Design Element Checklist
According to Harrington, Reeves, Oliver and Woo (2002), learning researchers have distilled the essence of the authentic learning experience down to 10 design elements.
Elements of Authentic Learning
1. Have real-world relevance.
- Provide authentic contexts that reflect the way the knowledge will be used in real life.
Checklist:
- Does the context of the course represent the kind of setting where the skill or knowledge is applied?
- Is the pathway students take through the learning environment flexible, where students are able to move around at will?
2. Provide authentic activities and tasks.
- Activities and tasks are ill-defined, requiring students to define the tasks and sub-tasks needed to complete the activity.
- Comprise complex tasks to be investigated by students over a sustained period of time.
Checklist:
- Does the activity and tasks mirror the kind of task performed in real-world applications?
- Is the activity presented as an over-arching complex problem (or series of small sub-steps) that is worked on over a longer period of time?
- Do students work on the activities and tasks for weeks rather than minutes or hours?
- Are students able to choose information from a variety of inputs, including relevant and irrelevant sources?
3. Provide access to expert performances and the modelling of processes.
Checklist:
- Does the learning environment provide access to expert skill and opinion from a variety of sources? (Note: The instructor won’t necessarily provide all those.)
- Does the learning environment allow access to other learners at various stages of expertise? (E.g. Putting students in groups or letting them work with a mentor.)
- Are the students able to hear and share stories about professional practice?
4. Provide multiple roles and perspectives.
- Provide the opportunity for students to examine the tasks from different perspectives, using a variety of resources.
Checklist:
- Are students able to explore issues from different points of view?
- Are students able to use a wide variety of learning resources and materials (not just a single textbook)?
5. Provide the opportunity to collaborate.
- Support collaborative construction of knowledge
Checklist:
- Are students able to collaborate (rather than simply co-operate on tasks)?
- Are grades given for group effort of a whole product, rather than individual effort?
6. Provide the opportunity to reflect.
- Promote reflection to enable abstractions to be formed
Checklist:
- Are students required to make decisions about how to complete the task? (reflection-in-action)
- Are students able to move freely in the environment and return to any element to act upon reflection? Non-linear.
- Can students compare their thoughts and ideas to experts, teachers, guides, and to other students?
- Do students work in collaborative groups that enable discussion and social reflection?
7. Promote articulation to encourage students to verbalize their knowledge and thinking.
- Articulation enables tacit knowledge to be made explicit.
- Provide opportunities for students to articulate the knowledge they gained.
Checklist:
- Does the task require students to discuss and articulate beliefs and growing understanding?
- Does the environment provide collaborative groups and forums to enable articulation of ideas?
- Does the task require the creation of a polished product that requires presentation of thought and argument?
- Does the task enable presentation and defense of arguments?
8. Tasks are seamlessly integrated with assessment.
- Provide for authentic assessment of learning within the tasks.
Checklist:
- Are students assessed on the product of the investigation rather than by separate testing?
- Are there multiple assessment measures rather than a single measure?
9. Create polished products.
- Create polished products valuable in their own right rather than as preparation for something else.
- Allow competing solutions and diverse outcomes.
Checklist:
- Are products of performances polished and refined rather than incomplete or rushed drafts?
- Do students participate in the activity for extended periods of time?
10. Provide coaching and scaffolding at critical times.
- Instructor does not attempt to ‘transmit’ knowledge.
- Instructor’s role is supporting rather than didactic.
Checklist:
- Is the teacher’s role more supportive than didactic?
- Are more knowledgeable students able to assist with coaching (by how the learning environment/context is setup)?
- Is a teacher, guide, or helper available to provide contextualized support?
(Adapted from Reeves, T. C., Herrington, J., & Oliver, R. (2002). Authentic activity as a model for web-based learning. 2002 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA, USA.)