WEEK 2
I.
Authentic Intellectual Work involves the original application of knowledge and is NOT the routine use of facts and procedures. The main difference is that most traditional methods involve rote memorization and recall of facts. AIW revolves around building knowledge through critical thinking. It is comprised of three main components according to creators (Newmann, F.M., King, M.B., and Carmichael, D.L. 2007). Those three components are construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and value beyond school.
Construction of knowledge is using things that the students have learned before to solve new problems. In essence it is increasing knowledge by building off of past experiences.
Disciplined inquiry itself contains three main components. prior knowledge (knowledge that is normally gained through a variety of experiences and basic knowledge), in depth understanding (what the student develops as they look for key facts and concepts to understand a new problem), and elaborated communication (this is how they communicate their findings).
Value beyond school. This for me is the most important. This is what helps students to take what they learned and apply it to real life outside of school. It should have have personal value and mean something to the students. This is what helps to keep them motivated and engaged in their learning.
According to a study done among high school dropouts (Bridgeland, DiIulio, & Morison 2007), 50% say that they drop out because school was not interesting for them. And 70% say that they are not motivated to work hard. Another study was done and the research shows that students who were exposed to AIW were more engaged in their learning than those in a more traditional setting (For evidence of the connection between authentic intellectual work and student engagement, see Newmann and Associates (1996); Kane, Khattri, Reeve, Adamson, & Pelavin, Research Institute (1995); Marks (2000); Avery (1999). So by giving the students value beyond school, making the learning personal to them, they will be more motivated to take part in their education and hopefully lower that drop out rate.
For my AIW assignment, I would use a picture is worth a 1000 words. I would show the students a specific picture and then have them to describe the image. It could be done as a poem, short story, descriptive paragraph, digital art, ect.It would be using their base knowledge of what the image is, using critical thinking skills to find a creative way to describe the image, and then the value beyond school would be in their attempt to communicate their ideas to others in a meaningful way.
II.
There are many opportunities to integrate technology practices into the components of authenticity. I will go over one for each component.
Construction of knowledge- This is basic knowledge of technology. So general typing and computer knowledge is a must.
The second component is disciplined inquiry. This would be a great way to help the students dig deeper into specific subjects. A student with an interest in music but the school does not have the budget/ instructor for a class could take an online class through Zoom with a music instructor elsewhere.
Value beyond school. By giving the students tools and knowledge to help them learn to advocate for themselves and gain confidence in their own technological abilities, they will be more motivated to keep pushing and learning more.
My example of this technology plan paired with AIW involves a small rural school. There is a student within this school who is a voracious reader. They have already consumed all of the age/ability level literature that the school has on had. However through the use of technology and the connectivity of the internet, the student can connect with multiple online libraries and have a wide range of books now available to read.
III.
Kolb's Triple E Framework (Kolb, L. 2020) pairs well with AIW. There are many connections. one of the main ones that jumped out to me was that when a student is actively engaged in learning, it makes that work more personal to them. When the work is more personal to them then they are motivated to work harder and use whatever means (technology, research, etc) to achieve their goals. And by extending the ability of the student to work on their assignments outside of school, you are giving them the ability to take what they learn out side the classroom and into their real lives.
In the example I gave above in section I, I created an assignment entitled A Picture is Worth 1000 Words. To begin the assignment, the students would view an image. This image could be something as simple as an apple or as complex as a picture of a couple sitting on a bench looking out at sea. After viewing the image, the students would then need to describe how the perceive the image. This may be done in a multitude of ways. They could use digital art to create word art of the image, create a short pod cast where they tell a descriptive story they created based on the image. Another option would be writing a poem and putting it to music to present to the class. The options are limitless and allow the students to be as creative as they would like using technology that helps them to express themselves. By having one unifying factor, the image, the students will be able to share their view points of the image with others thus having value outside of the classroom. The technology would engage the students because they would be more excited to have the freedom to use and create on their own terms. It would enhance the assignment by increasing the number of ways that the students could be individuals.
IV
References
1. Kolb, L. (2020). Learning, first, technology second in practice.
2. Newmann, F.M., King, M.B., and Carmichael, D.L. (2007)
3. Office of Technology (2017)
4. Bridgeland, DiIulio, & Morison 2007
5. For evidence of the connection between authentic intellectual work and student engagement, see Newmann and Associates (1996); Kane, Khattri, Reeve, Adamson, & Pelavin, Research Institute (1995)
Gina, the lesson that you created seems very interesting. I also think that engagement is important and I think when mixing that with value beyond the classroom, it allows students to see learning in a more valuable way. I like how in the book, reading the charts, when engaging in a technology lesson it is important to give the students a ten minute brain break. I think exercising or just communicating what they learned to the class is a huge way to keep students engaged. After reading the articles and the text, the drop out rate stood out to me and it is crazy to think that it is so high. To me, I see in the classroom a lack of motivation or interest when learning. This is why I think it is important to actively engage students in activities, projects, and applying them to their everyday lives.
ReplyDeleteI like how you talked about not using routine facts and the value beyond school. I also appreciate your information and statistics on school drop outs. It is something I think that needs to be talked about more to prevent it. The rates are way higher than we realize. I think AIW could help those that struggle and maybe feel like they won't make it through school. Not everyone learns the same way. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing way to extend "Art is Worth 1000 Words" assignment. By giving students a variety of ways to connect with the content, personalize it, and extend it using various technical formats, it builds a positive more engaging environment where students can come in excited to learn. It goes well with UDL- Universal Design for Learning, which encourages teachers to teach towards the various aspects in which students learn. Every student learns and expresses themselves differently. The opportunity to create an image or tell a story, provides that space of growth. Great job!
ReplyDeleteAnd nice insight about the drop out rates. I do think students find school boring at times. But I wonder, does every student need to be encouraged and forced to stay in a school system that does not meet their needs? What if a student already knows what they will do outside of school and can meet their life goals without having to learn Algebra 2? I feel like sometimes schools encourage students to stay in school out of "their best interest" without actually asking/speaking with the student or trying to work on a plan with them. Sometimes students know themselves best and in the end, whether it is a positive or negative experience, the choice is theirs's.