Authentic Intellectual Work and the Triple E Framework

 EDUC 5313 Week 2 Blog Assignment 

Part 1: Authentic Intellectual Work/Authentic Instruction & Assessment:  

    According to Newmann and Carmichael (2007), authentic intellectual work is the development of knowledge through disciplined inquiry, where one will find discourse and other products or performances that have enormous value beyond the classroom (p. 3). Traditional approaches revolve around teaching students facts and students memorizing those facts. It does not push students to think outside the box or require them to have deeper conversations about what they have learned. The information they have learned typically does not relate back to the world around them nor extend beyond the classroom walls. 

    There are three criteria for authentic intellectual work: construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and value beyond the classroom. This requires teachers to create learning environments where students work through problems using many strategies. According to Newmann and Carmichael (2007), these strategies include organizing, interpreting, evaluating, and synthesizing knowledge to solve problems (p. 4). I am deeply rooted in the construction of knowledge and disciplined inquiry. This week, my students have been working to answer why it seems dead things disappear. Today, after using videos and images to lead their driving discussion board, they had to develop a mathematical model to show that the dead animal does not actually disappear but transfers to other living things involved in its disappearance. The students created discourse, used this prior knowledge, and elaborated on their conversations to reach these mathematical models. This caused them to have a much deeper understanding of the knowledge they are gaining about why it seems dead things do disappear. The students could organize the information and evaluate what needed to be modeled to represent where this mass transfer was happening. I let the students choose how to express their mathematical model, though they knew they could not draw pictures of the animals involved. 

 

Part 2: 2017 National Education Technology Plan Update 

    When looking at the 2017 National Education Technology Plan Update (NETP), teachers must understand that it is a call to action. It is meant to be a vision for how learning should occur and be enabled by technology. The plan also consists of examples to help support teachers in this process. According to the NETP (2017), there has been a shift in what the digital divide is becoming (p. 7). This was once focused on the divide between students with access to technology and those without access. Now, the divide is focused on how students are taught with technology by either transforming learning through technology or using technology passively for learning to occur. According to the NETP (2017), concerning engaging and empowering learning through technology, the goal is for all learners to have these experiences in various ways that prepare them as participants in a global society who are creative and knowledgeable (p. 9).  

    Teachers need to focus on personalized learning, blended learning, and how learning takes place through experiences. If we break this down, personalized instruction involves working at the student's pace. Blended learning happens face-to-face while being supported with online components. The final piece sets up experiences where students can test various roles, like in a game with outcomes that impact what happens next. These opportunities can be simulated.  

    

    Last year, my students were learning about outer space. They had the opportunity to have a Zoom call with a US Space Force lieutenant colonel stationed in Australia, whose job is to track all space debris in the path of satellites. The students were in the middle of a project where they needed to build and program a satellite out of LEGO that could maneuver through space. This officer introduced her job to the students and modeled what it entailed. She then allowed students to ask her questions about her career, space, astronauts, Australia, etc. Through this experience, the students were able to have intentional and reflective interactions with an expert in the field. It was important for the students to connect with this expert because it made them realize how vital programming maneuvers with their satellite and the coding would be to be able to complete their fictional voyage and protect their satellite so it could send back data. This meeting allowed for global interactions and peer collaboration through the design process and coding.  

    This project was essential for the student's learning because it created meaningful intellectual work. According to Newmann and Carmichael (2007), students need to be able to construct knowledge through problems that require deeper thinking because they cannot be solved through rote memory (p. 3). Issues like this need students to organize ideas, interpret information, evaluate the situation, and build on prior knowledge to solve the problem.  

Part 3: Triple E Framework  

 

    According to Kolb (2020), engagement consists of students not being distracted by the elements around them regarding technology, being motivated by the learning task and not just the fun of the technology tool, and being social and actively working on a hands-on activity (p. 40). Looking at these three pieces more closely, I find students distracted by the rewards and timers on specific programs our school uses. I am less inclined to use these programs, and I find myself having students use technology to create something to show what they have learned. My students gain more knowledge when the lesson is heavy with collaborative interactions between the students. According to Kolb (2020), students need breaks when working on technology pieces alone to be able to share with others what they are learning and be able to ask questions (p. 43). My students are actively engaged, even when the content is challenging, when they can discuss it with their peers. We build the knowledge by creating a driving discussion board that allows the students to continue asking questions as the lessons progress. The questions bring about new questions as students collaborate. 

    Enhancement involves higher cognitive levels, scaffolding the learning, and adding value to the learning goal (Kolb, 2020, p. 61). When my students had to create the mathematical model today, I assisted them by scaffolding the material so they could manipulate the content to create a model. We brought in videos earlier in the week that showed time lapses of decaying animals and close-up pictures of meat that showed flies arriving first, and then these weird white things began to appear. Through this, the students could make the connection between the flies and the laying of eggs that would become maggots. The mathematical model was meant to represent the weight of the larva in relation to the meat over five days. This allowed for whole group discussions. 

    

    It is so hard to bring this blog to a close because there are so many connections between the Triple E Framework created by Kolb and the Authentic Intellectual Work Framework developed by Newmann and Carmichael. I am excited to continue building my understanding of these ideas and frameworks.

References 

Kolb, L. (2020). Learning first, technology second in Practice: New strategies, research and

tools for student success. International Society for Technology in Education 

National Educational Technology Plan. Office of Educational Technology. (2017). https://tech.ed.gov/netp/ 

Newmann, F. M., King, M. B., & Carmichael, D. L. (2007). Authentic instruction and assessment: Common standards for rigor and relevance in teaching academic subjects. Prepared for the Iowa Department of Education.