Interactive checklists for activation and reflection

I was commenting today in a thread about learning objectives started by Harish Bhagavathula and I thought it might be handy to turn what I was saying into an article, so I can link to it easily.

At the start

Recently, I've started using interactive checklists at the start of modules to activate the learner's prior knowledge.

This matches the Synapsys Learning Activity Model questions 'What will I become able to do?' and 'Where am I now?' in helping the learner recognise the Deal and understand their Roadmap to Competence.

Why?

The aim is to present the learning objectives in a way that sets them up to be ready to learn what the module is teaching. Because they have already thought about how they measure up, they are then looking to fill their own competency gaps.

At the end

After the summative assessment, in place of a wordy summary, I'm asking the learner to reflect back on the same questions, work out if there are any remaining gaps, and form plans for how they will follow up.

Why?

This helps them to transfer their learning into long-term memory, sets them up to apply their learning in practice, and gives them a chance to seek help for anything they are still lacking confidence on.

Where did I get the idea?

I was started on this by Lindsey Marshall's presentation of learning objectives in checklist form in a project we collaborated on earlier this year. It was awesome, and I thought we could extend it a bit by rewriting the objectives from the learner viewpoint and using them twice in the same module.

Originally published on my LinkedIn page on 2 November 2021.