Bringing Reality into the Classroom

Abstract

Researchers and practitioners have been advocating that the nature of learning is contextually situated, and that this should be reflected in the development of learning experiences designed to acquire knowledge. However, learning experiences are still being developed as mere one-dimensional processes aimed to move, from the teacher into the student, pure autonomous pieces of content that are stripped from all their contextual and cultural information. The purpose of this manuscript is to propose a methodology to allow instructional designers and teachers to encompass the complexities of reality so that they can bring it pedagogically into their classrooms to build meaningful authentic learning experiences. This methodology permits students to first engage in problem solving activities and then present their solutions using a computer application as a cognitive tool. The paper discusses literature related with the development of situated learning environments, proposes a methodology for facilitating context-dependent knowledge building, and describes a case where the methodology was used and evaluated.