C. Authentic learning contexts The third attribute of REALs is that learning takes place within an authentic context. An authentic task, activity, or goal provide learning experiences as realistic as possible, taking into consideration the age and maturation level of the students and environmental constraints such as safety and resource availability.
An authentic context incorporates as much fidelity as possible to what students will encounter outside school in terms of tools, complexity, cognitive functioning, and interactions with people (Williams and Dodge, 1992). Therefore, creating an authentic learning context requires more than just presenting students with realistic problems or situations - it also means that students must address the problems or situations realistically as well (Honebein et al, 1993).
Authenticity is important to REALs for three reasons. First, realistic problems hold more relevance to students' needs and experiences because they can relate what they are
20
Aa-j Volume 3 Number 2
learning to problems and goals that they see every day. Therefore, it encourages students to take ownership of the situation and their own learning. Second, because the situations students encounter during learning are authentic and reflect the true nature of problems in the real world, it develops deeper and richer (indexicalized and conditioned) knowledge structures, leading to a higher likelihood of transfer to novel situations. Finally, because complex problems require a team approach that provides natural opportunities for learners to test and refine their ideas and to help each other understand the content, it encourages collaboration and negotiation.
REAL strategy: anchored instruction One of the ways to create authentic instruction in a REAL is to anchor that instruction in a realistic event, problem, or theme (CTGV, 1990, 1992a, 1992b, 1993a, 1993d). Anchored instruction is fixed within a real-world event that is appealing and meaningful to students (Bransford et al, 1990) and involves complex contexts that require students to solve interconnected sub-problems. Because students are encouraged to work together to solve these complex problems, they are exposed to multiple perspectives in an environment that gives them an opportunity to test out their ideas, solutions, and processes (CTGV, 1992b).
At the heart of the model is an emphasis on the importance of creating an anchor or focus to generate interest, and to enable students to identify and solve problems and pay attention to their own perception and comprehension of these problems' (Bransford et al, 1990, p. 123).
In anchored learning situations, students develop component skills and objectives in the context of meaningful, realistic problems and problem-solving activities. These complex contexts are called 'macrocontexts' (Williams and Dodge, 1992, p. 373). Addressing a key characteristic of constructivism - indexed knowledge acquisition - the primary goal of anchored instruction (and REALs) is to overcome the problem of inert knowledge. For example, students in an instructional design and development class work in teams with actual clients to develop instruction that will be delivered to another group of students. They must define the problem, identify resources, set priorities, and explore alternative solutions with the same skills and abilities that are required during realistic, outside-theclassroom problem-solving and decision-making activities. This is in direct contrast to the way students develop component skills and objectives in a more conventional classroom environment by working simplified, compartmentalized, and decontextualized problems. Simply stated, it is the difference between providing meaningful, authentic learning activities and 'I'm never going to use this' activities.
Anchored instruction shares many features of programmes that are case-based and problem-based (Barrows, 1985; Spiro et al, 1991; Williams and Dodge, 1992). The idea is to let learners experience the intellectual changes that experts feel when modifying their own understandings from working with realistic situations (CTGV, 1992b).
Effective anchors are intrinsically interesting, fostering ownership, and helping students notice the features of problem situations that make particular actions relevant (Bransford et al, 1990). The CTGV (1991) uses the following design principles when creating anchored instruction. First, they use a video-based presentation format because of the dramatic power of the medium and because of the use of multiple modalities, realistic
21
R. Scott Grabinger and Joanna C Dunlap Rich environments for active learning a definition
imagery, and omnipresence in our culture. Second they present a problem using actors and a narrative format for interest. Third, the problem solution requires a generative learning format in which students must identify pertinent information in the fourth feature, embedded data design. Fifth, the pro