Week 2: Authentic Assessment and Technology

EDUC 5313 Week 2 Blog

Part 1: Authentic Intellectual Work/Authentic Instruction & Assessment. 

    Authentic Intellectual Work involves an original application of knowledge and skills, rather than just a routine use of facts and procedures that commonly occurs with traditional approaches to instruction and assessment. This work is rooted in a construction of knowledge through disciplined inquiry, which can be described as organizing, interpreting, evaluating, or synthesizing prior knowledge to solve new problems. Students must develop a deep understanding understanding of a prior knowledge base in the specified topic in order to consider alternative solutions to any particular problem and apply their knowledge to new contexts. The final component, which is unique with Authentic Intellectual work over a “traditional” approach, is how students can express themselves through elaborated communication. This simulates a real-world scenario, where students must justify their conclusions with reason and evidence through a variety of means, rather than an simply a writing prompt or multiple choice format which relies heavily on reciting vocabulary and regurgitating arbitrary facts. 

    The components of Authentic Intellectual Work involve the Construction of Knowledge, a Disciplined Inquiry, and an inherit Value Beyond School. Any teacher that is genuinely striving to get their students to learn something new will scaffold their curriculum around students constructing a new knowledge base. Similarly, the structure for creating Disciplined Inquiry within our lessons is certainly attainable with some guidance and can be implemented almost immediately. When considering the inherit value of student work beyond school, a reference to real-world scenarios is not enough to genuinely be more meaningful to students. The work must face actual intellectual challenges that are raised in the world beyond the classroom. “Intellectual challenges raised in the world beyond the classroom are often more meaningful to students than those contrived only for the purpose of teaching students in school.” (Newmann et al., 2007, p. 5). 

    “Research indicates that students exposed to authentic intellectual challenges are more engaged in their schoolwork than students exposed to more conventional schoolwork.” (Newmann et al., 2007, p. 12). When students have the opportunity to study topics that are significant to their lives outside of the classroom, they are more likely to devote serious effort to their learning. Especially when “the task asks students to address a concept, problem, or issue that is similar to one that they have encountered or are likely to encounter in life beyond the classroom” (Newman et al., 1996, p. 12), students will take their work more seriously, and in turn, we will see higher rates of student achievement in any applicable field. 

    Creating learning activities and assessments that have an inherit value beyond school (or outside the classroom) is something that I strive for constantly as a Performing Arts instructor, and a tenet which I center all my individual class curriculums, and the entire Theatre program. In a serious high school theatre program, students are thrown into situations, both on stage and in technical roles, where they must consider the longevity of their craft beyond the walls of their high school auditorium. 

    As a young actor, learning how to preserve one’s body and voice, show after show, is a challenge that professional actors face on a daily basis. Training students in self-preservation methods and best practices when it comes to vocal and physical health is tantamount to teaching the notes to a song, or the choreography for a big dance number. Similarly on the Technical Theatre side, teachers of Stagecraft must require their students to use industry-level technology tools to refine their designs and produce deliverables in the same way that the professional level expects. Using CAD software and state-of-the-art lighting controls IS the real-world training that students can expect when engaging with authentic intellectual work. 

Part 2: 2017 National Education Technology Plan Update 

    One of the Arts-centered examples proposed in the 2017 NETP update that promotes engaging and empowering all learners through technology is the idea that “students engaged in creative writing, music, or media production can publish their work to a broad global audience, regardless of where they go to school” (Office of Educational Technology, 2017, p. 9). This example in the plan; “Technology can enable personalized leaning or experiences that are more engaging and relevant”, is supported by the authentic intellectual work tenet of inherent value beyond the classroom mentioned above. In my Audio & Music Production class, students create an original musical work that is refined based on professional music production standards, as well the CA Arts standard: “Share live or recorded performances of works and explain how the elements of music are used to convey intent” (Prof.MU:C.Pr6.a). Their refined work is then shared with a global audience via streaming services like SoundCloud and YouTube, where they have access to a global community for feedback, inspiration, and networking opportunities. Due to the personal nature of the project, creating original work and sharing it online, students are extremely motivated to put in the necessary time and effort to create a quality product that will hold up against all the other available media we have at our fingertips. 

    This project also supports the ITSE standard 1.2.C Intellectual Property, as students must have the background knowledge in fair-use practices and copyright law to ensure that the content of their artistic work is lawful, and they as individual artists are practicing the rights and obligations of using and sharing intellectual property. This informal self-assessment is immediately connecting their learning to the professional world outside the classroom, as professional musicians must engage in this same work constantly. 

Part 3: Triple E Framework

    The example I developed above concerning students publishing original musical works on various online streaming services is supported by the Extension component of Kolb’s Triple E framework. Students have the opportunity in this project to connect with authentic experts in music production, and get actionable feedback on their work. This is facilitated through a network of production professionals, and supports students to become “active and social learners” (Gaer & Reyes, 2022, p. 35). This project highlights students successfully “connecting what they are learning with real world tasks and contexts” (Gaer & Reyes, 2022, p. 36) by using authentic tools that are prominent in the everyday life of a music professional. Digital Audio workstations like ProTools and Abelton Live are industry-standard DAWs that students use in this project just as they would in the real world. Furthermore, when first introducing these new software programs, I employ scaffolding strategies such as a software tour, and modeling navigation of the tool, which is supported by the Engagement component of the Triple E framework. 

References

California Department of Education. (2019). California arts standards for public schools, prekindergarten through grade twelve. Retrieved from https://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/index.asp 

Gaer, S. & Reyes, K. (2022). Finally, Some Guidance! Using the Triple E Framework to Shape Technology Integration, Adult Literacy Education International Society for Technology in Education. (2016). 

ISTE standards for students. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students 

Kolb, L. (2017). Learning first, technology second: The educator's guide to designing authentic lessons. International Society for Technology in Education. 

Newmann, F. M., King, M. B., & Carmichael, D. L. (2007). Authentic instruction and assessment: Common standards for rigor and relevance in teaching academic subjects. State of Iowa Department of Education. 

Office of Educational Technology. (2017). Reimagining the role of technology in education: 2017 National Education Technology Plan update