The document discusses constructive alignment in geography education, emphasizing the importance of engaging learners through relevant activities that meet clearly defined learning objectives. It outlines how teaching strategies, methods, and assessments must align with these objectives to promote deep learning and comprehension. The example provided illustrates how teaching practices and assessment tasks can effectively enhance learner understanding of geographic concepts like slope.

1. Constructive alignment in
Geography
Ms. Nkosi

2. THINK-PAIR-SHARE
•“How can we get learners to
learn what we want them to
learn?
•“How can we design teaching
that engages the learner, has
appropriate content, and a clear
path to achievement?”

3. Constructive alignment
• Constructive alignment was derived from cognitive psychology and
constructivist theory.
• It is predicated on the belief that the learner constructs his or her own learning
through engaging in relevant learning activities.
• Learners’ construct meaning from what they do to learn.
• Involves selecting the most appropriate teaching and learning activities and
assessment tasks for each of the learning outcomes/objectives.
• There is a deliberate between the 3 aspects
• Promotes and assesses deep student learning (Biggs, 1996, Biggs & Tang, 2011)
• Strives for consistency across all educational aspects.

4. Intended learning outcomes/objectives
What are learners enabled to do after the Geography lesson?
• Lesson objectives serve as the guiding principles dictating what should be taught, how it
should be taught, and how to measure learners' grasp of the material.
• Conscious effort to provide the learner with a clearly specified goal
• Verbs in learning objectives statements are typically used as a basis for alignment and refer to
the specific steps that collectively lead the learners toward the objectives (Biggs & Tang,
2011; Jackson et al., 2003).
• Central to this approach is the articulation of the Geography CAPs through well-defined
objectives.
• These objectives outline the desired depth of comprehension, moving beyond a mere listing
of topics to understanding, application, and transference.
• Establish a clear understanding of the desired objectives for learners.

5. Example:
At the end of the lesson, learners should be able to:
• Articulate your understanding of the concept ‘slope’.
• Examine the different slope elements.
• Investigate the impact of the local community’s mining activities on
slope.

6. Teaching and learning strategies and methods
Which teaching and learning lead to achieving the desired objectives?
• Learners must be prompted to engage in tasks aligned with the specified objectives.
• If learners are to learn desired outcomes/objectives in an effective manner, then the
teacher's fundamental task is to get learners to engage in learning activities that are likely
to result in their achieving those outcomes/objectives.
• The selection of teaching strategies, methods, and techniques revolves around strategies
capable of effectively realizing these learning objectives.
• Learning takes place through the active behavior of the learner: it is what he does that he
learns, not what the teacher does.
• What the learner does is more important in determining what is learned than what the
teacher does.
• Provide a well-designed learning activity or activities that are appropriate for the learning
task

7. Example:
Teaching and learning strategies and methods
• The teacher will explain the slope concept.
• Learners will be expected to write down notes.
• The teacher will demonstrate the slope elements.
• Learners will be expected to take notes and ask questions.
• The teacher will use the question-and-answer strategy to ask the 3 essential
questions.
• Learners will be expected to raise their hands and answer the questions.
• The teacher will implement group work.
• Learners will be expected to be in groups of 4, and roles must be allocated to each
group member. Each group will be given either a case study or a diagram about
human impact on slopes, or they will have to label the slope elements.

8. Assessment tasks/learning tasks
How should formative/summative assessment be designed in order to assess the
achievement of learning results?
• The assessment component is designed to directly address the predetermined
objectives.
• Instructions and assessment methods must be tailored to harmonize the
predetermined lesson objectives.
• This approach ensures that the assessment process evaluates the learner's
attainment of the targeted understanding as articulated in the objectives.
• Assessments gauge learners' ability to be proficiency in accomplishing the
anticipated learning objectives.

9. Example:
Assessment tasks/learning tasks
• The teacher will explain the project wherein learners will be expected
to Investigate the impact of the local community’s mining activities on
a slope.
• Learners will be expected to ask questions about the completion of
the project.

11. By now, you must be in the position to do the
following:
• Explain the term “constructive alignment”.
• Identify the three aspects/tenets of constructive alignment.
• Implement constructive alignment in lesson planning and the presentation thereof.
• Analyse case studies/scenarios.
• If you still do not understand the following, ask a question or schedule a consultation.