Authentic tasks and activities - element 2 of authentic learning

Jan Herrington (2011) points to the fact that the task or activities are the most important parts of creating authentic learning.  As educators, we can tend to over instruct an activity. By providing step by step instructions on how to complete an activity the learning process is not modelling real world learning environments. School teaching environments can become isolated from the real world. Tasks and activities start to focus on the repetitive practices of skills instead of the learning that could take place during the completion of authentic tasks. Looking at these issues are why Jan Herrington (2011) outlined 4 main features an authentic task needs to produce authentic learning. These features are as follows:

• The task or activity must have real world relevance, it must speak to real world problems that need solving.
• Production of knowledge must be the focus of the task, not the regurgitation of knowledge through repetitive tasks.
• Do not simplify the task by giving too many instructions. The task needs to be ill-defined to present a level of complexity. The task should invoke the need to make choices and afford the opportunity to pose questions.
• An authentic task should be completed over a longer period. The complexity should require time for reflection and improvement.

An example of a task I could give in my context is related to one of the topic in mathematics namely Shapes and Measurements. Within the topic students need to learn about calculating perimeter, area and surface area of several basic 2d and 3d shapes as well as combined 2d and 3d shapes. The task scenario is based on a cultural food festival our school presents as multi subject project. This would introduce complexity and stretch the task over a longer period. I favour this approach due to the short time frame to complete topics and disconnectedness of topics at school level for juniors. The part of the project they need to cover for mathematics is to draw up a report for a manufacturer of food containers. That the students design and give the dimension requirements to the manufacturer. Technology can be introduced in areas such as the design with MS Paint 3d, researching container material on the internet as well as shape and dimension calculations can be done with the aid of computer and internet access. The learners will need to make choices with regards to many aspects of the container and they can collaborate within their project teams to make decisions to these issues. They will also likely have to reflect on designs they have looked at and adjust as needed.

Reference: Herrington, J. (2011, September 30). Authentic learning 2: AUTHENTIC TASKS [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/7euTz6iQ2Bc