Two important missions of higher education are to produce in students the highest level of learning possible, and to promote lifelong growth in cognitive, social, and affective skills. This module distinguishes between learning and growth by presenting two different rubrics that separately measure learner and grower performance. Performance levels are defined for each rubric and typical behaviors at each performance level are also given.
Distinction between Learning and Growth
Learning and growing involve two different, though closely related, developmental paths. The learner’s path deals with content that is, increasing mastery of factual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2000). Three widely accepted categories for examining learner performance are knowledge base, skills, and attitudes. Knowledge base consists of facts, concepts, and procedures that can be readily applied. Skills control how effectively a learner’s knowledge base can be transferred to related contexts. Attitudes determine how closely a learner’s actual performance approaches the learner’s potential.
Self-growers are valued in society because of their ability to leverage their strengths and rapidly address areas for improvement. As they mentor their own development, these individuals continually raise the bar on their own performance as well as the performance of others, and they are responsible for significant innovations across a spectrum of disciplines (Gardner, 1998). Although some talented individuals can become strong learners unconsciously, most students require a high degree of self-control and highly developed self-assessment skills to unlock their full potential (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000). In this regard, the development of a special way of being is needed to ensure that students have the resources to continue their growth as learners beyond formal education (SCANS, 1991). The more educators help students learn how to become self-growers, the more students will be able to process life, move toward their career goals, and execute a quality academic career plan.
Rubric for Learner Performance
Educators must be able to determine whether their students are learning and to what degree the students understand course material. The rubric presented in Table 1 provides a yardstick for judging the progress of a learner within a discipline. This rubric can help refine methods of assessment so that assessment will more accurately indicate the quality of a student’s learning. The rubric can also help educators design curricula and teaching methods to reach students at various levels. And finally, the rubric can help educators improve the quality of their self assessments in familiar and unfamiliar areas of research and study.
This rubric was developed over several years by college faculty in teaching institutes conducted by Pacific Crest (Krumsieg & Baehr, 2000). It describes important stages in the development of a learner. The first column gives a descriptive name for individuals at each level, with the highest level at the top of the table. The other three columns describe the knowledge base, skills, and attitude of learners at those levels.
At the lowest level are “trained individuals,” who have developed a specific knowledge base, with specific skills, for a specific context, such as a typist who is very familiar with one version of a word-processing software package. Such individuals must have new things explained to them. The typical first-year college student may operate at this level. At the second level are “learned individuals.” They have acquired a broad base of general knowledge which they can apply to related contexts. They feel comfortable learning, within their base of experience. All college graduates should have reached this level. At the third level are “lifelong learners.” They have developed the skills and motivation to self-facilitate their ongoing learning, and they can apply these skills in a variety of contexts. They are able to tackle a reasonable percentage of learning requirements in a changing environment. These individuals make good graduate students. At the fourth level are “enhanced learners.” They have developed the performance skills expected of a professional in the field and are comfortable applying their skills in different environments. At the top level are “master learners.” These individuals use a set of refined and integrated skills to identify and tackle interdisciplinary learning challenges within complex systems. They are recognized as experts in their fields.
As with any measuring device, the number of levels in the rubric is somewhat arbitrary. However, the rubric makes sufficiently fine distinctions for educators to go beyond the gross measurement implied by the frequent question, “Have my students learned the material?” The rubric encourages educators to ask just what kind of learners they are trying to develop in a particular course. For example, is the goal to produce a “trained individual” or is it something more? The rubric also encourages educators to look beyond the purely cognitive goals for the course and suggests questions such as “Once my students know the content of my course, will they know how to apply it in new situations? Mentor others who want to learn it? Do original research in the field?”
Mindset of a Self-Grower
Self-growers have defining characteristics which include an enduring interest in assessment and self-assessment in order to maximize performance in every aspect of life. They have a well thought-out personal and professional vision that they use to guide their lives. They also have a high degree of self-confidence and emotional maturity that allows them to take risks and put themselves in challenging situations that require increased levels of performance. They have an ability to define motivating and meaningful outcomes for every learning experience, eagerly seeking the personal and professional growth that results from these experiences. Self-growers are adept at clarifying issues and critical assumptions associated with problems that are important to themselves and others. They can be counted on to apply themselves and produce high quality results; thus, they are role models for others.
Rubric for Self-Growth
The rubric presented in Table 2 was initially created as a tool to help students visualize progress toward achieving a “way of being” exemplified by highly successful individuals (Myrvaagnes, 1999). The first column contains a descriptive name for individuals at each level, extending from static individuals to star performers. The remaining columns sketch out self-growth behaviors associated with the domains of performance defined in the Classification of Learning Skills (2.3.3). Across each level, the use of assessment skills can improve future performance.
At the lowest level are “static individuals” who have little interest in self-improvement and are often paralyzed by change. They have little confidence in their cognitive, social, affective, and psychomotor abilities, often blaming their lot in life on actions of others rather than themselves. At the second level are “content individuals” who are comfortable with the status quo. They have some self-assessment and personal development skills that support low-quality feedback, but they tend to view these skills as a poor investment of time and energy. At the third level are “responsive individuals” who like to be assessed by others and are eager to implement feedback that can bolster performance. These individuals are enjoyable and productive team members. They are willing to accept responsibilities for tasks and be accountable for timely, high-quality completion. At the fourth level are “self-starters.” They actively seek assessment from others, listen carefully to their ideas, and are attuned to personal strengths that they can effectively and efficiently use to implement change. “Star performers” occupy the highest level in the rubric. These individuals are unusually observant. They are always aware of what is going on around them and how they are interfacing with their environment. They hold themselves and their associates to high standards, and they are constantly looking for ways to grow their own performance as well as that of others.
Concluding Thoughts
Moving from one level to the next requires the development of a great variety of skills. It is important to look at a learner’s performance and characteristics through several different cameras to get an accurate assessment. One person may be able to function as an “enhanced learner” in history, while barely functioning as a “trained individual” in mathematics. Is such a person truly an enhanced learner? Probably not. Alternatively, someone may have functioned for quite some time recently as a lifelong learner, but then suddenly may revert to the level of a trained individual, having a “bad day” for no visible reason. When educators have some familiarity with this rubric, they find that class discussions and even off-hand remarks give clues about a person’s level of learner performance at a particular moment.
When individuals reach their natural level of competence, they can become stuck at that level, unable to make further progress. High-level self-growers, in contrast, are both motivated and able to use their life vision, self-assessment skills, self-control in the face of challenging situations, positive orientation toward growth, and aptitude for servant leadership to move to the next level. As teachers we naturally want to help our students master knowledge at the highest possible levels in Bloom’s taxonomy. However, the most important legacy we can leave our students may be helping them take one step closer to becoming “star performers.”
References
Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (Eds.). (2000). A taxomony for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. New York: Longman.
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Gardner, H. (1998). Extraordinary minds. New York: Basic Books.
Krumsieg, K., & Baehr, M. (2000). Foundations of learning. Lisle, IL: Pacific Crest.
Myrvaagnes, E., with Brooks, P., Carroll, S., Smith, P., & Wolf, P. (1999). Foundations of problem solving. Lisle, IL: Pacific Crest.
Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS). (1991). What work requires of schools: A SCANS report for America 2000. Washington, DC: Department of Labor.
|
Knowledge Base |
Skills |
Attitude |
|
|
Level 5 Master Learners |
Understand the research paradigm and present insights that are valued by experts in many different fields. |
Have highly developed learning and research skills that enable them to learn or teach on many subjects with ease. |
Create their own challenges and control their own destiny, defining the highest levels of performance for a community or organization. |
|
Level 4 Enhanced Learners |
Have many highly-developed schema that can be readily deployed in a multi-disciplinary setting. |
Are able to analyze the learning process and to construct new knowledge and cultivate new skills in unfamiliar areas. |
Proactively seek out greater challenges, responsibilities, and problems to solve. Seek to push the boundaries of their own performance. |
|
Level 3 Lifelong Learners |
Have a variety of well-developed schema that can be readily deployed within a discipline. |
Are able to learn from how other people function in a particular discipline. Can construct new knowledge in a well-defined area. |
Are willing to tackle challenges in new areas of knowledge. Accept responsibility for team tasks that exceed their personal expertise. |
|
Level 2 Learned Individuals |
Have wide, but shallow, knowledge that can be invoked within a variety of disciplines. |
Have enough critical thinking and analytic skills to perform low-level problem solving within a narrow base of experience. |
Are willing to train others in the areas of knowledge they know best. Accept responsibility for new tasks within their areas of expertise. |
|
Level 1 Trained Individuals |
Have minimal information about areas to which they have been exposed. |
Have rudimentary information processing skills. |
Must have explicitly defined rules, procedures, and policies. Need to be prompted to ensure task completion. |
|
Cognitive |
Social |
Affective |
Psychomotor |
|
|
Level 5 Star Performers |
Understand the reasons for deficiencies in the current paradigm, and readily construct more appropriate paradigms. |
Create movements and organizations that often become self-perpetuating. |
Control their emotions in challenging situations while managing the affect of others. |
Outperform others because of reserves in strength and endurance. |
|
Level 4 Self- Starters |
Respond to the needs of research communities, adding incrementally to knowledge in their discipline. |
Initiate and manage social structures to accomplish more out of every hour of their time. |
Feel frustrated when they are not being challenged to perform at higher levels. |
Engage in a rigorous physical routine which provides them with resources for dealing with stress. |
|
Level 3 Responsive Individuals |
Use their problem-solving, learning, and thinking skills to improve their performance and get higher-quality results. |
Are positive people whom others enjoy and want to have on their teams. |
React to challenges with improved performance rather than complaints, feeling good about their accomplishments. |
Exercise regularly and pay attention to nutrition because they want to exceed expectations. |
|
Level 2 Content Individuals |
Are satisfied with their modest levels of effort in learning, thinking, and problem-solving. |
Interact freely with family and friends, but do not seek more diverse contacts and more challenging relationships. |
Feel like a cog in the machinery, doing little more than what is asked, feeling their contributions are not very significant. |
Want to maintain their current health and fitness levels but are unable to realize much visible progress. |
|
Level 1 Static Individuals |
Try to minimize or avoid the effort needed to think, learn, or solve problems. |
Limit their social interactions to like-minded individuals who complain about what they are not getting out of life. |
Feel that whatever they do will have little impact, that most things are not worth the effort. |
Must conserve energy to deal with frequent health issues. |