Dimensions of Learning is a comprehensive model of learning which offers a set of instructional strategies that improve the learning process and looks at learning in terms of five types of thinking processes that can be learnt. I had the privilege of taking part in a staggered 5-day professional development course in DoL. The following is the slideshow outlining my action research task associated to the PD.

1. Dimensions of
Learning
Action Research

2. Habits of Mind
Attitudes +
Perceptions

3. Extending + Refining
Knowledge through CFU
To develop and incorporate the use of hinge questions
into learning episodes to identfy specific deficienciecs
in learning
1

4. Hinge question
“… a “hinge point” in the lesson [allows] the lesson [to] go in different
directions, depending on student responses. By explicitly integrating
these hinge points into instruction, teachers can make their teaching more
responsive to their students' needs in real time (William, 2012).
CFU

5. Planning + Considerations
◉ DPP focus
- AITSL standard 5.2 – Assess student learning.
- Building curriculum knowledge and capacity in
English/literacy.
◉ PLC goal
- Explicit instruction of DRACER note taking strategy
across Year 8 English and Humanities.
◉ Apple TT goal
- Enhancing the frequency of student-driven data
capture to help inform practice.

6. What did I focus on?
PLC
TTDPP

7. “
“…many students are unaware of or do not appreciate the
benefits that effective note-taking may have on their learning,
and the importance of cultivating their note-taking skills over
the course of their education. Good note-taking practices can
lead to efficient study practices, better course outcomes, and
improved retention of content beyond a course’s conclusion.”
- Friedman, 2009
PLC
TT
DPP

8. DRACER note taking strategy
Define
information
Read over –
skim & scan
Actively read
& identify key
words
Classify
words
Eliminate
unnecessary
words or
clauses
Re-write the
relevant
section using
dot points
Focus
Key words unlock meaning in
texts and provide a launching
point for understanding how
vocabulary is related to topics
and knowledge. They are
contextually relevant to the
text and lens of inquiry.

9. How?

10. Process
1. Explicitly teach ‘key words’
2. Identify a text stimulus to
examine.
3. Develop a multiple choice hinge
question that addresses the
concept of identifying key words
in that text.
4. Generate and pose the question
and answers using Socrative.
5. Collect real-time data and
‘teacher-centred’ analysis on
student understanding in order to
inform the trajectory of remainder
of the lesson.

12. Sample text – 8 History
Before the Spanish arrived in the Americas, there were
already many established societies. The Americas were a
vast territory with many different environments, and the
region had already seen the rise and fall of a number of
civilisations. In addition to scattered tribes and small societies,
there were two major, complex civilisations that remained.
These were the Aztecs in the region that is now Mexico, and
the Incas in the region that is now Peru.
How were Meso-American societies organised prior to the Spanish conquest?

13. Sample text – 8 History
Before the Spanish arrived in the Americas, there were already
many established societies. The Americas were a vast territory
with many different environments, and the region had already
seen the rise and fall of a number of civilisations. In addition to
scattered tribes and small societies, there were two major,
complex civilisations that remained. These were the Aztecs in the
region that is now Mexico, and the Incas in the region that is now
Peru.

14. Question: Which of the following is the most accurate
selection of key words from the text excerpt?
A) Rise, small, the, remained, many
B) Spanish, societies, environments,
civilisations, Incas
C) Territory, number, Americas, Aztecs,
Incas
D) Tribes, addition, number, before

15. Question: Which of the following is an example of key
words from the prescribed excerpt?
A) Spanish, societies, environments,
civilisations, Incas
B) Rise, small, the, remained, many
C) Territory, number, Americas, Aztecs
D) Tribes, addition, number, before

16. 65
4.5
27
13.5
Responses
A B C D
N = 24 / 29
Typically queried
why ‘number’ is not
a necessary key
word?
Fundamental
misconceptions
Identifying words that don’t
necessarily relate to inquiry
or topic, but frame meaning
given their position in text.
Understand the
core concept

17. What’s next?