Fink

Six Components of Significant Learning

Fink_6_Components_of_Significant_LearningFink (2013) presents another way to consider the design of significant learning experiences. He identifies and applies six interconnected components:

  • Foundational Knowledge – studentsā€™ ability to remember and understand information
  • Application – learning a new action, whether a new skill, way of thinking or how to manage projects
  • Integration – making connections between ideas, learning experiences or from one area of life to another
  • Human DimensionĀ – learning about yourself and others
  • Caring – developing students’ interest in or valuing of the topic
  • Learning How to Learn – helping students become self-directed, self-regulated learners so they can learn beyond the course

Pros of Fink

  • provides a framework for aligning learning outcomes with assessment
  • includes focus ‘learning how to learn’ and how to promote skills students will use beyond learning content
  • it identifies the importance of learning that extends beyond the classroom experience

Cons of Fink

  • if you’re new to writing learning outcomes, Fink ‘s taxonomy is not as clear as Bloom’s in terms of how to apply it
  • creating assessments that assess ‘caring’ can be hard, depending on the discipline
  • fewer online resources to support how to apply Fink
Tip Each kind of learning is interactive – one kind of learning can stimulate another kind. Not all the kinds of learning need to be included in our courses, but the more we can include, the more interconnected the learning experiences will be.

Questions to Ask

Here are some writing prompts/questions for you to consider when writing learning outcomes using Finkā€™s taxonomy

Foundational Knowledge:

  • What key information (facts, terms, formula, concepts, relationships) is important for students to understand and remember in the future?
  • What key ideas or perspectives are important for students to understand in this course?

Application:

  • What kinds of thinking are important for students to learn:
    • Critical thinking, in which students analyze and evaluate?
    • Creative thinking, in which students imagine and create?
    • Practical thinking, in which students solve problems and make decisions?
  • What important skills do students need to learn?
  • What complex projects do students need to learn how to manage?

Integration:

  • What connections (similarities and interactions) should students recognize and makeā€¦
    • Among ideas within this course?
    • Among the information, ideas, and perspectives in this course and those in other courses or areas?
    • Between material in this course and the studentsā€™ own personal, social, and work lives?

Human Dimension:

  • What can or should students learn about themselves?
  • What can or should students learn about interacting with people they may encounter in the future?

Caring:

  • What changes would you like to see in what students care about, that is, any changes in theirā€¦
    • Interests?
    • Values?
    • Feelings?

Learning How to Learn:

  • What would you like for students to learn aboutā€¦
    • How to be a good student in a course like this?
    • How to engage in inquiry and construct knowledge with this subject matter?
    • How to become a self-directing learner relative to this subject? That is, have a learning agenda of what else they need and want to learn and a plan for learning it?

Video Resources

This video provides a quick 4-minute video introduction to Fink.
This 3-minute video is the first of six on applying Fink’s taxonomy to learning outcomesĀ and course design.
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Handouts:

Additional ResourcesIcon

Additional Resources:

Bloom Classifications of Learning LaFever Classifications of Learning
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