Abstract

Year 11 in Australia is the beginning of the final two years of schooling. Supporting a Year 11 student at home goes beyond helping with homework. Instead, it’s about guiding them toward deeper learning.This blog post introduces SOLO Taxonomy, which is a model that describes different levels of understanding, providing a clear structure for understanding academic progress, allowing parents to help their child move from memorisation to critical thinking.Then, it explores the five levels of SOLO Taxonomy and practical ways parents can use it to support their child’s learning.

This article is intended to be the beginning of a series on how you can support your child in their learning. If you have any questions, please contact us.

Authors: Cassidy Cai and Heath Kirby.

Introduction

In Australia, Year 11 is the penultimate year before the final Year 12. Year 11 is a challenging year when students transition to more complex learning (as part of the first year of two years of final schooling). Students face greater academic expectations.The study workload increases, and subjects require more than just simple recall.

Parents often wonder: How can I help my child understand concepts better, rather than just memorising them? This blog post introduces the SOLO Taxonomy as a tool to help learning.

What is the SOLO Taxonomy?

The SOLO (Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome)Taxonomy, proposed by academics Biggs and Collis (1982), offers a structured approach. It describes five levels of understanding, from basic recognition to deep, abstract thinking. This model helps students see their own learning progress and encourages them to analyse, evaluate, and apply knowledge—all skills that are essential for success.

The Five Levels of the SOLO Taxonomy

1. Pre-Structural: The student lacks understanding or has no knowledge of the topic.
2. Uni-Structural: The student knows one basic fact about the topic but cannot connect ideas.
3. Multi-Structual: The student has gathered several facts but does not yet see relationships between them.
4. Relational: The student can connect ideas and explain how they relate.
5. Extended Abstract: The student can think critically, apply knowledge in different contexts, and form new ideas.

How Parents Can Apply the SOLO Taxonomy at Home

When Helping with Academic Writing

• Pre-structural stage: Students may not thoroughly understand the essay question. You can encourage them to highlight key terms and help them brainstorm key points before they start writing.
• Uni-structural stage: Ask them to identify one argument and provide a basic explanation. You can help by asking, “What other arguments could support your idea?”
• Multi-structural stage: Encourage them to gather several supporting points.
• Relational stage: Guide them in linking ideas together, showing how each argument connects, encouraging them to compare different perspectives or provide examples.
• Extended Abstract stage: Guide your child to think beyond the question, challenging them to apply the essay topic to real-world scenarios or current events.

When helping with Exam Preparation

• Instead of just re-reading notes (Multi-structural), encourage them to summarize key concepts in their own words (Relational)
• Use past exams to help them apply knowledge in different contexts, testing if they’ve reached the Extended Abstract stage.
• Ask them to teach the topic to you as if you were a student. This forces them to deepen their understanding by reorganising the knowledge together in an explainable way.

Encouraging Independent Learning and Critical Thinking Through Discussions
Encourage self- reflection by asking, “What did you learn from this assignment?” and “How could you improve?”

• Ask “Why do you think this happened?” or “Can you think of a different solution?” when there is some area that needs to be improved.
• Instead of just asking for the right answer, encourage your child to explain their reasoning and consider alternative perspectives.

Conclusion

The SOLO Taxonomy is a great way to track learning progress and move students toward higher-level thinking.

Year 11 is a key year for academic development, and structured support at home can make a huge difference in a student’s success.

Did you find this article useful? We would love to hear from you.

References

Biggs, J. (John B., & Collis, K. F. (Kevin F. (1982). Evaluating the quality of learning : the SOLO

taxonomy (structure of the observed learning outcome). Academic Press.