The 8 Learning Management Questions (or 8 LMQs) are a set of sequential design based questions for teachers that engage them to develop a teaching plan for their classrooms, so as to produce intended learning outcome in all students. The process is focused on enabling teachers to translate teaching theory into practice. The questions were developed by Professor David E. Lynch in 1998. The 8 questions, which are organised into three design phases, are answered in their numerical sequence.
OUTCOMES PHASE LMQ1: What have my students achieved to date? LMQ2: What do I am to achieve in my students STRATEGY PHASE LMQ3: How do my students best learn? LMQ4: What resources do I have at my disposal? LMQ5: What are my teaching strategies? LMQ6: Who will do what to support the teaching strategy? EVIDENCE PHASE LMQ7: How will I check that students have achieved the defined learning outcomes? LMQ8: How will I report student progress?
The 8 LMQs have two key purposes. Firstly, they act as a ‘professional knowledge organiser’. This means the 8 LMQs enable the teacher to identify and then organise the fundamental consideration, or elements, required for the successful development and execution of learning experiences, units of work or individual lessons. For the student-teacher the 8LMQs act as a ‘knowledge organiser’ whereby essential professional knowledge, learnt as part of their preparation program, is organised such they have a bank of ‘considerations’ that they can call upon as they engage with each question. By this is meant the teacher education program should be presented so as to inform each LMQ. This has the effect of providing the student-teacher with a ‘ready-reference’ arrangement of knowledge that they can draw upon and unpack when designing and then executing successful learning experiences.
The second purpose of the 8LMQs is to transition ‘teaching’ from ‘teacher centred activities’ to a more responsive ‘student-centred learning' approaches. The 8 LMQs are therefore a deliberate strategy to draw the teacher to the nuances of each student and away from ‘the one-size-fits all’ approaches that are characteristic of ‘teaching’ and ‘curriculum planning’ and lesson planning.
The 8 LMQs are underpinned by the Dimensions of Learning (DoL) pedagogic framework. DoL provides a bank of evidence-based teaching strategies for developing and delivering specific learning experiences or lessons. By this is meant a series of ‘step-by-step’ teaching strategies that have been confirmed by research as underpinning successful learning experiences.
The reference to learning management is strategic as the questions were developed as a subset of the learning management teaching knowledge base. The learning management concept is further explained at www.aaclm.com
The 8 Learning Management Questions underpin teacher training at Central Queensland University and Charles Darwin University in Australia and inform teaching in the Northern Territory.