How to Ensure Your Students Apply What They Have Learned

This article is part of a series about how to drive authentic, equitable, and sustainable learning by decisions that empower learnership. In other words, the more students know about their learning, the more opportunity they have to own their learning which leads to increased student achievement. Elevated Achievement’s Learning Model is the tool teachers need to support students in ownership of their learning, thereby developing learnership.

In other articles in this series, we provided an overview of the Learning Model and its five student-centered phases: setting the Learning Context, stating the Learning Outcome, engaging in the Learning Process, producing the Learning Demonstration, and implementing the Learning Application. We also discussed the sequence of “backwards” planning a focused lesson and provided examples.

In this article we will take an in-depth look at one of the five phases that lead to increased ownership and elevated achievement, the Learning Application.

Implementing the Learning Application

This is the phase of the lesson during which connections are made from the current learning to subsequent learning. Clarity of future application is crucial for students to retain the skill or content, apply the skill or content in a variety of ways, and transfer the skill or content to other situations. This phase helps students answer the question, “How will I continue to use what I have learned?”

While implementing the Learning Application, the teacher offers the students various opportunities during which they can apply the learning in a variety of ways, reflect on their learning and their growth, and develop stronger metacognition. This information was first given to the students during the Learning Context phase.

The Value to Students

If students know how they will continue to use the learning they are more able to…

• Understand and articulate how each day’s learning builds towards an identified future application.
• Connect lessons and understand how each lesson builds upon each other and how they will be applied towards an identified future application.
• Understand that learning is a process that occurs over time versus seeing each lesson as an isolated learning opportunity.

The Value to Teachers

Teachers who have a classroom full of students who can articulate how they will continue to use the learning will have students that….

• Make connections to previous learning and actively build on new learning.
• Take ownership of where they are in the learning process towards an identified future application and can articulate what differentiated or additional supports they may need.
• Are more motivated to learn as they see value and progress from connected lessons towards an authentic application.

In other words, the value to you is to have a classroom of learners who understand their role in the learning and will help you with the task of teaching. Instead of just one person monitoring all of the learning, you will have a roomful of people.

To help you make stronger student-centered decisions, consider these questions as you plan:

• How will today’s learning connect to subsequent learning?
• How will your students use this learning in the future?
• How will your students own this learning in the future?
• What is the student’s role in the Learning Application?
• How will you share this information with your students before, during, and after a lesson?

In turn, students who own their learning can articulate before, during, and after a lesson:

• How will I continue to use what I will learn?
• How am I using this learning later?
• How did I use the learning later?

Click here to download a lesson planning template to use as you determine the Learning Application for your next lesson.

What’s Next in Learnership?

As we’ve said before, teachers play a crucial role in ensuring that students own their learning. The teacher is the key decision-maker for establishing effective learning designs before, during, and after instruction in the classroom. Because the teacher is the person who knows the most about the students, it is important that the teacher’s ownership in making these decisions is cultivated.

That’s why we provide 5 articles that take in-depth looks at the each of the phases of the Learning Model, their value to students, and their value to teachers. In each article, you will get the planning questions and tools you need to implement focused Learning Models for each and every lesson.

Remember, the decision-making sequence for designing a lesson is “backwards.” Therefore, the following sequence for reading is recommended as you plan with a focused Learning Model.

• First, make sure you’ve read “How to Set Out for Your Students Why This Learning Is Important” so you know how to determine the Learning Context, and then read this current article to learn how to determine the Learning Application. In other words, read these 2 articles to get the planning questions and tools you need to determine why students are learning a skill right now and how they will use it in the future.
• Next, read “How to Support Your Students to Know What They Are Learning” to learn how to determine the Learning Outcome and, then read “How to Empower Your Students to Demonstrate Their Learning” to learn how to determine the Learning Demonstration. In other words, read these 2 articles to get the planning questions and tools you need to determine the specific skills students are learning and what a demonstration of mastery will look and sound like.
• Finally, read “How to Engage Your Students in the Learning Process” to learn how to determine the Learning Process. In other words, read this article to get the planning questions and tools you need to determine the instructional strategy or strategies that will allow for students to most effectively and efficiently demonstrate mastery of the targeted skill.

Then you’ll be ready to backwards plan a lesson and forward instruct through that lesson with the end in mind as you move through the five student-centered phases: setting the Learning Context, stating the Learning Outcome, engaging in the Learning Process, producing the Learning Demonstration, and implementing the Learning Application.