Summary
In this session, participants explore the Authenticity Framework and foundations for how people learn. The Authenticity Framework is a conceptual framework that promotes a meaningful, student-centered learning environment and encourages higher-order thinking. Participants will also explore excerpts from "How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School" from the National Research Council.
Essential Questions
How can authenticity be used to support how students learn?
Learning Goals
Engage in the experiences of how people learn.
Identify key principles and practices of how people learn, including memory and learning, transfer of learning, cues and integration, and culture and context.
Reflect on research related to how people learn and how it supports the Authenticity Framework.
Snapshot
Engage
Participants use Vision Boards to develop an ideal classroom.
Explore
Participants take part in four activities at different Chat Stations that challenge them to consider how people learn.
Explain
Participants discuss research on how people learn in small groups using a Beach Ball Talk and Toss activity.
Extend
Participants read research on authenticity and discuss how authenticity relates to how people learn.
Evaluate
Participants watch the video How We Learn and reflect on the knowledge gained from the course using the Triangle-Square-Circle strategy.
Materials List
Presentation Slides (attached)
Chat Stations Handout (attached, one per participant, print two-sided)
Chat Stations Instructions (attached, one set, print)
Instructional Strategy Note Catcher (attached, one per participant)
Beach ball (one per group)
Authenticity: Theory practitioner’s brief (attached, one per participant, print two-sided)
Laptop or tablet
Triangle-Square-Circle handout (attached, one per participant)
Three different colored highlighters (one set per participant)
Paper (optional)
Markers (optional)
How People Learn Cartridge (attached, optional, Learning Management System file)
Engage
20 Minute(s)
Use the attached Presentation Slides to guide this session. Begin by displaying the title slide and then continue to slide 3 to introduce the Vision Board activity. Invite participants to create a vision board on the following prompt:
What does your ideal classroom look like, sound like, and feel like?
Explain that each participant will create a vision board illustrating their ideal classroom using the Looks Like, Sounds Like, Feels Like instructional strategy. Invite participants to use their own technology to create their boards or pass out paper and markers for them to use.
Start the 15-minute timer on the slide and allow participants time to complete the activity.
After time is up, display slide 4 and invite participants to join in a Gallery Walk to see each others’ vision boards. Ask participants to identify similarities and differences between their board and others’ boards. Invite participants to consider which components they would like to add to their own classroom after viewing the work of their peers.
Explore
45 Minute(s)
Display slide 5 and introduce the essential question. Allow participants time to consider the question. Change to slide 6 and introduce the learning objectives for the session.
Pass out a copy of the Chat Stations Handout to each participant. Organize the participants into four groups, each with between four and seven participants, and assign each group to a Chat Station. Each group will have a different page of instructions.
Display slide 7 and instruct participants to read the provided instructions at their current station and respond to the questions for that station on their handouts. Explain that participants will have ten minutes at each station, and they will rotate stations when time is up.
Start the 10-minute timer on the slide. When the timer goes off, have participants rotate stations then restart the timer. Repeat the process until each group has visited each station. The activities for each station are listed below:
Once participants have visited each station, they will return to their original seats. Ask participants to take a moment to reflect on their experience. Invite them to share out any observations or insights they gained from each station.
Explain
30 Minute(s)
Display slide 8 and introduce the research behind the Authenticity Framework.
Display slide 9 and highlight the key points about memory and learning. Explain that both learning and understanding involve connecting new and existing knowledge. Display slide 10 and tell participants that deep memorization involves the reconstruction, and not just retrieval, of information. Explain that deep memorization allows learners to generalize, categorize, and solve problems.
Display slide 11 and highlight key points about the transfer of learning. Explain that transfer relies on understanding rather than memorization. Explain that understanding involves the learner building a versatile network of knowledge. Display slide 12 and further explain that effective learning experiences allow learners to build these knowledge structures and to elaborate on and apply pieces of knowledge.
Display slide 13 and highlight key points about cues and integration. Explain that learners integrate knowledge based on their environment and that environmental cues affect the recall and processing of new information. Display slide 14 and tell participants that classroom culture and interactions are key in the knowledge integration process.
Display slide 15 and highlight key points about culture and context. Explain to participants that learning is shaped by cultural meaning and social interactions. Display slide 16 and explain that learners gain unique knowledge from their diverse experiences. Furthermore, collaboration between learners in the classroom allows each individual to share their cultural and social experiences which promotes knowledge integration.
Transition to slide 17 and introduce participants to the Beach Ball Talk and Toss strategy. Explain that participants should answer the question on the slide that corresponds to the color their right thumb lands on when they catch the ball. Read aloud the following questions from the slide:
Which part(s) of your ideal classroom promote the principles of how people learn?
What would you add to your ideal classroom to support a student-centered learning environment?
At which station(s) did you recognize memory and learning? How?
At which station(s) did you recognize the transfer of learning? How?
At which station(s) did you recognize cues and integration? How?
At which station(s) did you recognize culture and context? How?
Once the directions have been explained, organize participants into small, equal groups and give each group a beach ball. Invite each group to form a circle and gently toss the ball to each other. Participants will take turns answering questions as they catch the ball. Each group should continue to play until each participant has had a chance to respond.
After every participant has had the opportunity to answer a question, review the Beach Ball Talk and Toss strategy. Tell participants that this strategy is a fun, active way to keep students involved in the classroom and encourages students to engage in meaningful conversations.
Extend
30 Minute(s)
Transition to slide 18. Organize participants into groups of four. Depending on the size of your previous Beach Ball Talk and Toss groups, you may choose to have your participants remain in those same clusters.
Pass out one copy of the Authenticity Theory practitioner’s brief to each participant. Give each person a set of three different colored highlighters. Use the Jigsaw instructional strategy and ask each group to split the article up so that each group member reads a small portion.
Explain that as participants read, they will use the Categorical Highlighting strategy to assign each color of highlighter to one of the following prompts:
Conceptual Definition—Defines or describes the practice being discussed.
Application—Describes how the practice is implemented in the classroom.
HPL Connections—Describes principles of how people learn.
Allow participants time to read their sections of the article. Once all participants have read their sections, invite them to share out in their groups what they highlighted. Ask participants to discuss how the Authentic Learning Framework aligns with the principles of how people learn.
Evaluate
20 Minute(s)
Display slide 19 and watch Forney ISD’s How We Learn video that summarizes how people process information.
Pass out one copy of the Triangle-Square-Circle handout to each person. Display slide 20 and introduce the Triangle-Square-Circle activity. Ask participants to reflect on the knowledge gained from the session and answer the following prompts on their handout:
What are three important points from today’s session?
What “squares” with your thinking? What ideas align with your own understanding and viewpoints?
What questions or ideas are still “circling” your mind?
Once participants have completed all three prompts, invite them to share out some of their responses.
Transition to slide 21 and invite participants to reflect on the different instructional strategies they saw used throughout the session and consider the impact these strategies had on their understanding or approach.
As they reflect, pass out one copy of the Instructional Strategy Note Catcher handout to each participant. Invite participants to fill in the first column with their thoughts on the impact each strategy had on their understanding. Ask participants to fill in the second column with their ideas about how to integrate each strategy into their teaching practices.
If time permits, invite participants to share out their ideas about how they could use the instructional strategies in their classrooms.
Follow-Up Activities
Consider following up with the components of authenticity professional learning activities located in the Impactful Engagement: Professional Resources for Authentic Teaching collection.
Research Rationale
Learning occurs when people connect new information gained from experience with concepts previously stored in long-term memory. According to Bransford, Brown, and Cocking (2005), students learn new ideas by relating them to what they already know from previous experiences, and metacognitive approaches help students take control of their own learning. Authentic practices can be used as tools to help accomplish the principles of how people learn. Authentic learning experiences increase positive emotions around learning, garner higher perceptions of relevance and long-term understanding, and activate student engagement in learning and intrinsic motivation to learn (Nachtigall et al., 2022; Parsons et al., 2021; Jeter et al., 2019; Kuhlthau et al., 2015). When students have a positive attitude toward the school, they often have positive reactions toward classroom activities and learning in general (Birch & Ladd, 1997), and when students put more effort into their learning, it improves their long-term retention of the content (Schmid & Bogner, 2015).
Resources
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Birch, S. H., & Ladd, G. W. (1997). The teacher-child relationship and children's early school adjustment. Journal of School Psychology, 35(1), 61-79.
Bransford, J., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience and school (expanded edition). National Academies Press.
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (2005). How people learn: brain, mind, experience, and school (Expanded ed.). National Academies Press.
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K20 Center. (n.d.). Gallery walk / carousel. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/118
K20 Center. (n.d.). Google slides. Tech tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/2335
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K20 Center. (2021, September 21). K20 Center 15 minute timer [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3zT2IxZQaw&t=2s
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Mrs. Clark’s Reading Corner. (2020, April 20). Fish is fish w/ words, music & EFX read along [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvp5FoINnnM
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National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). (2018). How people learn II: Learners, contexts, and cultures. The National Academies Press.
National Research Council (NRC). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school (Expanded edition). The National Academies Press.
National Research Council (NRC). (2009). Learning science in informal environments: People, places, and pursuits. The National Academies Press.
Parsons, S. A., et al. (2021). Engagement in learning: Tools and strategies for authentic learning experiences. Educational Leadership, 78(7), 34–39.
Schlichting, M. L., & Preston, A. R. (2015). Memory integration: Neural mechanisms and implications for behavior. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 1, 1-8.
Schmid, S., & Bogner, F. X. (2015). Effects of students’ effort scores in inquiry learning on their cognitive achievement. Journal of Biological Education, 49(3), 182–194.