Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
April 2017
By Alexis Handford
AUTHENTIC INSTRUCTION 2
PART A
Introduction
With increasing demand for non-traditional teaching methods because of the rapid
sometimes struggle with innovative pedagogical teaching techniques, and this workshop will
help to bridge the gap between content knowledge, and pedagogical knowledge through the use
of constructivist authenticity and through the understanding of how students build knowledge
and beliefs. This workshop will act as a starting point for initiating conversations, connections,
Adult education, unlike primary education, employs many instructors for their subject
expertise, rather than for their teaching background (Goolnik, 2006, p. 12). This could be due to
the growing need in adult education for offering students technical (vocational) skills aimed at
career development, especially with “rapid changes in technology and its application to
vocational fields” (Twomey, 2002, p. 1). Generally speaking, vocational instructors are “pressed
to prove their professionalism” and have experience in the field of interest (Twomey, 2002, p. 2),
as is true in continuing education-type departments. However, these individuals can often lack
teaching experience. As Geoff Goolnik (2006) discussed in his article “Effective change
management strategies for embedding online learning within higher education and enabling the
effective continuing professional development of its academic staff,” the move towards non-
1
The terms Adult Education and Continuing Education may be used interchangeably. Please note that Continuing Education generally
references a more condensed version of Adult Education
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traditional forms of instruction require more emphasis on pedagogical techniques, but the
It is important that the needs and interests of the instructors are taken into account in their
professional development (Goolnik, 2006, p. 12). Instructor participation can tend to be low if
they are unable to pinpoint their specific needs (p. 12), as adult learners generally look to build
skills that they believe will help them in their life (Speed et al., 2015). Furthermore, these
instructors need active hands-on experience and diversity in learning styles, as Goolnik (2002)
discussed in the learning of online technology and ineffectiveness of second hand experience in
continuing professional development (CPD) (p. 12). Without active involvement, there is a lack
of empowerment in instructor CPD (p. 12). There is some difficulty with time availability in the
professional development of instructors, because many of them carry a heavy teaching load or
they work inconsistently and can’t afford the cost of missing work to attend professional
development (PD) (p. 12). Time flexibility needs to be considered in producing effective PD.
the need for constructivism. Knowledge is difficult to define as there is an ongoing debate
between what people believe to be knowledge and what people believe to be true belief.
Additionally, the justification for knowledge is hard to define as people can easily justify their
“true beliefs” as “knowledge” because it is possible that through varying circumstances value
can be placed on true beliefs and a chain of grounds can be justified, even if just through luck
(Pritchard, 2014, p. 11). So when discussing learning, this means that we need to consider
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learners’ previous experiences, in order to engage students, understand preconceptions that may
exist, and respectfully engage them in learning negotiations. Aikenhead (2001) discussed the
concept of instructors working as “cultural brokers” where teachers acknowledge the varying
ways that things can be understood and they bring to light the possible preconceptions students
may have, and where those preconceptions originated (p. 340). This practice further helps
learners rationalize their true beliefs, rather than simply relying on the rationalization of others
(testimonial knowledge) (Pritchard, 2014, p. 80). This practice helps instructors reflect on what
they’re developing for their courses, and how they present course content to learners. This is
particularly important in Adult Education as adult learners are more self-directed, they base their
learning on personal experience, and they generally seek to learn knowledge and skills that they
believe will help them in their own lives and careers (Knowles et al., 2012, as cited in Speed et
al., 2015). Since adult learners bring a lot of unique experience and knowledge to their learning,
as an instructor, it is important to hone in on the learner’s own realities and engage the learners
in building and negotiating their own knowledge rather than simply relying on teachers own pre-
existing knowledge.
Constructivist learning
Constructivism takes into account the individuality of building knowledge in that people
take in information and reflect, construct, and scaffold their understanding. It is very likely that
people experience the world differently from one another, and constructivism factors that
possibility into education (Von Glaserfeld, 2005, p. 23). Understanding these elements of
learning allows for diversity and exploration within educational environments, and this is why
understanding epistemology and the struggle to define knowledge is key, as it explains why such
fluidity and non-linearity is important in order to engage active learning, rather than passive
AUTHENTIC INSTRUCTION 5
also consider the importance of interaction in learning and “dialogue within a community [for]
further thinking” to examine more than one idea, or more than one potential “true belief”
(Fostnot and Perry, 2005, p. 50). This is particularly important in adult education, and
particularly in instructor PD, because dialogue brings in the much needed diversity instructors
need in order to enhance their teaching practice and expand their ideas and possibilities. As
context can formulate “truth,” our own experiences greatly affect our construction of knowledge
(Relativism, n.d.), and this is why constructivism may be affective in increasing and better
engaging adult education instructor PD opportunities, by giving a platform for our own
together for the greater good of bettering education (Forman, 2005, p. 222).
Authentic Instruction
Engaging learners can be difficult, particularly for subject matter experts that may not
have prior experience with teaching. Authentic learning context (a constructivist principle)
focuses on realistic learning situations and moving beyond “school culture” into the culture of
the subject being studied (Bowers, 2014, p. 217). Focusing on authentic instruction moves the
instructors focus away from the confinements of school, and moves the focus onto experience
and real-life situations and helps them as they consider the delivery methods they will use.
Researchers argue that “knowledge is situated, being in part a product of the activity, context,
and culture in which it is developed and used” (Brown et al., 1989, p. 32), meaning that the
richest knowledge exists in the context in which it originated. For example, reading a manual to a
machine is much different than actually physically using the machine and interestingly enough
you could say that “…you need the machine to understand the manual as much as the manual to
understand the machine” (Brown et al., 1989, p. 36). This connects back to epistemology and
AUTHENTIC INSTRUCTION 6
understanding knowledge as we need to remember that people come from varying backgrounds
and can justify their understanding differently, and through constructivist instruction we can
important as it helps to build meaningful experiences for students and allows them to extend
their knowledge beyond the confinements of the classroom context (Bowers, 2014).
constructivist learning, will focus on authentic instruction and tools (while employing elements
of authentic instruction) to help instructors understand the need for authentic learning and the
benefits it has on learners, but also help instructors reflect on their own teaching practices and
explore different tools and methods. As “very often, the professional development [of teachers]
is implemented rather poorly, typically in the form of isolated workshops that concentrate on
developing teachers’ technical skills with specific technologies” (Dabner, David, & Daka, 2012).
Additionally, “many teacher professional development programs remain superficial and fail to
provide ongoing support for teachers…” (Teras & Herrington, 2014, p. 237). Therefore, there
will be exploration into the specific backgrounds and needs of the instructors attending the
workshop, and there will be ongoing support provided while being mindful of the PD needs of
adult educators.
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PART B
Workshop Plan:
Be sure to look for the symbol for additional information and resources and the
symbol for notes on how the workshop design exemplifies constructivist principles.
Schedule: This authentic development and instruction professional development workshop will
take place over an approximately 60-minute face-to-face session. Face-to-face was chosen for
this workshop with recognition of the time constraint, and to allow for increased collaboration.
Furthermore, the addition of an online discourse community forum for continued support will be
made available once the workshop concludes. This workshop will take place in a computer lab in
order to increase the amount of resources available, and also to explore some e-learning
activities. With the time constraint, the facilitator should be mindful that some adjustments to the
workshop may need to be made, and some additional information may need to be provided as
links or handouts for further investigation.
Each section of the workshop will follow a Karplus model of 1) exploration 2) explanation and
3) application (Sunal, n.d.), as this constructivist model promotes what So (2002) explained as
“the learning mak[ing] sense of experience by actively constructing meaning.” The 3-stage
Karplus model will be displayed as phases:
The following is a list of topics and time allocation that will be covered:
Introduction 5 min
Knowledge and beliefs 15 min
How to prepare for constructivist learning 15 min
Authentic instruction as a tool for learning 25 min
2
This workshop was designed without the use of APA formatting to allow for freedom in development, and to better
accommodate charts and notes.
AUTHENTIC INSTRUCTION 8
Activities
Topic: Introduction
Introduce yourself (facilitator), and introduce the topic(s) of the workshop and the schedule that
will be followed.
Instructions:
[Phase 1]
Have learners take five minutes to reflect on what they believe knowledge to be. They may
discuss with their colleagues and use the computer provided to search and develop their answer.
Instruct them to be prepared to share and discuss their ideas with the group.
[Phase 2]
Have learners share their answers with the group.
Write common themes up on the white board (or flipchart) to help learners pinpoint similarities.
Once this is complete, have learners explore online the following link that summarizes the
concepts of knowledge and belief by Pritchard:
https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/millsonph100/2014/09/08/what-is-knowledge/
While it is difficult to summarize the concepts and ideas about knowledge and belief, this will
provide a brief glimpse into the world of epistemology.
After a brief reading and exploration, ask learners if they have any questions, and then provide
the following summary:
- Knowledge and true beliefs can often both be justified (Pritchard, 2014, p. 11)
Additional summary:
Knowledge is difficult to define as there is a seemingly endless struggle between what
people believe to be knowledge and what people believe to be true belief. Additionally,
the justification for knowledge is hard to define as people can easily justify their “true
beliefs” as “knowledge” because it is possible that through varying circumstances value
can be placed on true beliefs and a chain of grounds can be justified (infinitism or
coherentism), even if just through luck (Pritchard, 2014, p. 11). Furthermore, we run into
the problem of perception, as “the problem is that the way things look isn’t always the
way things are; appearances can be deceptive” (p. 69). Whether we are discussing the
possibility of transcendental realism where our “experiences [are] responses to an
external world” (p. 75), or we are discussing the “problem of other minds” where we
debate over whether or not other people’s minds are like our own (p. 161), it still remains
impossible to determine an ultimate perception, or an ultimate truth. This ultimately leads
to difficulty in learning with a vast amount of information, but no absolute way to define
knowledge.
[Phase 3]
Have learners consider why it might be important to understand knowledge, and how
understanding knowledge can help them moving forward in their teaching. Encourage them to
take notes on their thoughts. Ask 3-5 learners to share with the group.
*Note to facilitator: Be sure to offer ongoing feedback and encourage the learners to ask
questions throughout the workshop.
Instructions:
[Phase 1]
Have learners work in groups to reflect on what they know about constructivism. They may use
the computer provided to search and develop their answer. Additionally, have the groups identify
or find 4 important aspects of constructivism that they can share with the larger group.
[Phase 2]
Have each group write on the white board (or on flipchart paper) a definition of constructivism
(in their own words) and the 4 important aspects they identified and go over them as a group.
Be sure to list the four essential criteria of constructivism as defined by Baviskar et al. (2009) for
summary:
[Phase 3]
Part 1: Ask the learners for examples of using constructivist methods in their prior experience
teaching and how it was effective, and how it could be improved. If learners are new to
constructivism, have them reflect on a difficult teaching situation and how constructivism could
have aided in student learning.
Part 2: Have the learners reflect on why understanding knowledge and how knowledge is
constructed can be important to constructivist teaching.
Instructions:
[Phase 1]
Part 1: Have learners reflect back on their own learning; have them identify an lesson or activity
they were a part of in the past that was memorable for them and ask for 3-5 learners to share their
experience.
*Note to facilitator: Chances are someone will identify a time when they experienced authentic
instruction. If not, proceed to part 2.
Part 2: Have students work in groups to explain authentic learning and identify examples of
authentic instruction, then, have them discuss and explore tools, ideally e-learning tools, that can
AUTHENTIC INSTRUCTION 11
help aid in authentic classroom instruction (they can use the computers to aid their exploration).
Have them write out their findings in point form on the white board (or flip-chart paper).
[Phase 2]
Part 1: Explain to the group the importance of authentic instruction for constructivist learning,
and the impact it can have on building knowledge.
Part 2: Share some authentic learning tools and examples. Aim to expand on part 1.
Examples:
Authentic Learning Tool/Resource Where to find it
Connected North: Interactively connecting
http://www.connectednorth.org/
students to remote indigenous communities
Site Studies: Connecting students with the Various locations
community ie. Museums, reservations, corporations, etc.
Networking: Connecting with experts
Various social networking platforms
through social media
External Projects: Using material taught in
Various locations
class within real-life scenarios
[Phase 3]
Have students work in groups again, and amongst themselves, have them pick a past lesson they
developed that could have benefited from an authentic experience (one example per group).
Have them find/use e-learning tools or strategies that would aid them in their instruction (can be
one already shared during the workshop), and if time permits, have them demonstrate the tool or
explain details on how they would re-make the past lesson to incorporate the tools.
AUTHENTIC INSTRUCTION 12
*Note to facilitator: Be sure to offer feedback on both the group’s process and their
understanding of authentic learning.
Because of our limited time in the face-to-face workshop, please visit the online forum for
additional resources and to engage in continued discourse with your colleagues. On this forum
you will also be given the opportunity to discuss your own teaching struggles and successes and
make suggestions for future professional development workshops.
AUTHENTIC INSTRUCTION 13
Conclusion
epistemology, and share authentic instruction tools. However, this workshop will introduce new
concepts to contract instructors (with overall tight schedules) to guide them in planning
curriculum, and aid them in presenting their materials in learner-centered ways. Through
discussion, collaboration, and hands-on experience (with guided instruction from a facilitator),
learners (and in this case, continuing education instructors) will be introduced to constructivist
learning and how to use constructivist strategies in their classrooms. The goal of this workshop,
more than anything else, is to spark interest in the continuing education instructors the benefits of
authentic instruction and lead them to explore these concepts further, with the guided help of the
online forum.
Assessment
This workshop deploys effective constructivist learning methods through the use of the
Karplus model to help instructors with their teaching needs, present new strategies to aid in the
instructors for continued support. Continuing Education instructors are guided through three
sections of content and in each they take the time to elicit prior knowledge and reflect on past
experiences [phase 1], they engage in conversation with their colleagues to encourage cognitive
dissonance as well as further explore new concepts with the guided help of the facilitator [phase
1 & 2], and they apply their knowledge and further reflect to scaffold their learning [phase 3]
(Baviskar et al., 2009). The facilitator also provides ongoing feedback to assist in knowledge
building and in pinpointing areas of focus. Learners are given the opportunity for exploration,
and through discussion, are given a say in the direction that the workshop will take which is
Assessment of learning
ideas and strategies are effective educational tools as constructivist settings can easily evolve
throughout the learning process. The following is an example of how to assess workshop
success:
References
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Baviskar, S. N., Hartle, R. T., & Whitney, T. (2009). Essential criteria to characterize
constructivist teaching: Derived from a review of the literature and applied to five
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Brown, J. S., Collins, A. & Duguid, S. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning.
Coll, C., Rochera, M. J., & de Gispert, I. (2014). Supporting online collaborative learning in
small groups: Teacher feedback on learning content, academic task and social
Coll, C., Rochera, M. J., Gispert, I. d., & Díaz-Barriga, F. (2013). Distribution of feedback
among teacher and students in online collaborative learning in small groups. Digital
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within higher education and enabling the effective continuing professional development
of its academic staff". The Turkish online journal of distance education TOJDE (1302-
6488), 7 (1), 9.
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perspectives, and practice. (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers’ College Press, 21-25.