Authentic Learning: The Importance Of Learning In Education

I realized that teaching is not considered as merely transmitting knowledge and information to students. First of all, I understand that learning should take place in authentic and real-world environments. According to Piaget (1954), the learner must be active to be engaged in real learning. Learning is a process of interacting with the outside world (Brown et al., 1989; Lave & Wenger, 1991). In the early 20th century, John Dewey (1933) advocated the use of authentic tasks can help students acquire and deepen subject matter knowledge. Authentic learning provides opportunities for students to construct their own knowledge in real-world contexts. This knowledge construction is heavily influenced by the student’s prior knowledge and experiences.

I comprehend that learning by doing is generally considered the most effective way to learn. The idea of “learning by doing” is initially promoted by John Dewey (1924). I understand that there is distinction between knowledge about and knowledge of. From a pragmatic standpoint, knowledge about is the basic indicator of academic achievement. It is the stuff of textbooks, curriculum guidelines, subject-matter tests, and typical school “projects” and “research” papers. For example, students may memorize vocabulary words for a quiz, but they cannot use the words in their writing or the second language learners may know grammatically written forms but they are unable to use them in conversation. Therefore, real education is not mere imparting of bookish information. Students must be engaged in meaningful and relevant activities which allow them to apply the concepts they are endeavoring to learn. So, knowledge of is activated when a need for it is encountered in action. It implies an ability to do or to participate in the activity. Therefore, I should realize that learning by doing is an incredibly important part of the learning process. Furthermore, students will be able to respond better when being engaged in practical activities, rather than reading from

According to Vygotsky (1978), knowledge is social in nature and is constructed through a process of interaction and communication among learners in social settings. He made a strong argument that students need to demonstrate their knowledge by creating explanations and interpreting their work for others. Each student has a base level of knowledge, but they can increase it by practicing what they know well and adding onto it. Therefore, the social interaction between the student, teacher and other students reinforces their increase of knowledge. Classes where students have opportunities to communicate with each other help students effectively construct their knowledge (Brooks, 1993). So, learning is an interactive process in which the learner develops his or her own understanding by assembling facts, experiences, and practices. In addition, interaction is closely linked to successful learning as interacting with others can help students clarify the concepts, improve problem-solving, and enhance retention. Furthermore, increasing students’ opportunity to talk with one another and discuss their ideas increases their ability and to argue their opinions persuasively and respectfully (Weber et. al., 2008). Discussion and interactive discourse promote learning because they afford students the opportunity to use language as a demonstration of their independent thoughts. Moreover, the discussion also elicits