Click Here to see the HOL LiNK pilot Results
HOL LiNK Overview
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Hands on Learning Australia designed and implemented
the Literacy & Numeracy Knowledge (LiNK) program in
2008 based upon the same foundational principles that
underpin the successful Hands on Learning (HOL) program.
The HOL program brings together a cross-age group of ten
students who come out of class for a day to share meals and
work with two teacher/artisans on significant creative building
projects around their school and community. HOL LiNK has
been designed to integrate seamlessly with this program and
provide an explicit emphasis on improving students’ literacy
and numeracy outcomes.
It is important to note that HOL LiNK is not a remedial setting.
We operate on the assumption that students struggling with
school do not simply require more school. Rather they need a
different approach that facilitates improvements with their
literacy and numeracy as well as their engagement with school.
After all, schools already provide literacy and numeracy
services, we work to help students reconnect and make the
most of what is already available to them.
HOL LiNK extends the Hands On Learning program in three
important ways;
i) Leveraging literacy and numeracy opportunities within
the normal HOL activities;
This consists of monitoring incidental learning that arises from
involvement in practical, construction based projects, and
utilising the many teachable moments that arise in these
contexts. Such opportunistic teaching provides students with
powerful kinaesthetic models for what are, to them, merely
abstract conceptions e.g. fractions, ratios, area, measurement,
unit conversion, estimation etc.
Many students find the technical language of their English and
Mathematics class an enormous barrier, so our HOL LiNK
staff routinely employ this terminology in practical contexts to
develop students’ familiarity and fluency.
ii) Introduce contextually rich literacy and numeracy tasks;
HOL LiNK provides many opportunities for students to engage
in real (as opposed to artificial) literacy and numeracy tasks.
They are involved in compiling purchase lists of materials,
calculating job costings, preparing Job Safety Analyses
required by Occupational Health & Safety, and composing
articles for the school newsletter to inform the community of
the projects being undertaken. All tasks are meaningful.
iii) Case manage students and liaise with their teachers.
The HOL LiNK team liaise with students’ Maths and English
teachers to keep track of what is being taught and give
feedback to teachers on students’ progress. Some assessment
tasks are replaced with HOL equivalent tasks e.g. preparing
instructions on how to lay bricks as part of an English writing
folio; calculating the volume and cost of concrete required for
footings in lieu of a Maths worksheet on area. Students derive
enormous satisfaction from completing work they understand,
and gaining recognition from their teachers that they are
actually capable of succeeding.The HOL LiNK team also prepare Individual
Behaviour Focus Plans for each student. These are
designed to help students better cope with being in
classrooms by giving them practical strategies for
dealing with situations they find challenging. The
better these students cope with the classroom
environment, the more they derive from it.
To date HOL LiNK has achieved an average score
increase of 27% on pre/post tests (i.e. 44% --> 71%)
for the first cohort of 40 students in 2008. |
 HOL LiNK students make mortar for a set of decorative brick walls they are constructing. Ratio, volume, estimation and measurment all feature heavily in both incidental and explicit learnings.
 All HOL and HOL LiNK students eat breakfast, morning tea, and lunch together. Students handle the logistics of these meals providing further opportunities for ‘real’ literacy and numeracy.
 HOL LiNK students can get assistance with homework tasks as well as more traditional tutoring as a supplement to the other immersion techniques of the program. | |
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