Snow Hill Middle School fifth graders plant an organic garden.
Critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and technology integration with real-world relevancy
Authentic learning occurs when students are mastering what they
should know and be able to do (the Maryland College and Career Ready
Standards) while accomplishing a task or project that has real-world
relevancy. "The basic idea is that students are more likely to be
interested in what they are learning, more motivated to learn new
concepts and skills, and better prepared to succeed in college, careers,
and adulthood if what they are learning mirrors real-life contexts,
equips them with practical and useful skills, and addresses topics that
are relevant and applicable to their lives outside of school," states
the Glossary of Education Reform on the website www.edglossary.org.
Authentic learning can also be described as "learning while doing."
Moreover, like the world of work or college, technology usually serves
to help accomplish the task. Here are two examples of authentic
learning:
Worcester Technical High School
The Biomedical Science curriculum requires students to design a
hypothetical hospital emergency waiting room. To enhance the authentic
learning experience, Worcester Tech's Biomedical Science program
partnered with the local hospital: Atlantic General Hospital, which was
actually considering a remodel of its Emergency Department Waiting Room.
The students interviewed AGH's Planning/Operations personnel to
identify hospital goals for the redesign. The students took hospital
goals and designed an innovative floor plan to meet those goals. In
order to create a virtual model of their waiting room design, Biomedical
Science students collaborated with Worcester Tech's Pre-Engineering
students who used Autodesk Revit software (used by architects and
structural enginneers) to create the redesigned floor plans, renderings,
and a 3D model.
The project was presented to AGH leadership. In addition, the project was entered in Samsung's Solve for Tomorrow competition involving 2,500 schools across the country. This project earned the top-15 tier and over $30,000 in technology.
Principal: Caroline Bloxom
Teachers: Biomedical Science Teacher Tracy Hunter and Pre-Engineering Teacher Valerie Ziglejeva
Snow Hill Middle School
The fifth grade Life Science curriculum includes a unit on plants and
sustainable agriculture. To add an authentic learning experience, the
teacher had students build an organic garden on the school campus. The
students wrote persuasive letters outlining their garden proposal to the
principal. Once approved, students used reading, math, science, and
social studies concepts and skills to actualize the garden. They planted
corn, pumpkins, cantaloupe, carrots, and green beans - to name a few.
The students also developed a plan to donate the harvest to a local
charity. This real-life experience exposed students to the significant
benefits of growing healthy produce in the agriculturally-rich
environment of Worcester County, while encouraging students to engage in
environmentally sustainable practices throughout their lives
The project won the Worcester Green Award in the teacher category.
Principal: Chris Welch
Teacher: Emily Taylor, Grade 5