Valentina Nachtigall, David Williamson Shaffer, Nikol Rummel
{"title":"The authenticity dilemma: towards a theory on the conditions and effects of authentic learning","authors":"Valentina Nachtigall, David Williamson Shaffer, Nikol Rummel","doi":"10.1007/s10212-024-00892-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>A highly authentic learning setting is likely to trigger positive motivational and emotional reactions due to its emphasis on promoting the acquisition of knowledge that is connected and transferable to real-world phenomena outside the learning environment. However, a high level of authenticity is usually accompanied by a high level of complexity due to the complexity inherent in the real world. This complexity can be overwhelming for learners and can hamper or even prevent cognitive learning outcomes. Consequently, to help learners cope with this complexity, they need some kind of instructional support. By building a high level of support into the learning setting in order to promote cognitive learning outcomes, the level of authenticity and thereby the effects of authenticity on motivational outcomes may, however, in turn be reduced. In the present conceptual paper, we refer to this tension between authenticity and complexity, on the one hand, and instructional support, on the other hand, as the “authenticity dilemma”. Based on existing empirical evidence from previous studies, we (1) outline this dilemma, (2) discuss ways to reconceptualize it, and (3) derive implications regarding the conditions and effects of authentic learning. Finally, we discuss the findings of the studies included in the special issue “Perspectives on Authentic Learning” through the lens of the authenticity dilemma.</p>","PeriodicalId":47800,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Psychology of Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Journal of Psychology of Education","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-024-00892-9","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, EDUCATIONAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
A highly authentic learning setting is likely to trigger positive motivational and emotional reactions due to its emphasis on promoting the acquisition of knowledge that is connected and transferable to real-world phenomena outside the learning environment. However, a high level of authenticity is usually accompanied by a high level of complexity due to the complexity inherent in the real world. This complexity can be overwhelming for learners and can hamper or even prevent cognitive learning outcomes. Consequently, to help learners cope with this complexity, they need some kind of instructional support. By building a high level of support into the learning setting in order to promote cognitive learning outcomes, the level of authenticity and thereby the effects of authenticity on motivational outcomes may, however, in turn be reduced. In the present conceptual paper, we refer to this tension between authenticity and complexity, on the one hand, and instructional support, on the other hand, as the “authenticity dilemma”. Based on existing empirical evidence from previous studies, we (1) outline this dilemma, (2) discuss ways to reconceptualize it, and (3) derive implications regarding the conditions and effects of authentic learning. Finally, we discuss the findings of the studies included in the special issue “Perspectives on Authentic Learning” through the lens of the authenticity dilemma.
期刊介绍:
The European Journal of Psychology of Education (EJPE) is a quarterly journal oriented toward publishing high-quality papers that address the relevant psychological aspects of educational processes embedded in different institutional, social, and cultural contexts, and which focus on diversity in terms of the participants, their educational trajectories and their socio-cultural contexts. Authors are strongly encouraged to employ a variety of theoretical and methodological tools developed in the psychology of education in order to gain new insights by integrating different perspectives. Instead of reinforcing the divisions and distances between different communities stemming from their theoretical and methodological backgrounds, we would like to invite authors to engage with diverse theoretical and methodological tools in a meaningful way and to search for the new knowledge that can emerge from a combination of these tools. EJPE is open to all papers reflecting findings from original psychological studies on educational processes, as well as to exceptional theoretical and review papers that integrate current knowledge and chart new avenues for future research. Following the assumption that engaging with diversities creates great opportunities for new knowledge, the editorial team wishes to encourage, in particular, authors from less represented countries and regions, as well as young researchers, to submit their work and to keep going through the review process, which can be challenging, but which also presents opportunities for learning and inspiration.