Conor McGregor and approaching the notoriously tricky art of differentiation

Introduction

As detailed in a previous resource, it is effective to identify students’ abilities according to four strands of knowledge so as to then differentiate and set them curriculum-based tasks according to Bloom’s Taxonomy:

·     Factual knowledge

·     Conceptual knowledge

·     Procedural knowledge

·     Metacognitive knowledge

These knowledge types can be categorised in a variety of ways, but can be summed up here as:

·     Factual knowledge: basic elements that student knows

·     Conceptual knowledge: relationships among the elements that student knows

·     Procedural knowledge: student’s awareness of when/how to carry out a task

·     Metacognitive knowledge: student’s strategic and cognitive knowledge about their method to carry out a task, such as evaluating and justifying this

In short, Factual knowledge focuses on the student’s ability to remember details; Conceptual knowledge if they can remember greater amounts of details and the relationships between different forms of knowledge; Procedural knowledge if they know when to use a method correctly to complete a task; and Metacognitive knowledge if they can assess and evaluate their method to complete a task.

Knowledge outside of the classroom

This immediately represents a growing plain in terms of students’ knowledge, both from levels of what is known (basic facts to knowing how to evaluate methods of completing tasks) to responses to tasks/ material shown to them (i.e. remembering basic details, evaluating how they complete the task).

It is important to note that while such knowledge is being utilised in the classroom environment here, students make use of these different types of knowledge outside of the academic arena. They remember basic information when necessary, such as where they left something, thus displaying factual knowledge, and elsewhere can consider the best way to get somewhere in a timely manner, thus encouraging others to cross a field to get to an intended destination rather than walking around a housing estate to do, in turn displaying metacognitive knowledge as they are not only aware of an appropriate approach but can evaluate it as such. These are isolated examples, but reflect that the knowledge types mentioned above are accessed and honed by students in everyday life.

Therefore, it is of worth to allow students to display such knowledge within, at least somewhat, conditions where they utilise this on a regular basis and subconscious level, as this will allow them to truly reflect their abilities in this area, namely through interaction with popular culture or the real world space. This is recommended for three reasons:

·     Students will work in conditions they are familiar and comfortable with, especially as they use knowledge in such spaces/ situations

·     This is not conventionally academic, which enhances the above point about allowing students to work within conditions they are familiar with

·     As said above, this allows a true reflection of their abilities within knowledge levels, as they regularly display these within conditions where such knowledge is typically applied

Popular culture and its use in assessing knowledge

For the purposes of this resource, the students will be tasked with watching a video about Conor McGregor and discussing it. Conor McGregor is a mainstream staple of popular culture; he is the most high-profile combat fighter in the world and one of the most recognisable sportspersons on the planet.

It is, therefore, likely, that students will be at least aware of him in some form, which immediately creates the conditions mentioned above, where students are comfortable with and do not feel constrained by conventional academic surroundings. This also leads into another consideration, how students make use of various knowledge types when interacting with popular culture, such as with Conor McGregor here:

·     Factual knowledge: the students can know details such as McGregor’s name, where he is from, what sport he participates in etc.

·     Conceptual knowledge: the students can be aware of some of his achievements as a result of what sport he participates in etc. (this reflects a building on factual knowledge)

·     Procedural knowledge: the students can be aware of McGregor’s fame and standing as a result of his achievements, such as that he is well-known, is extremely rich

·     Metacognitive knowledge: the students may consider exactly why McGregor is famous, such as that he is doing things that no one has ever done before – he is setting the tone for others to follow

These strands of knowledge are loosely based but do reflect a general approach to identifying various levels in this area; the approach becomes more specific when students’ abilities within these levels are identified, as they will be specifically tasked according to Bloom’s Taxonomy and within a relevant approach that reflects the unit of the curriculum they are working on (i.e. general language, poetry, storytelling, composition).

Conor McGregor + assessing knowledge

Leading on from above, it is worthwhile to assess what levels of knowledge students can display through popular culture, namely Conor McGregor, so as to identify their ability and hence how to differentiate them. They will already have displayed such knowledge through interaction with the real world and popular culture (as shown above), so identifying these once more will offer a true reflection of their ability (i.e. which knowledge they are most comfortable with/ capable of displaying) and hence identify what will be an effective starting point for their work within the classroom curriculum.

Have students watch the following video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPnwnWNSvgY) which details the run up to Conor McGregor’s fight with Eddie Alvarez two years ago. This video, again, displays the four levels of knowledge students will show through their awareness of Conor McGregor:

·     Factual knowledge: the students can learn details such as who Conor McGregor is, what sports he participates in

·     Conceptual knowledge: the students can become aware of some of his achievements so far, called his “spectacular accomplishments” by the commentator

·     Procedural knowledge: the students can hence become aware that McGregor’s standing is rising as a result of these “spectacular accomplishments”

·     Metacognitive knowledge: the students can thus see that McGregor is attempting to create history with his latest fight

Structuring the task

Popular culture naturally, as said, allows students the opportunity to display various types of knowledge, which is confirmed here, and which is deliberately intended through the choice of this video so as to subconsciously remind students of their experience in this regard.

 Before showing the students the first five minutes and five seconds (until 5:05) of the video, provide them with four statements:

·     “Conor McGregor is an Irish mixed martial artist fighter in the UFC.”

·     “Conor McGregor is a UFC world champion who is about to fight for another UFC title.”

·     “Conor McGregor is the most well-known fighter in the UFC.”

·     “Conor McGregor is attempting to make history in his next UFC title.”

Tell the students, when watching the video, to consider which statement they think is most appropriate and that they will have to write a paragraph on this after watching the video.

Each statement, as is becoming clear, reflects a particular knowledge area mentioned already; the detail that McGregor “is an Irish mixed martial artist in the UFC” is factual knowledge as students remember the basic details about him; that he “is a UFC world champion who is about to fight for another UFC title” is procedural as they piece together different facts about him which have led to his current situation; his being “the most well-known fighter in the UFC” is conceptual as students consider his standing as a result of his previous fights; and his “attempting to make history in his next UFC title” tasks them to consider the greater significance of what is mentioned here, his next fight.

Post-task:

When finished, the students can choose a sentence to write a response to (a paragraph in length). The framing of the task earlier is crucial as otherwise students may pick any area without consideration of applying their knowledge; they are hence directed to display their ability to do so, which will be a factor in their decision of which task, based on its level, to attempt to complete. This also returns them to what was mentioned above, that popular culture allows for a true reflection of students’ abilities; tasking students with a formal assessment here is hence offset by their familiarity with the subject (Conor McGregor), which ensures appropriate differentiation can be achieved as a result.

 Students’ choice of sentence will naturally place them within a certain range of knowledge, for as said each sentence reflects either factual, conceptual, procedural or metacognitive. However, while Factual knowledge encompasses the ‘Remember’ category from Bloom’s Taxonomy and Conceptual knowledge the ‘Understand’ category, it is important to remember, as stated in another resource, that Procedural knowledge comprises ‘Apply’ and ‘Analyse’ categories and Metacognitive knowledge the ‘Evaluate’ and ‘Create’ categories. It is therefore important to consider, if students choose either of the two upper range sentences to respond to, how to differentiate them in later tasks according to either ‘Apply’, ‘Analyse’, ‘Evaluate’ or ‘Create’ in Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Differentiation:

For the sentence “Conor McGregor is the most well-known fighter in the UFC”, which is reflective of procedural knowledge, students’ responses can thus lead to differentiation in either the ‘Apply’ or ‘Analyse’ categories.

‘Apply’ refers to using information in a prescribed way and ‘Analyse’ finding a pattern or logic to material, both of which reflect procedural knowledge, using an appropriate method to complete a task. However, both reflect different levels of this.

Using information in a prescribed way reflects students’ instinctive response to material, which indicates subconscious knowledge rather than being truly aware of what they have remembered or are using to create a response. Finding a pattern or logic to material indicates a progression in knowledge and ability, as students are in greater control of their knowledge and hence are using it in a deliberate way to complete the task. 

When assessing whether students should be differentiated and hence tasked to ‘Apply’ or ‘Analyse’ in the later curriculum-based task, you should be considering whether students are proficiently discussing McGregor’s standing or if they are using specific and varied parts of the text to respond to the statement. For example, a student differentiated according to ‘Apply’ would focus on one specific/ extended part of the text and capably illustrate that McGregor is well-known, whereas one differentiated according to ‘Analyse’ will choose various parts of the text to do so.

Similarly, for the sentence “Conor McGregor is attempting to make history in his next UFC title”, which is reflective of metacognitive knowledge, students will here be differentiated according to ‘Evaluate’ or ‘Create’, with ‘Evaluate’ indicating an ability to confirm the validity of information and ‘Create’ showing an ability to use information to bring about further perspectives, such as new viewpoints and insights. When deciding on differentiation here students may be placed in the ‘Evaluate’ range if they here proficiently discuss McGregor making history according to what is detailed in the text, or ‘Create’ if they can use such information so as to bring about further considerations and presumptions that are not contained in the text, i.e. what will occur if McGregor is successful in making history here.