Week 2: Authentic Intellectual Work

 

      Authentic Intellectual Work.  What is it and how does it differ from traditional educational approaches to teaching and testing? 

     Authentic Intellectual Work is a robust form of disciplined inquiry.  During this inquiry students are tasked with “real-world” behavior that includes searching for answers and using evidence to substantiate their understanding of the learning concept.  This inquiry also allows students to plumb the depths of educational concepts instead of existing in a narrow, thin window of understanding.  Authentic Intellectual Work also allows for development of student voice and extensive communication that aids students in synthesizing what they have learned. AIW leads to the real-world learning that is crucial for human development and human flourishing which holds value outside the four-walls of the school building. According to Newmann, King, and Carmichael (2007), AIW also bridges racial, ethnic, sex, and socioeconomics to reach every student with significant learning gains.

     When classroom instruction demands disciplined inquiry, student performance rises in class and on standardized testing.  Reviewing a study entitled The Chicago 12-School Study, it is clearly seen that students with rigorous, real-world AIW instruction and practice gained 20% more than the Chicago-wide average, and 40% more than students without rigorous, real-world AIW instruction and practice (Newmann et al., 2007).

     One example of Authentic Intellectual Work in the content area of reading is to allow students to act as a selection committee for the school library.  This AIW would include students engaged in reading authentic reviews, excerpts, studies, books, and more.  Students would be tasked with creating collaborative rubrics to lead the committee in thoughtfully choosing appropriate texts for their school library.  It would satisfy disciplined inquiry by activating prior knowledge base of the student in reference to genre and their own connections to texts.  It would provide for students to engage in deep understanding of what a text in the school library should encompass.  Finally, it allows for elaborated communication among peers by creating claims, evidence, and reasoning.  It also adds real-world value by the actual purchases that would be made for the school library.      

            In terms of EdTech and in-class technology, the digital use divide can be seen as a hinderance to AIW.  According to U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology (2024), learners that come from systemically marginalized communities are often relegated to interacting passively with technology.  When students passively engage with EdTech tools, there can be no Authentic Intellectual Work.  In order for educators to create AIW within districts that experience a large digital use divide, they must be given tools and support to bridge these gaps.  Pendergrast Elementary School in Glendale, Arizona began implementing goals for a district-wide, learner-centered, project-based learning that bridged the digital use divide, and the ramifications were far-reaching and significant.  The following outcomes were observed in Pendergrast Elementary’s developed FUSE program:

Now in its 12th year, FUSE Studios has grown through word-of-mouth from a small demonstration project to a program implemented in more than 250 schools in the United States and abroad, and serving more than 50,000 young people during the 2022–23 school year. The majority of students using FUSE are from historically marginalized student populations. (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology, 2024)

Not only did Pendergrast Elementary’s vigorous attention to project-based learning affect the AIW of students, it also supports engagement and enhancement as developed in Kolb’s Triple E Framework.  The FUSE project used by Pendergrast Elementary engaged students by using leveled challenges in thirty different modes which led to enhancement by including areas for student learning in 3D design, digital animation, robotics, and other electronics projects (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology, 2024)

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. Iowa Department of Education

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology. (2024).     
            National Educational Technology Plan. https://tech.ed.gov