ATL Skills

ATL Skills info.pdf

ATL Skills Overview

This document gives a nice summary of what the ATL skills are and how they are related. It is worth looking at before you read this section further.

criterion a – research skills:

Students demonstrate research skills by finding, interpreting, judging and creating information (information literacy

skills), and interacting with media to use and create ideas and information (media literacy skills). Evidence should be

found in their bibliography and also in the ‘Investigating’ section of their written report. Evidence may also be found in

the appendices or other sections of the report.

m_approaches to learning_1_e.pdf

ATL Skills in the Report

The ATL skills are an important way of showing your thinking, collaboration and communication skills, which are an assessed part of the report. Using the ATL list is a good way of guiding you through the project. In your process journal highlight areas that address one or more of the ATL skills in this list. When you come to writing the report, you then have evidence that you can refer to.

Evidence of information literacy skills may include:

    • Collecting, recording and verifying data
    • Making connections between sources of information
    • Collecting and analyzing data to identify solutions and make informed decisions
    • Processing data and reporting results
    • Evaluating and selecting information sources based on their appropriateness to specific tasks
    • Using critical literacy skills to analyze and interpret media communications
    • Creating references and citations, using footnotes/endnotes and constructing bibliography according to recognized conventions

Evidence of media literacy skills may include:

    • Locating, organizing, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing, and ethically using sources from a variety of sources and media
    • Demonstrating awareness of media interpretations of events and ideas
    • Seeking a range of perspectives from multiple and varied sources
    • Communicating information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats
    • Comparing, contrasting and drawing connections among (multi)media resources

criterion b – self-management skills:

Students demonstrate self-management skills by managing time and tasks effectively (organizational skills) and managing their state of mind (affective skills). Evidence should be found in the ‘planning’ section of the written report. Evidence may also be found in the appendices or other sections of the report.

Evidence of organizational skills may include:

    • Having a detailed plan for the completion of the project
    • Planning strategies and actions to achieve the goal
    • Meeting deadlines
    • Keeping an organized and logical process journal
    • Setting goals that are challenging but realistic
    • Selecting and using technology effectively and productively

Evidence of affective skills may include:

    • Perseverance and persistence
    • Self-motivation and positive-thinking
    • Resilience – the ability to deal with mistakes, failures, disappointment, change

criterion c - thinking skills

Students demonstrate thinking skills by analyzing and evaluating issues and ideas (critical thinking skills), generating novel ideas and considering new perspectives (creative thinking skills) and utilizing skills and knowledge in multiple contexts transfer skills). Evidence should be found in the ‘Taking action’ and ‘Investigating’ sections of the written report or in the product or outcome of the project. Evidence may also be found in the appendices or other sections of the report.

Evidence of critical thinking skills may include:

  • Recognizing or identifying problems, obstacles or challenges
  • Formulating arguments
  • Recognizing assumptions and bias in sources
  • Interpreting data
  • Evaluating sources
  • Drawing reasonable conclusions and generalizations
  • Revising understanding based on new information
  • Formulating questions
  • Considering ideas from multiple perspectives
  • Proposing and evaluating a variety of solutions

Evidence of creative thinking skills may include:

  • Brainstorming or visual diagrams used to generate ideas or inquiries, or visible thinking strategies or techniques
  • Considering multiple alternatives – even those that may seem impossible
  • Making unusual connections between ideas or objects
  • Designing improvements existing technologies
  • Creating novel solutions or original works and ideas – or using existing works or ideas in new ways

Evidence of transfer skills may include:

  • Applying skills and knowledge in unfamiliar situations
  • Comparing conceptual understanding across multiple subject groups and disciplines
  • Combining knowledge, understanding and skills to create products or solutions
  • Transferring current knowledge to learning of new technologies
  • Changing the context of an inquiry to gain different perspectives

criterion c – communication and social (collaboration) skills:

Students demonstrate communication skills by exchanging thoughts, messages and information effectively through interaction and reading, writing and using language to gather and communicate information. They demonstrate social (collaboration) skills by working effectively with others. Evidence should be found in the ‘Taking action’ and ‘Investigating’ sections of the written report or in the product or outcome of the project. Evidence may also be found in the appendices or other sections of the report.

Evidence of communication skills may include:

  • Giving and receiving feedback (not necessarily only from their project supervisor)
  • Using appropriate speaking and written techniques for dealing with different audiences
  • Negotiating ideas and knowledge with peers, teachers or others (possibly as part of research)
  • Collaborate and share ideas (may be part of the product)
  • Make inferences and draw conclusions
  • Write for different purposes
  • Paraphrase and take effective notes
  • Organize and depict information logically
  • Structure information in the written report

Evidence of social (collaboration) skills may include:

  • Demonstrating empathy
  • Helping others to succeed
  • Taking responsibility for one’s own actions
  • Listening actively to perspectives and ideas of others
  • Giving and receiving meaningful feedback

criterion d – reflection skills:

Students demonstrate reflection skills by (re-)considering the process of learning; choosing and using ATL skills. Evidence should be found in the ‘Reflecting’ section, or in other sections of the written report.

Evidence of reflection skills may include:

  • Developing new skills, techniques or strategies for effective learning
  • Identifying strengths and weaknesses of personal learning strategies (self-assessment)
  • Trying new ATL skills and evaluating their effectiveness
  • Considering increased knowledge and understanding relating to the project topic
  • Considering ATL skills development
  • Considering their development as a learner
m_ATL in the report_1_e.pdf

Reflecting with ATL

A good way of structuring your project reflection is to base it on the ATL skills. You should have enough evidence in your process journal if you kept referring to the list during the project, which should enable you write about how you developed as an IB learner and improved your knowledge of the topic throughout the project.