Authentic Learning

The simple response would include that an ‘authentic education’ is designed to guide students to unfold their authentic selves, which would at least include: (a) investigating the curriculum that was designed for them, (b) learning how to perform a number of feats (skillsets) equal to the average requirement to survive planetary conditions (social, fiscal, and environmental) on one’s own, and (c) receiving a clear understanding of the actual state of the planet being inherited upon reaching adulthood. And that ‘hope’ is not activism.

New product development (NPD) classes based around problem-based learning and mediated by design coaches from industry provide an effective vehicle for authentic learning and realistic design experiences within the constraints of academic settings. Little is known, however, ...

Complex learning aims at the integration of knowledge, skills, and attitudes; the coordination of qualitatively different constituent skills; and the transfer of what is learned to daily life or work settings. Recent instructional theories stress authentic learning tasks as the driving force for learning; but due to the complexity of those tasks, learning may be hampered by the limited processing capacity of the human mind. In this article we present a framework for scaffolding practice and just-in-time information presentation, aiming to control cognitive ...

How can teachers utilize video games in the classroom, harnessing a technology that is gaining “market share” in the lives of our students? This article will provide classroom teachers with a research-based rationale for using video games along with a viable, classroom-tested lesson to teach social studies content using a widely available commercial video game. Specifically, how to use the game Civilization IV in the classroom to allow world history high school students to explore the impact technology has on societal development and the human experience and their place in time. This correlates to NCSS Curriculum Standard II: time, continuity, and change and NCSS Curriculum Standard VIII: science, technology, and society.

ÖZET Alan yazında sınıf dışı eğitim (education outside the classroom), mekân dışı eğitim (education out of doors), mekân dışı öğrenme (learning out of doors, outdoor learning), gerçek ortamda öğrenme (authentic learning in landscapes) gibi kavramlarla da ifade edilen açık alan eğitimi (outdoor education) gerçek ortamlarda somut deneyimler üzerinden öğrenmeyi amaçlayan ve yapılandırmacı pedagojiye dayanan bir yaklaşımdır. Bilimsel süreç becerileri ise somut deneyimler aracılığıyla çocukların kendi öğrenmelerinde aktif olmasını sağlayan, düşünebilmeyi destekleyen, araştırma yapabilmek için gerekli olan bilgi ve becerilerdir. Öğrenmenin somut deneyimler üzerinden gerçekleştirilmesine vurgu yapan bu iki kavram bu noktada kesişmektedir. Bu amaçla çalışmada açık alan etkinlikleriyle desteklenmiş okul öncesi eğitimin çocukların bilimsel süreç becerilerine ait kazanımlarının gelişimine olan etkisi araştırılmış ve süreç sonunda çocukların açık alan eğitimi ve açık alan etkinliklerine ilişkin görüşleri alınmıştır. Ön test-son test kontrol gruplu modelin kullanıldığı araştırmada çalışma grubunu İzmir Büyükşehir Belediyesi'ne bağlı Evka-4 Yeşiltepe Anaokulu'na devam eden 6 yaş grubu toplam 14 çocuk oluşturmaktadır. Çalışma kapsamında araştırmacı tarafından bilimsel süreç becerilerinin beş alt becerisine (gözlem yapma, sınıflama, tahmin etme, ölçme ve sonuç çıkarma) ait etkinlikleri içeren açık alan eğitim modülü hazırlanmış ve deney grubuna 8 hafta boyunca anaokulunun bahçesinde uygulanmıştır. Kontrol grubuna ise aynı günlerde sınıf öğretmeni tarafından sınıfta bilimsel süreç becerileri ile ilgili etkinlikler uygulanmıştır. Araştırmada veri toplama aracı olarak araştırmacı tarafından hazırlanan 'Gözlem Formu' ve 'Yarı Yapılandırılmış Görüşme Formu' kullanılmıştır. Bilimsel süreç becerilerine ait kazanım ve göstergelerin yer aldığı 'Gözlem Formu'ndan * Bu makale " Açık Alan Etkinlikleriyle Desteklenmiş Okul Öncesi Eğitimin Öğrencilerin Bilimsel Süreç Becerilerine Etkisi " adlı yüksek lisans tezinden üretilmiştir.

Il contributo intende analizzare alcuni aspetti dell’educational technology, prestando particolare attenzione alle politiche promosse in Italia, alle competenze digitali possedute da studenti e docenti, alle metodologie innovative e agli strumenti digitali a costo zero.
Si descrive in seguito un nuovo modello progettuale per la programmazione e la realizzazione delle Unità di Apprendimento (UdA), mostrando un esempio applicativo per la letteratura latina avente quale oggetto la commedia plautina 'Miles gloriosus. Al termine dell’UdA, si propongono due compiti autentici e una nuova griglia per la loro definizione.

In the digital world of today, are educators providing their students with the knowledge and skills to tackle the challenges of the real-world? According to educational authorities such as the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) educators around the world are encouraged to pursue curriculum and pedagogical frameworks whereby students “build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions” (ISTE, 2016, p. 1). Such real-world learning experiences are defined by Herrington and Oliver (2000) as ‘authentic learning environments’ and are identified as being the learning experience best suited for students to gain ‘useable knowledge’. These authentic learning experiences are not limited to any specific curriculum focus such as history or mathematics, but all curricula (NESA, 2017b, p. 29). For the scope of this paper, only the curricula relating to a science focus will be discussed.

Khái niệm đích thực (authentic) rất phức tạp và khó định nghĩa một cách thực sự rõ ràng. Đánh giá đích thực và đánh giá truyền thống cũng mập mờ ranh giới, để phân định một cách minh bạch cũng không hề đơn giản. Thuật ngữ đánh giá đích thực ra đời năm 1988  đã làm thay đổi ý thức về công tác khảo thí từ trước đó, mang lại một luồng tư duy mới về đánh giá và giá trị của việc đánh giá trong lớp học.

How, where, when, and what we teach has been significantly influenced by technological innovation. Radio, television, and computers have all altered how information is presented and how students interact with that information. This paper describes how virtual worlds provide a mechanism to incorporate constructivist, experiential, and student-centered learning practices into the classroom. The authors also discuss the challenges and the benefits of using virtual worlds in education as well as some implications for the future of education.

There is considerable hype around the purported affordances of virtual worlds to facilitate authentic learning in a variety of discipline areas. Though at first glance, virtual worlds look as if they would provide an ideal environment for this type of learning, in reality there are a number of factors that need to be considered in relation to these claims. As Sherry Turkle suggests, even though new technologies provide opportunities for being and learning, there is a risk that because the virtual is deliberately compelling, we believe that we are achieving more than we actually are (Turkle, 1995). Though experiences in virtual worlds can be immersive and engaging, they still may not be authentically educative for the user (Jackson & Lalioti, 2000). This chapter examines the claims surrounding authentic learning in virtual worlds with a view to determining their veracity.

The main purpose of this paper is to explain the advantages of
using literature as a resource in second and foreign language
classrooms. To this end, the benefits of integrating literature in
language classrooms is first presented within the scope of the
following items: a) authenticity, b) cultural awareness, c) thinking
skills, d) personal development, e) four basic language skills (i.e.
reading, writing, listening and speaking). In the second section,
the paper provides information about the significant contribution
that different literature genres (e.g. poetry, drama) can make to
language learning. The third section of this article highlights the
importance of specific criteria (e.g. students’ language level, age,
cultural background) for selecting appropriate literary texts to be
used in foreign language classrooms. In the concluding section,
this paper suggests that, in order to get the full benefit of these
advantages, language teachers should be properly trained on the
effective use of literary texts, as well. All in all, this paper
emphasizes that literary texts, when chosen carefully, considering
the features of the target group, and used effectively by welltrained teachers in educational settings, can add not only to the
students’ linguistic development, but also to their personal
growth.

Schools are the basic environments where learning takes place. The quality of these environments and acquirement of the knowledge and skills expected by societies have caused the disconnection between real life and the school. One of the main subjects of education circles in the 21st century has been what to do in order to ensure the connection between real life and education. In this context, the subject of the study is the authentic learning strategy which aims to bring real life subjects and students together. Although this strategy was first introduced in studies conducted in the United States of America in the 1990s, its philosophical roots go back to the 19th century. According to authentic learning, students' encounter with real life situations or subjects in learning will be effective in raising effective citizens and increasing the quality of learning. The study focuses on how authentic learning is shaped in the literature and what place it takes in the Geography Curriculum of the Ministry of National Education (MoNE, 2018). The main features of authentic learning were determined, and a template was developed by means of the document review method and descriptive content analysis technique. The suitability of this template for the features was examined by reviewing the acquirements with the application principles of the GC 2018 and the explanations in the introduction section. In conclusion, it was determined that all the features required for authentic learning are present in the GC.

Authenticity in language teaching is a thorny issue, and especially in English language teaching because of the nature of English’s use worldwide as an international language, with many diverse varieties. What do you understand by the term authenticity? For most language teachers, the word authentic is part of our daily vocabulary. It is stamped onto the backs of textbooks, it is mentioned when describing a particularly motivating task, and it is often used alongside other words like motivation and interest. So, just what do we talk about when we talk about authenticity?

This qualitative study investigated the lived experiences of highly sensitive persons (HSPs) to better understand the way they experience careers.  Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) is the underlying personality trait and is present in approximately 20 percent of the population, equally distributed across gender and racial lines.  SPS is considered a non-normative personality trait in some Western societies and subcultures.  Thus, many HSPs experience difficulty finding an appropriate match between innate temperament and career.   
This qualitative research perspective employed semi-structured interviews with 35 participants recruited through social media web sites and snowball sampling.  Participants in the study were primarily from the U.S., but also from five foreign countries.  Participants were chosen based on answers to a recruitment questionnaire and Elaine Aron’s HSP Self-Test.  Major findings reveal a complex, interwoven dynamic interplay between nine major themes: (1) empathy, (2) childhood’s influence, (3) self-care, (4) a rich inner life, (5) creativity, (6) high sensation-seeking, (7) the sociological perspective, (8) the experience of work, and (9) the integral being.  The significance of this study is that it is the first of its kind to investigate this topic in a systematic, scientific manner.

(published in: SAGE, Encyclopedia of Educational Theory and Philosophy 2014)

The American teacher Helen Parkhurst (1886-1973) developed at the beginning of the twentieth century the Dalton Plan to reform the then current pedagogics and the then usual manner of classroom management.

Educational reforms are continuously crafted to improve many aspects of teaching and learning including the development of authentic performance tasks engineered through the Goal, Role, Audience, Situation, Product/Performance, and Standards (GRASPS) Model. These real-world problems provide opportunities enabling students to produce solutions, manage situations, and develop different perspectives while also enabling teachers to transform their students to be knowledge producers and not merely knowledge consumers or keepers. With the rapid growth of studies about the effectiveness of performance assessments, the implementation of GRASPS creates its own space in the world of educational research. Against this backdrop, the study sought to determine the impediments experienced by teachers and students in selected schools through an expert-validated instrument. Based on the responses of 65 teachers and 367 participating students, findings revealed that in using GRASPS, the problems of teachers were as follows: administering group tasks, the insufficient time to meet all the target outputs, and the inadequate facilities for the fulfilment of complex tasks. On the students' part, the problems were: lack of guidance in doing the performance assessments, ways to collaborate with others during group tasks, and the limited time to complete them. Further research could be done on the teachers' and students' time management and planning, scaffolding for transfer techniques, and cooperative learning to further the implementation of authentic learning and to enhance the existing faculty development programs in different schools.

This study focused on the assessment of the learning activities availed by junior high school students in earth science, biology, chemistry and physics from selected private secondary schools in the Division of Batangas City. It also looked into the 21st century skills of the students relative to critical thinking/problem solving, creativity, communication and collaboration. Further, profile of teachers was appraised and assessed relationship to the provision of authentic learning activities in science classes. The descriptive method of research was applied in this study with 55 science teachers as respondents. Weighted mean and independent T-test were used for the statistical treatment of gathered data. The study revealed that majority of the science teachers have 1-5 years of teaching experience, finished baccalaureate degree major in science, and actively participated in science-related trainings. It also revealed that students had moderately availed varied learning activities in...

This paper (see link to itunes ) presents part of a study carried out in 2011 by researchers in the Faculty of Creative Arts at the University of Wollongong. The purpose of the project was to customise nationally developed Threshold Learning Outcomes (TLO) for the Bachelor of Creative Arts degree in the Faculty of Creative Arts at the University of Wollongong (UOW). The participants in the study included both full and part-time faculty staff from the Performance, Graphic Design and Journalism programs at UOW. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were carried out to determine what each participant understood by the terms Standards and Graduate Qualities in relation to discipline and course specific outcomes. A common theme that emerged during interviews and focus group discussions was the need for graduates of the creative and performing arts to be resilient. A return to the literature on resilience showed a strong congruence between the principles of experiential and practice-based learning which, underlie programs in the Faculty of Creative Arts, and parts of the literature on building resilient professionals. This similarity in key elements in the literature on resilience and the literature on experiential, practice based learning would seem to support the argument of this paper that approaches to teaching described in this paper have potential to produce informed and creative students who will become seasoned, flexible resilient practitioners ready to contribute to their communities.

Dalton education is the largest educational reform movement in the Netherlands. Around eighty years ago it spread throughout the world; Dalton education was found in the USA, England, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, the Soviet Union, India, China and Japan. Today there is a revival of interest in England and Germany. We examine the origins of Dalton education by comparing the work of its founder Helen Parkhurst (1886–1973) with developments in American education towards the end of the nineteenth century. From 1870 onwards, in numerous American cities, there were experiments with alternatives for lockstep teaching, including experiments with individualised instruction, individual assignments, differentiation, self-direction, self-pacing, freedom, tutor learning and co-operation. In part, these innovations stemmed from methods that were already customary prior to the dissemination of lockstep teaching – methods which, at the onset of the twentieth century, were actually still common in rural one-room schools. The Dalton Plan proves to be not very original. Parkhurst recycled various ideas and methods which had already been developed and tried out in the preceding decades. Her pretension of having introduced something new and authentic is implausible. That raises two questions: how to explain the discrepancy between the image Parkhurst presents of her own work and the image derived from historical comparison, and how to explain the popularity of the Dalton Plan in the 1920s, given that it was not unique or particularly innovative.

This paper identifies and describes the challenges higher education is facing on the brink of the knowledge society, and presents one solution through a novel approach to teacher training through a learning program based on authentic, social media assisted learning.

Many researchers see a gap between higher education and 21st century skills.  Although these are the natural skills of digital native learners, they are not being supported in education. 

It is important that teachers acquire the competences needed in 21st century knowledge work and are prepared to fruitfully work with their digital native learners. The School of Vocational Teacher Education at Tampere University of Applied Sciences introduces a novel approach to teacher training by applying the principles of 21st century skills in social media environments. This approach has yielded extremely promising results in a markedly short time.

Our chapter, based on a self-study, responds to the question, “What impact does international experience have for faculty and teacher candidates?” We have utilized a 5-step process: collection/recognition; recording; revisiting; deconstructing and reconstructing to gather and analyze our data drawn from two different international Community Leadership Experiences (CLE). In this chapter, we examine two distinct contexts: a CLE in a developing country such as Kenya or Nicaragua, organized through a Not-for-Profit-Social-Enterprise (NPSE) contrasted with a CLE in Italy. We outline three key findings: concepts of authenticity; assessment of risk; and, understanding professionalism. Our examination of the themes has allowed us to interrogate the impact our facilitation of international placements may be having on our broader practice as teacher educators.

English language learning and teaching, as any educational process, is penetrated by several
dynamic concepts which are in a state of constant flux, dialogue, tension, and
complementarity. One of such concepts is that of authenticity, the main theme of the 42nd
FAAPI Conference and the contributions included here.
It is not within the scope of this introduction to provide a definition of authenticity
because, even though definitions are necessary, it would be reductive to do so. Instead, we
attempt here to indicate some roads which the concept invites us to explore in relation to our
professional practices inscribed in larger situated contexts.

Asssesment pembelajaran merupakan kegiatan, mengumpulkan informasi dan menggunakan bukti serta umpan balik dari hasil belajar untuk menentukan apa yang dipelajari dari suatu proses pembelajaran ke pembelajaran selanjutnya, dan memberikan bimbingan belajar yang terbaik pada siswa sehingga pada akhirnya dengan bimbingan tersebut tujuan belajar dapat tercapai. Asssesment pembelajaran dapat pula dijadikan sebagai refleksi dan evaluasi bagi guru terhadap proses pembelajaran yang telah dilakukan. Penilaian proses pembelajaran menggunakan pendekatan penilaian otentik (authentic assesment) yang menilai kesiapan siswa, proses, dan hasil belajar secara utuh. Keterpaduan penilaian ketiga komponen tersebut akan menggambarkan kapasitas, gaya, dan perolehan belajar siswa atau bahkan mampu menghasilkan dampak instruksional (instructional effect) dan dampak pengiring (nurturant effect) dari pembelajaran. Adapun hasil penilaian otentik dapat digunakan oleh guru untuk merencanakan program perbaikan (remedial), pengayaan (enrichment), atau pelayanan konseling. Selain itu, hasil penilaian otentik dapat digunakan sebagai bahan untuk memperbaiki proses pembelajaran sesuai dengan Standar Penilaian Pendidikan. Jadi berdasarkan hal tersebut, authentic assessment merupakan penilaian yang dilakukan secara komprehensif untuk menilai mulai dari masukan (input), proses dan keluaran (output) pembelajaran yang di dalamnya ada sistem umpan balik yang berkelanjutan dari dokumen belajar siswa melalui pameran dan contoh kerja melekat pada lingkungan sekolah.

Kata kunci: assessment pembelajaran dan authentic assessment

As universities move towards more vocationally oriented courses, students expect pedagogic practices that make closer ties to potential workplaces. The pedagogical approach of authentic learning is well suited to this purpose as it proposes an apprenticeship-type model and a model that brings simulated work tasks into the classroom. In the social sciences, authentic learning is under-utilised and under-theorised as these subject areas do not fit easily into these models. An alternative model of authentic learning aims to offer students opportunities to ‘enmind’ the requirements of a discipline, be critically reflective about that discipline, and to develop the skills to bring the discipline into their subjective experience. Using this model for authentic learning as a starting point, the authors have examined the applicability of authentic learning to the social sciences, derived relevant design principles and applied these to produce a learning design for a sociology subject that can be tested and critiqued. The purpose of this paper is to present this learning design as a starting point for discussion about a new form of authentic learning.

Most universities in English-dominant countries have been competing to attract multilingual learners for some time, inspired by the dual need for brain power and income generation (Lee, Maldonado-Maldonado, & Rhodes, 2006). In the Canadian context, this has resulted in rising international student populations (Anderson, 2015) and the expansion of increasingly sophisticated academic language programs (Fox, Cheng, & Zumbo, 2014). Despite this, external research into the effectiveness and appropriateness of these programs from the perspectives of the students enrolled remains scarce (Keefe & Shi, 2017).

This multiple case study involves six multilingual learners enrolled in a newly-designed academic language program in a Canadian university. This first-year program provided content and academic language courses in two disciplinary areas (Arts and Sciences), which upon successful completion, qualified students for their second year in the university mainstream. In this study, I investigate how students responded to program design features and academic writing instruction. I incorporate multiple interviews with students, collection of their written assignments and feedback, observations of classrooms and other educational events, interviews with other program stakeholders, and collection of program documents.

Of the six student participants in this study, four were successful and two were less successful. For the four successful students, participation in the sheltered program was perceived as an overall beneficial experience that helped them make a positive transition to mainstream studies. However, responses to academic writing instruction and practice were highly variable and influenced by students’ backgrounds and their educational or disciplinary beliefs. For two less successful students, notions of agency, identity, and appropriation became influential in their transitions as they increasingly reported confusion, frustration, and conflict in meeting academic expectations. Results suggest there are several opportunities and challenges involved in the integration of sophisticated theoretical and pedagogical approaches, some of which may not be realized for some time after instruction has ceased. The study highlights an ongoing need to: 1) (re)consider the time needed and the degree of complexity involved in academic writing instruction and, 2) maximize alignment of pedagogical objectives with multilingual learners’ backgrounds as well as their perceived academic and disciplinary writing needs.