- "a form of assessment in which students are asked to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills.” Mueller (n.d, ¶ 1)
- need to reflect the “kinds of problems faced by adult citizens and consumers or professionals in the field." Wiggins (1993, p. 229)
- “learning methods that are embedded in authentic situations are not merely useful; they are essential.” Brown, Collins & Duguid (1989, as cited in Authentic Task Design, n.d., ¶ 1)
Learning (Disorienting) Dilemmas
- ‘disorienting dilemmas’ are learning situations that do not fit the learner’s preconceived notions (Mezirow, 1991)
- learning dilemmas trigger critical reflection and in the event of a new experience, our existing knowledge structures “act as a sieve through which each new experience is interpreted and given meaning.” (Taylor, 1998, p. 7)
It is important to note that this blog uses the terms learning dilemmas and disorienting dilemmas interchangeably. Further, when referring to transformative learning, I am implying a learning dilemma context
How do these definitions 'fit' in your teaching philosophy to engaging students in an online ? learning setting? Do you have any examples to support these definitions?
References
Authentic Task Design. (n.d). Retrieved May 28, 2008, from http://www.authentictasks.uow.edu.au/framework.html
Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions in adult learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Mueller, J. (2005). What is Authentic Assessment? Authentic Assessment Toolbox. Retrieved April 25, 2008, from http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/whatisit.htm
Taylor, E. W. (1998). The theory and practice of transformative learning: A critical review. Information Series No. 374. Columbus, USA: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, Center on Education and Training for Employment, College of Education, Ohio State University.
Wiggins, G. P. (1998). Educative assessment: Designing assessments to inform and improve student performance. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
2 comments:
Hey Maxine, found the comments section....really small print - had to put my glasses on...
How do these definitions 'fit' in your teaching philosophy to engaging students in an online ? learning setting? Do you have any examples to support these definitions?
I find authentic assessment the most practical and engaging but yet the most difficult. Ron Oliver I think wrote a paper about how the contemporary learning environment turns tradtional approach upside down.
In traditional environment you teach the content and then assess. In new environment you start with assessment and participants discover the answers along the way. So the design of the assessment actually becomes the learning journey. A little like what we have experienced here with Shirley. It was because of us trying to achieve the assessment outcome that we learnt and discovered along the way. Makes for a lot more engaging experience than just reading and regurgitating content.
Hey Maxine,
And sorry for the lateness of my arrival :(
For an ESL classroom (or online) I'm pretty sure that disorienting my students would not be so useful, as some of them may already be disoriented with this influx of a language they don't fully understand! :) Language learning uses quite different learning and teaching techniques and dilemmas may be useful in the sense of a case or problem to negotiate out of in English, but that's pretty advanced English!
However, authentic assessment is in. Now on saying that, this is also a major challenge - how do you get real and authentic situations in which to produce the correct English whilst working within a) a classroom, and b) China. This is especially difficult if the language to describe or introduce a situation is above the level of the student who only needs to produce a basic level of English.
However, as I research and find out more about authentic assessment and instruction design - I find myself asking the critical questions before designing a course/lessons around that - "what is it that I want my students to learn before the end of this semester/course?" and "how will I know if they have learnt it?"
For now, holding discussions, presentations, role-plays and debates, etc. may be the closest I can get to authentic assessment given my conditions :)
Cheers,
- Bee
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