Authentic Intellectual Work and Connections

 Authentic Intellectual Work/Authentic Instruction & Assessment

Typically, students are taught to memorize data, information, and facts, but what does this accomplish? When students are not utilizing their own thoughts to process and thoroughly understand information, this does not lead to authentic intellectual work. Authentic intellectual work is the originality of work put out, the knowledge skills not just the memorization of information (Newmann et al., 2007). In many different career areas, individuals are using those basic skills taught and memorized, but careers such as (but not limited to) scientists, childcare workers, and law enforcement require those professionals to think outside of the box and find ways to face intellectual challenges. This is not to take away from the traditional approaches to instruction and assessment. In the traditional sense, gaining those basic skills and foundations is an important step to progress into creating authentic intellectual work.

The components of authentic intellectual work are the construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and value beyond school. When discussing the construction of knowledge is determined by examining the degree to which teachers as their students interpret, analyze, organize and evaluate the information of a concept, it provides the meaning of higher-level thinking. Regarding the second component, disciplined inquiry, in order for students to be grounded in this component they engage in three different kinds of activities: using a prior knowledge base, striving for in-depth understanding rather than a superficial awareness, and developing and expressing understanding through elaborated communication. Lastly, value beyond school. With this component, the goal is to not cater to the student's enjoyment or interests but to have them make intellectual demands that connect academic learning to questions and problems that may arise in the real world (Newmann, et al., 2016).

An example of authentic intellectual work could be a teacher in an elementary setting. The goal of this discipline is to teach reading skills. While teachers have educated information, not all students will grasp the concept of reading the same. Some may understand digraphs while other students do not. In this instance, the teacher needs to use authentic intellectual work to find a way to guide this student to understand and grasp the concept the best way they can.

National Education Technology Plan

Within the National Education Technology Plan, the technology-enabled learning in action section states that technology can enable personalized learning or experiences that are more engaging and relevant and can lead to authentic intellectual work. While programs begin to become more personalized or provide experiences that are more engaging it allows the students to dive deeper into thought. The engagement can lead to more situations they may come into contact with in the real world. 

Triple E Framework

The triple E framework consists of engagement, enhancement, and extension. Some of the connections I notice between authentic intellectual work and the Triple E Framework is how the engagement and enhancement of the lessons is an important factors. With authentic intellectual work, the goal is to have students dive deeper into things and not just focus on the superficial, which aligns with the goal of the Triple E framework. The example listed previously for the NETP supports engagement, enhancement, and extension by grasping the attention of the student. When you have something that is in engaging it provides motivation for the student to want to continue and having a more personal experience enhances the skills needed and provides the ability for the students to think deeper into the situation and problems at hand.

References

Newmann, F. M., King, M. B., & Carmichael, D. L. (2007). Authentic Instruction and Assessment. Retrieved 2023, from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T9JNAZgLfKvXAX7JoaOJElkkZS5Xf-lp/view 

Newmann, F. M.,  Carmichael, D. L., & M. Bruce King. (2016). Authentic Intellectual Work: Improving Teaching for Rigorous Learning. Corwin.