ATL Skills

The Personal Project is designed to allow you to demonstrate the ATL skills that you have learned from five years in the MYP.

There are over 200 MYP ATL skills! But luckily, you do not need to demonstrate all of them. Instead, you should try to demonstrate different skills from each category. Here you can see the five skill categories and ten skill clusters (sub-categories):

Here are some different ways you can use ATL skills in your project. You do not need to do all of these activities, but you should try to demonstrate each skill category. 

These are some ways you might demonstrate Communication Skills in your project: 

• Giving and receiving feedback (not only from your 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

• 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

These are some suggestions of activities you can do to demonstrate these skills. You do not need to do all these activities, they are just ideas to help you if you are not sure what to include in your journal. 

These are some ways you might demonstrate Collaboration in your project:

• 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

These are some ways you might demonstrate Information Literacy in your project: 

• Collecting, recording and verifying data or statistics

• 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

These are some ways you might demonstrate Media Literacy in your project: 

• 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

These are some suggestions of activities you can do to demonstrate these skills. You do not need to do all these activities, they are just ideas to help you if you are not sure what to include in your journal. 

These are some ways you might demonstrate Organisation in your project:

• 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

These are some ways you might demonstrate Reflection  in your project:

• 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 your development as a learner

These are some suggestions of activities you can do to demonstrate these skills. You do not need to do all these activities, they are just ideas to help you if you are not sure what to include in your journal. 

These are some ways you might demonstrate Critical Thinking in your project:

• 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

These are some ways you might demonstrate Creative thinking in your project:

• 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 to existing technologies

• Creating novel solutions or original works and ideas – or using existing works or ideas in new ways

These are some ways you might demonstrate Transfer in your project:

• 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

These are some suggestions of activities you can do to demonstrate these skills. You do not need to do all these activities, they are just ideas to help you if you are not sure what to include in your journal.