Contribution: The experiences of three students in a co-curricular project-based design experience are explored. The objective is to characterize authentic and inauthentic (performative) forms of engagement and its potential impact on learning within an authentic experience. We consider these cases in supporting an argument for extensive…

This article investigates the impact of integrating authentic and contextualized activities into teaching on students' knowledge construction, grounded in social constructivism principles. The research focuses on applying the real-project approach within a "Mini-Project Workshop" module for third-year Information Systems Development…

Institutions are increasingly redesigning academic learning spaces with the aim of enhancing learning outcomes. Existing research into this phenomenon has shown promise regarding how these new spaces are being designed and used; however, there has been much less effort towards developing a language for analysing the emergent learning activity…

In an effort to improve student learning, authentic research experiences have been incorporated into introductory laboratory courses as a means to teach students scientific inquiry and engage them in the scientific process. Here, we describe the development and implementation of a novel undergraduate research-based laboratory course for first-year…

The term Powerful Learning Experience (PLE) is an outgrowth of a University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) project. Colleagues who were engaged in the Leaders Supporting Diverse Learners (LSDL) project, along with researchers examining exemplary educational leadership programs refined the original framework. The version described in…

This essential guide shares a five-step process for designing, implementing, and assessing sustainable project-based learning (SPBL) units while ensuring students gain surface-, deep-, and transfer-level knowledge. Brad Sever draws from his daily work as a practitioner to deliver practical strategies for creating meaningful learning experiences…

Project-based learning (PBL) grounds instruction in authentic learning experiences where students engage in real-world explorations that culminate in a final product or performance. We report on a mixed methods study with 43 ninth-grade English language arts (ELA) teachers (22 PBL and 21 comparison) and 1,671 students exploring the feasibility of…

Bioscientists such as geneticists and molecular biologists regularly demonstrate the integration of domain concepts and science inquiry practices/skills while explaining a natural phenomenon. The complexity of these concepts and skills becomes manifold at the tertiary undergraduate level and are known to be challenging for learners. They learn…

Teaching in Vietnam recently, I had opportunities to work with some amazing students and teachers. Being in such a position lent itself well to cultural exchanges inside and outside the classroom. However, it was clear to me, to my colleagues, and I believe to the majority of students that there was a need to dig deeper--to move beyond the…

Life-long learning is currently being embraced as a central process that could disrupt traditional educational paths. Apparently, the (ideal) type of learning often promoted is deep and meaningful learning, though it is not always required to be so. Deep learning goes beyond superficial knowledge assimilation of unlinked facts; it aims at…