Week 2

 Part 1:

The nature of Authentic Intellectual Work is to get students invested and thinking beyond the classroom. Unlike traditional approaches to education, such as memorization and summarization, AIW enables students to apply real-world scenarios within the classroom and piques their interest more effectively than a textbook. Instead of memorizing information to ace a test, the assessment requires students to apply the knowledge they have learned. 

Three parts make up AIW: Construction of Knowledge, Disciplined Inquiry, and Value Beyond School. Construction of Knowledge is where students go beyond rote memorization, but rather take the information they are given and analyze and apply it to deepen their understanding of the concept. This requires teachers to provide strong instruction that involves high-order thinking. Disciplined Inquiry happens when students have a deep understanding of a concept and are able to have a meaningful conversation about said concept with the teacher and/or their peers. Finally, the Value Beyond School component is when students see the real value in what they are learning and can apply that knowledge to real-world situations. Newmann, F. M., King, M. B., & Carmichael, D. L. (2007) mention in Chapter 2 a study that took place in Chicago that looked at 12 underperforming elementary schools. 74 teachers submitted 4 student assignments, and other teachers outside of the study evaluated the work based on how it incorporated AIW. Findings showed that students who had a teacher who incorporated AIW scored 30-56% higher than students who had a teacher who did not. 

In the state of Illinois, 4th-grade students are required by ISTE state standards to learn about the American Revolution. After a 7-week ELA unit that integrates Social Studies, students have a very strong understanding of the causes and effects of the war. Every 2 weeks during the unit, students take part in a Socratic Seminar. Students are given a guided question and talking chips to get the conversation started. Students are encouraged to use vocabulary words and other skills they have learned in the prior 2 weeks within their conversation. Seeing how 4th-grade students were able to have such an intellectual conversation about what they had learned was astounding. This activity is something I will continue to include in my classroom because of AIW's involvement. 

Part 2:

Image from Adobe Stock Photos

Although NEPT is not explicitly connected to AIW, there are many similarities between the two. AIW is trying to get teachers away from teaching rote memorization, and Office of Educational Technology. (2024) doesn’t believe “passive” learning through technology is what helps students strive. Both believe students should be active in their learning and should play a big role in constructing their knowledge through inquiry. If students are only taught to memorize information and passively use technology, all the information will go in one ear and out of the other, and there is absolutely no strength in understanding. This is why students should have a certain amount of responsibility in their learning. I am a huge advocate for Project-Based Learning because when students are able to understand why what they are being taught is important, they will take the initiative in their learning to be able to apply it to any project-based learning activity. In my 4th-grade class, students were learning about fractions (unit, improper, and mixed) and how to add and subtract them. When the question, “Why do we need to know fractions?” was asked by one of my students, we had a meaningful conversation about how often they are used in everyday life. Once students had a strong understanding of fractions, I introduced a fraction center project-based learning activity that aligned with UDL about running a pizza shop. During the project, students collaborated, had a choice in their design, utilized technology, and created their pizza shop, and everything was able to be linked back to a skill that can be used in a real-world scenario. Students were all provided with the same resources and were then able to create the vision through this project while meeting my “teacher requirements”. When students were done with this project, they were able to see the importance of learning fractions in 4th grade and how they were going to continue to use them in the future. 

Part 3: 

The connection I recognized between the AIW framework and Kolb’s Triple Es is the recommendation that students have a strong foundation of understanding of a concept before integrating the “extend” or “value beyond school” component. This happens when students can enhance their learning with inquiries of their own. Circling back to the 4th-grade American Revolution unit, students had to have a strong foundation of knowledge about the American Revolution to appropriately participate in the Socratic Seminar. The seminar allowed students to learn from each other and to hear from their classmates, to either validate or invalidate their common ideas and beliefs.

References:

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. Introduction, Chapters. 1 & 2 (30 pages). Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T9JNAZgLfKvXAX7JoaOJElkkZS5Xf-lp/view?usp=drivesdk

Office of Educational Technology. (2024). A Call to Action to Close the Technology Access, Design, and Use Divides: National Educational Technology Plan. Department of Education. Retrieved from: https://tech.ed.gov/netp