http://otl.curtin.edu.au/learning_teaching/philosophy_teaching/student_centred/authentic.cfm Authentic learning Authentic learning is experiential learning located in settings that reflect complex real world problems.

It is characterized by:

Situated learning contexts within which the application of knowledge and skills may be demonstrated Tasks with ill defined real world problems Sustained investigation (i.e., time and effort) to arrive at solutions Scenarios with multiple roles and perspectives and where expert performances and processes are modeled (i.e., making tacit knowledge explicit) Collaborative activities to produce real world 'products' or 'performances' Reflective practice (as a basis for professional learning) Scaffolding and coaching at critical times. Assessment of authentic learning should be seamlessly integrated with a learning activity that is practical, realistic and challenging.

Benefits of authentic learning experiences Educational research has shown that authentic learning experiences give learners the capacity to turn information into useful transferable knowledge and to build professional identity. By situating knowledge within relevant contexts learning is enhanced. Authentic learning experiences:

Encourage learners to assimilate and connect knowledge that is unfamiliar Expose learners to different settings, activities and perspectives Enhance transferability and application of theoretical knowledge to the real world Create opportunities for learners to collaborate, produce polished products and to practice generic (e.g., problem solving) and professional skills Build capacity to exercise professional judgments (in a safe environment) and attachment to professional knowledge and principles.

Authentic learning potentially builds learners' capacity in all four domains of learning: cognitive, affective, psychomotor and conative and is therefore a useful learning approach to preparing students for work in the 21st century. http://www.ernweb.com/public/908.cfm#.UgnnPtIwdCg The four characteristics of 'authentic learning' Authentic learning is a relatively new term that describes learning through applying knowledge in real-life contexts and situations. In a recent article in the Journal of Authentic Learning, Audrey Rule of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego tries to answer the question she is most often asked: What do you mean by authentic learning?

Four components are repeatedly found in authentic learning, reports Rule, who did a content analysis of 45 journal articles that faculty members in the School of Education at SUNY-Oswego submitted as examples of authentic learning in their disciplines. "Although the term authentic learning is broad and has not been applied to a specific instructional model, these four components are found repeatedly, suggesting that they are an integral part of authentic learning experiences," Rule writes. The four themes supporting authentic learning are: 1. An activity that involves real-world problems and that mimics the work of professionals; the activity involves presentation of findings to audiences beyond the classroom. 2. Use of open-ended inquiry, thinking skills and metacognition. 3. Students engage in discourse and social learning in a community of learners. 4. Students direct their own learning in project work. Real-world problems One component of authentic learning is that it targets a real problem and that students' engagement holds the possibility of having an impact outside the classroom, Rule says. "This audience beyond the classroom changes the problem from an 'exercise' to something more important, allowing students to become emotional stakeholders in the problem," she writes. In science, for example, this may be accomplished when students collect water quality data from local streams. Model lessons that address authentic learning in social studies could include students' analysis of primary documents related to the Pledge of Allegiance. In developing literacy, reading resources could be connected to real life with bus schedules, maps, diaries and interviews with people. Inquiry and thinking skills For authentic learning, students must exercise higher levels of thinking, according to this analysis. For example, science teaching should reflect the scientific process of knowledge construction. Learning in mathematics should occur through discovery, inquiry and induction. Instead of math problems that require that students merely apply a known procedure, authentic mathematical tasks require solvers to use different representations in their solutions and to work with realistic and complex mathematical data. In art education, students can use thinking skills to deconstruct visual and textual information in media ads.

View recent issues of Educational Research Newsletter. Discourse in a community of learners A community of learners can be a group of learners working together to unravel a problem or refer to the community setting in which the project is based. Science investigations should link students to scientists through data sharing, critiquing, and direct communication. Multiculturalism can be brought to the classroom by exploring numbers in other languages, symbols of ancient societies and games of skill and chance from around the world. Student-directed learning For authentic learning, problems must have a personal frame of reference and be open-ended, according to this article. "This cannot happen without student choice in

defining the problem and selecting the path of its solution," Rule writes. In the field of health promotion and wellness, for example, educators provide information so that individuals may make informed choices. Choice also occurs when students make their own interpretations of literature and art. "Research related to effective instructional practice emphasizes the need for greater personalization and individualization of instruction because learning is an individual experience," the article states. Instruction can be personalized by allowing the learner to choose from the rich variety of pathways. http://www.mysouthlakenews.com/2011/03/carroll-isd/authentic-learning-forthe-21st-century Authentic Learning For The 21st Century Students in the Gifted and Talented program and the Advanced Academics programs in Carroll ISD are participating in many activities involving authentic learning. So, what is authentic learning? Basically, the concept revolves around students learning by doing. Because of advances in technology, students are able to experience and actively participate in real life experiences. Authentic learning focuses on real-world, complex problems and their solutions, says Gina Peddy, Carroll ISDs K-12 Curriculum Coordinator for Gifted and Talented and Advanced Academics. Usually the learning environments in these classrooms tend to incorporate more of a multidisciplinary approach. This type of instruction uses a more in-depth and rigorous classroom project to facilitate learning and assess student competence. It requires the activities be more student-centered and inquiry based. At the elementary level, Carrolls gifted and talented students are participating in authentic learning by creating their own business. Students must grasp the concept of marketing, consumer awareness, and business marketing models in the toy industry. Students are given a template which shows them the things that should be considered when starting a business. Students then create a business plan for their business. They are required to state the purpose of the company, determine the cost of the product, and explain why people would want to purchase this product, how the success of the business will be measured, and then what options need to be considered if people do not like the product. After students created the toy, then students created a commercial in order to promote the product, Peddy said. Students then evaluated the toys for reliability, creativity, and durability. Students at the middle school level also participated in authentic learning. Constitutional Convention week was celebrated in early December at the middle schools. Prior to students attending the convention, they had to review the topics for debate to ensure they understood the topic. Students then had to research the topic. They had to ensure they understood not only what the topic was, but how the topic would impact their delegates. Students were then required to write a speech based upon how that particular delegate voted on the topic, thus, essentially becoming that delegate. Peddy said once the convention actually started, students dressed up as delegates from the different states and debated their points of view. Students had to listen to the arguments presented consider the impact the decision would have on their state and then make an educated decision to agree with the amendment or disagree based upon how it would benefit or hurt their constitutes.

Finally, students at the high school level also participated in authentic learning. Advanced Placement European History students recently attended an Enlightenment Salon. Students were challenged to become one of the notable personages of the Era of Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. Students became characters such as: Thomas Hobbes, Blaise Pascal, John Locke, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Catherine the Great, John Wesley, Mary Wollstonecraft, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine. In order to ensure students fully grasped the concept of the assignment, students were required to write a paper discussing what the character was known for, their accepted philosophy, and how they were viewed during the Enlightenment. Students were then required to appear in character for the Salon of Madam Tencin. Students were required to bring questions to the salon that they would like to ask other characters attending the event. As one can see, authentic learning goes beyond the content; it intentionally brings into play multiple disciplines, multiple perspectives, ways of working, habits of the mind, and community. In order for our students to be competitive in a global society, todays students must become comfortable with the complexities of ill-defined realworld problems. The more authentic learning experiences students can experience, the better prepared they will be to deal with the problems they will experience later in life.