This document summarizes the results of a survey given to a Level 1 English class to assess their understanding of AKO (Ako is a learning management system), the Solo Taxonomy levels of thinking, and their ability to identify these levels in learning intentions, success criteria, and exam questions. The survey showed some improvement from Term 2 to Term 3, with 76% now correctly understanding what AKO is compared to 52-56% able to correctly identify the thinking level required by learning intentions, success criteria, and parts of exam questions. However, the results also indicate that explicitly teaching the concepts may not be fully transferring to students' ability to independently apply their knowledge when analyzing assessment tasks. An prior activity where students created

1. Student AKO
Survey

2. Teacher As Inquiry | Level 1 English
Department Inquiry:
How does the use of AKO and mentoring / facilitating at
senior levels improve results?
This document focuses on tracking the understanding of my Level 1 English class
of AKO and Solo Taxonomy.
I conducted in Week 2 of Term 3 a similar survey to the one I conducted in Term 2
with this class. The students answered about ten questions this time, testing their
understanding of the terms AKO, the levels of thinking and corresponding “learning
language” of the SOLO Taxonomy and Three Storey Intellect and their ability to link
this to Learning Intentions, Success Criteria and Essay Questions.
I.e.
a. Are they able to understand what an essay question is asking them to do?
a. Are they able to read a Learning Intention or essay question and identify what
level of thinking/thinking skills are required of them?

3. Student AKO
Survey Questions
Term 3
(Week 2)

4. The following slides provide:
1. A brief summary of the results of the
Term 3 Survey
2. A comparative analysis of the Term 2
and Term 3 survey
3. Possible insights gained/strategies
going forward

5. TERM 3 SURVEY RESULTS
1. WHAT DO YOU UNDERSTAND “AKO” TO BE?
Correct (76%) Incorrect (24%)
19 6
Correct (76%)
Incorrect (24%)

6. TERM 3 SURVEY RESULTS
2. What level of thinking does the 1st storey
of the “3 storey intellect” refer to?
Correct (52%) Partly Right (36%) Incorrect (4%)
13 9 1
Correct (52%)
Partly Right (36%)
Incorrect (4%)

7. TERM 3 SURVEY RESULTS
3. What level of thinking does the 2nd storey of
the “3 storey intellect” refer to?
Correct (52%) Partly Right (48%) Incorrect (0%)
13 12 1
Correct (52%)
Partly Right (48%)
Incorrect (0)

8. TERM 3 SURVEY RESULTS
4. What level of thinking does the 3rd storey of
the “3 storey intellect” refer to?
Correct (52%) Partly Right (44%) Incorrect (4%)
13 11 1
Correct (52%)
Partly Right (44%)
Incorrect (4%)

9. TERM 3 SURVEY RESULTS
5. Identifying the correct level of thinking a
Learning Intention is requiring of them…
Correct (40%) Incorrect (60%)
10 15
Correct (40%)
Incorrect (60%)

10. TERM 3 SURVEY RESULTS
6. Identifying the correct level of thinking a
Success Criteria is requiring of them…
Correct (52%) Incorrect (48%)
13 12
Correct (52%)
Incorrect (48%)

11. TERM 3 SURVEY RESULTS
7. Identifying the correct level of thinking a
Learning Intention is requiring of them…
Correct (56%) Incorrect (44%)
14 11
Correct (56%)
Incorrect (44%)

12. TERM 3 SURVEY RESULTS
8. Identifying the level of thinking a part of an
exam question is asking of them…
Correct (36%) Incorrect (64%)
9 16
Correct (36%)
Incorrect (64%)

13. TERM 3 SURVEY RESULTS
9. Students understanding what they need to
do to get excellence
Correct (56%) Incorrect (44%)
14 11
Correct (56%)
Incorrect (44%)

14. Here is a chart comparing the results of
Term 2’s Survey and Term 3’s Survey…
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
"AKO" Meaning 1st storey level of
thinking
2nd storey level
of thinking
3rd storey level of
thinking
Learning Intention
- what level of
thinking is it
requiring?
Success Criteria -
what level of
thinking is it
requiring?
Interpreting an
exam essay
question
Correct T2
Correct T3
Incorrect T2
Incorrect T3
Partly Correct T2
Partly Correct T3

15. Reflection on Results
Comparing the data from Term 2 and Term 3
doesn’t provide very positive results.
If I was to just go by this survey, it would appear that implicitly and sometimes
explicitly talking through the different levels of thinking, defining language of
learning and breaking down the exam questions has not made a difference to their
understanding of these aspects of AKO.
Or at least not to the extent of the students being able to then apply this knowledge
and interpret for themselves what various things are requiring of them.
On the other hand, I also did an activity with my Level 1 class towards the end of
Term 2 in which they had to create their own instructional video for breaking
down what an exam question is asking of them. While many struggled with this at
first, most - with some time and effort – were able to identify the key aspects of
the question and link it to SOLO Taxonomy.

16. The results of the “essay question instructional guide”
exercise can be viewed on my blog…
CLICK HERE: https://goo.gl/U3Pwda
Or here: