Our Assessment Innovation Fund pilots: WILD Learning Sciences 1.0

Shaping the future of learning and assessment

We’re on a mission to break boundaries in assessment with an investment fund to support and pilot new ideas on the future of assessment.

Wild sustainable learning

WILD Learning exists to help people increase their Learning Power and develop the self-leadership to thrive in our complex and ever-changing world. Talk to us about our scientifically robust, research-validated, self-assessment analytic called 'CLARA' which supports a self-directed learning journey supported by our new Learning Journey Platform.

Developed through 21 years of academic research into what it takes to become an effective lifelong learner, we shine a spotlight on how people learn so that they can become the 'pilot and not the passenger' in their own journey.

We specialise in enhancing Learning Power measurably and systematically using a range of coaching tools and techniques. We work with all ages and across many different cultures supporting organic, place-based change, aligned to global sustainability.

About the pilot

The pilot project undertaken in partnership between NCFE and WILD learning at Nottingham College aimed to demonstrate how the use of scientifically credible learner analytics around overall ‘Learning Power’ and 21C meta-skills can be used as formative assessment to inform the design and delivery of work-related learning experiences for a cohort, and individuals within it, in order to enhance the engagement and outcomes of 14-19 year-old students in an FE setting.

This project was an opportunity to show how a Work Integrated Learning Design (WILD) approach, scaffolded by the Learning Power and Helix employability skills (meta-skills) frameworks and assessments, would create transformational change within the students who would attain greater insights and progress in relation to their understanding of their purpose, themselves as learners and their skills.

The aim was to test the efficacy of a multi-level approach within the system whereby tutors and students acquired the understanding of the empirically valid 8 Learning Power Dimensions together; generating a shared understanding and shared vocabulary of Learning Power. Following this professional development and informed by the student online self-assessments, tutors would be supported to design more meaningful and effective learning experiences for their students to develop as learners whilst addressing their personal 21C meta-skills development needs.

Who took part in the pilot?

The WILD team worked with one teaching group of Foundation Apprentices studying Level 2 Maintenance and their FE tutor – approximately 20 individuals, over a two-month period in Summer 2022.

The work-related project brief was provided by the Nottingham Canal Trust. It involved the design, manufacture and maintenance of public benches to be permanently placed along the Nottingham Canal.   

On completion of the project the students undertook a second learning power profile and, through comparison with their first, engaged in reflection on their knowledge, skills and personal development through the project. There was an authentic assessment at the end of the learning journey cycle at which students presented:  

Their artefact and innovative contribution to the problem space.   
A personal story of significant change which illustrated the student’s self-leadership, presented in narrative form.  
Evidence of the application and meaningful use and development of one or more meta skills to their project outcome.

What were the key findings of the pilot?

Learning Power data and the employability skills assessment added value and benefitted the student learning experience.
Learning power profiles provide tutors and leaders with diagnostic information for intelligent and targeted learning design, both for individuals and cohorts of students.
The students demonstrated an appetite for deeper engagement with their learning experiences and were receptive to the data gleaned about the group and about them as individuals in relation to employability skills and Learning Power. 
Students reported, and data supported, an increased sense of mindful agency relating to their learning. The learning became more meaningful and mattered more to the students who demonstrated engagement that surpassed the college’s initial expectations of the cohort.
Student agency is a key driver of deep and authentic engagement in learning.
The college tutor developed their own agency. They used their personal learning power profile to learn from ‘the inside out’ by identifying more fully with their professional purpose to explore the problem they wanted to solve.  With support from the WILD team, they integrated the language of learning power into their practice; using the framework of the learning journey and 8 stages of enquiry to create authentic, enquiry-based learning experiences for their students.

How can this idea be replicated by other providers?

Student agency can be promoted and developed through WILD (Work Integrated Learning Design) approaches in real-world employer engagement projects.

Learner experiences, engagement and outcomes can be significantly enhanced by deeper consideration of learning design; embedding the meta skills and learning power expertise offered by the WILD team at the planning phase and introduction of the project. 

If you are interested in finding out more about the wider outcomes of this work and experiencing these benefits in your setting, please do contact [email protected]

Next steps for the project

Following the successful completion of this entry pilot to ascertain the potential of Learning Power in Further Education, the WILD Learning Sciences team have now completed a further project in 2023 exploring the development of a digital tool to enable students to achieve employability outcomes through formative assessment and feedback.

Find out more about upcoming application phases and how to apply

Interested in applying?

Complete our contact form to subscribe to email updates about upcoming funding windows, download the application guide, scoring criteria and much more.

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