What is Authentic Pedagogy?

Authentic Pedagogy was first defined as instruction and assessment which promoted authentic student achievement.

Authentic student achievement refers to intellectual accomplishments that are worthwhile, significant, and meaningful – such as those produced by successful adults in today’s work force.

Authentic teaching occurs when the teacher utilizes information about how students learn and designs learning experiences or tasks based upon this knowledge.

Construction of knowledge is the active processing of experience, defined as the consolidation and internalization of information and procedures by the learner in a way that is both personally meaningful and conceptually coherent.

Questions play a central role as they provide the starting point for the processes through which new information is integrated into memory, old information is put together in new ways, and faulty generalizations are corrected.
(http://crescentok.com/staff/jaskew/isr/education/authentic.htm)

History of Authentic Pedagogy:

Authentic learning/teaching/assessment is not a single educational theory. The theoretical approach of John Dewey (1859-1952), the founder of the philosophical school of pragmatism, grew into Inquiry-based education. The 1994 School-to-Work Opportunities Act articulated an education reform strategy that included innovative approaches to classroom teaching, guided learning experiences outside of the classroom, usually at work, and increased career counseling and guidance. The impetus for this reform came from a growing anxiety during the 1980's that America's youth were not prepared for the rapidly changing world of work. Initially, this approach was seen as most appropriate for students not headed for college. But researchers are now praising its potential to serve as a model for all secondary school curricula.
Reformers are advocating a shift from a "teacher-centered" classroom, in which the teacher transmits information to the student, toward a "learner-centered" approach in which students are actively engaged in the discovery or "construction" of their own knowledge.

Students should not only learn basic skills, but incorporate those skills into tasks requiring complex thinking and in-depth knowledge which is then used to solve problems and create actual products. These products should have value in settings outside the classroom. Construction of knowledge is accomplished through task completion in which the learner has played an active and creative role. This type of engagement is particularly meaningful when the task is something which has personal meaning for the student. Disciplined inquiry occurs when students hypothesize by stating questions and determining resources necessary for task completion. Beyond formulating ideas, students explore and evaluate information, then synthesize to create examples, which illustrate their understanding of the problem.

Success of productive constructivism was limited because students often chose tasks that were inappropriate or far removed from traditional curriculum topics. This lead to the development of the idea of "guided discovery" or "goal-based scenarios".

A Goal-Based Scenario is a learning activity in which the teacher identifies a set of target skills for students to which students can be held accountable. The teacher identifies a mission which will require utilization of the identified target skills and will choose a focus of the general task of the mission. The focus might be for a student to design something, or to diagnose a situation. The student might be given a mission to discover something or to control something. A cover story helps set the stage for the GBS as it envelopes the chosen mission.

Even if students are allowed to plan their own scenario, the teacher provides some guidance to insure the scenario has value and identify time restraints.

Finally, the teacher builds a learning environment which will support the target skills. This model transforms the teacher from the role of the selector, presenter, and evaluator to the role of brainstormer, manager, and leader.

What began as productive constructivism became guided discovery, and is now called authentic pedagogy - often involving long-term projects, usually done in groups, about difficult issues that require some complex written or oral final presentation.

(http://crescentok.com/staff/jaskew/isr/education/authentic.htm)

Making Video Games

I know this is a little late since we discussed using video games in the classroom weeks and weeks ago, but I wanted to point everyone in the direction of a very creative (and nerdy-in-a-super-rad-way) website. Stormthecastle.com also has a list of software options (many of them free) that you can use to make video games. It's pretty cool! I hope that some of you guys check it out for yourselves and/or for your courses.

Interesting blog post discussion on the problems of extrinsic motivation and learning

Here are a couple of blog posts that explore the problems with reward systems in teaching and learning. The first is "The Dangers of 'Gamification' in Education" and the follow-up post has Kathy Sierra engaging in the conversation "Kathy Sierra on Gamification in Education." The author of the blog, Larry Ferlazzo, is a K-12 teacher, but the topic is spot on relevant to teaching undergrads as well. The two posts and comments present an interesting and counter-intuitive problem when we think about motivating students in our courses. Enjoy.

Lecture in Torg on Virtual Selves, Wednesday, 29 February, 1:10–2:00 pm

Each spring, the Gaming and Media Effects Research Laboratory hosts a lunchtime colloquium series showcasing research related to video games, virtual environments, and simulations. The first presentation each year is a “virtual” guest presentation from a prominent researcher given by teleconference, and I am attaching information about that guest presentation in case any of you or your students may be interested.

The first event features a presentation from Dr. Jesse Fox, who will be participating via teleconference from The Ohio State University for a presentation in 1030 Torgersen Hall from 1:10-2 p.m. on Wednesday, 29 February.  Dr. Fox describes her upcoming presentation thusly:

In this talk, Dr. Fox will discuss the use of photorealistic virtual selves as persuaders in virtual environments. Specifically, she will discuss her research involving the use of these virtual selves to promote healthy behaviors, including exercise, diet, and sunscreen use. She will also briefly discuss the applications of these virtual selves in other contexts, including advertising, politics, and sex role stereotyping.

Other events in the series are scheduled for 11 and 25 April, and more information about them will be announced later this month.

You can see http://gamerlab.org for more information about the series.

Case Studies for Faculty Development

In Chapter 4, Weimer makes a reference to a publication by Silverman and Pace (1992) that provides case studies on controversial topics of interest to students.  Examining the references in the back of the book points out a typo from Chapter 4, in that the reference is actually Silverman and Welty, and is titled Case Studies for Faculty Development.  I tracked down a document, but I'm wondering if it's only a portion of the whole publication, as there's only one case study provided.

A search for academic case studies on the web results in a great deal of content, such as this list provided by USA Today.

Are there specific case studies that others can recommend that would be appropriate to instigate classroom discussion, regardless of the subject area of the class?

Some optional reading on defining good teaching....

Hello, GEDIs -- A couple of short readings to peruse, if you have the time and interest. The first is the recent CHE article on Mike Wesch, "A Tech-happy Professor Reboots" and the second is a blog post, "Let's Get Rid of Lost-and-Found Educational Thinking: A Response to CHE," by Cathy Davidson on the aforementioned article.

Both of these short pieces are pertinent to our conversation this evening, so feel free to do a quick-read, if time permits.

Shelli