John B. Biggs

Who is John B. Biggs?

John B. Biggs, born in Hobart, Tasmania in 1934, is an Australian educational psychologist and novelist who developed the SOLO Taxonomy for assessing the quality of learning outcomes, and the model of constructive alignment for designing teaching and assessment. After studying psychology at the University of Tasmania, he moved to the UK for doctoral studies at the University of London. He has since held university faculty positions in Australia, Canada, UK, and Hong Kong. His final institutional affiliation is as Honorary Professor of Psychology at the University of Hong Kong. His most influential work is his concept of constructive alignment, which is an outcomes-based framework for university teaching as described in Teaching for Quality Learning at University now in its fourth edition with Catherine Tang as co-author." Changing Universities is an academic memoir covering nearly 60 years of involvement with universities in several countries, and in that time universities themselves have changed drastically.

Since retiring from academic life, Biggs has published short stories and four novels, The Girl in the Golden House, Project Integrens, Disguises and Tin Dragons.Tasmania Over Five Generations is a social-political history of Tasmania as soon through the eyes of five generations of his own family.Towards Forgiveness: Sino-Tasmanian stories from two islands is a collection of short stories. His latest novel is From Ashes to Ashes.