivation during their A Levels, as well as giving them valuable learning skills essential for academic success in further study. I was already working with students who had good habits; I set homework every lesson due the next, and as a result, students have between 3 and 4 hours a week of set work to complete. We also have a range of good revision resources including study banks (where students summarise the key studies for each topic), revision grids, key term resources, and exam question banks with planning structures. 

What we wanted to develop in addition was threefold:

1. A clearer articulation of our expectations of students’ home learning 
2. A model for students wanting the highest grades that showed what more was expected of them
3. An opportunity for increased autonomy so students can lead their own learning

Our final outcome was a 6-step ‘spiral’ process to independent learning. The reason we chose a spiral rather than a ladder is that this is a continuous process: Step 1 needs to happen all of the time every lesson. This then builds to Step 2, wherein students develop whole-topic knowledge etc. Only once Steps 3 and 4 are secure would you build to Steps 5 and 6 - these final two steps are more synoptic and often only reached by students who gain the highest grades.

Much of what was identified in Steps 1 and 2 came from our students; through one-to-one discussions, class questionnaires, and a targeted A-A* session, we began to identify what students were doing to take responsibility for their own understanding. 

Step 3 was identified as our biggest gap. I think we assumed students were testing themselves, but we weren’t assessing the effectiveness of their revision, nor were we explicitly teaching the benefits of retrieval practice as part of revision. This remains an area of practice to develop during 2022-2023.

Step 4 was something we were good at doing in class, but we were rarely making exam work revision compulsory. Instead, students who were working towards top grades were doing exam questions on their own, but those who most needed the practice were avoiding it. One of the most successful exam tools developed was a weekly 30-60-minute piece of homework with four 10-mark questions. Students had the option of planning all of them, completing two in exam conditions, or slowly planning two with notes. These were then reviewed (not marked), and students could return to unused questions later. This allowed us to set expectations of exam-focused learning and students to adapt revision to their needs and gave us structured resources for work beyond what was set.

Steps 5 and 6 are what we are calling the ‘icing on the cake’: the final steps that are required to gain the highest grades. 

We also identified that student success in home learning is not just the student’s responsibility. Griffin and Oakes (2016) identify the importance of staff articulating what effective effort looks like to students. We noticed three things that we as teachers were doing to improve student learning at home:

1. Creating a climate of high expectations – this includes setting and monitoring (not the same as marking) the work allocated.
2. Teaching students the skills they need to work at home - we identified that some students couldn’t use the content page or glossary of their textbook for example.
3. Creating and sharing resources to facilitate student learning independently - for example, setting up a shared Teams channel for all students with access to all the exam questions, revision resources, and tools.

Over the next academic year, we will use and apply, and no doubt adapt, this structure as we continue to develop students’ independent learning.

Megan teaches sociology at Long Road Sixth Form College, and undertook the project on which this blog is based with her co-investigators Anna Ross and Alexis Wood. They were supervised by Dr Jo Bowser-Angermann and Ruth Platt at Anglia Ruskin.

References

Griffin and Oakes (2016) The A Level Mindset: 40 activities for transforming student commitment, motivation and productivity Crown House Publishing UK