Authentic Learning Environments in Higher Education

As greater accountability in higher education grows, authentic learning has found a prominent place in the education agenda. Technology continues to open up possibilities for innovative and effective learning opportunities, and students and teachers are no longer happy to accept familiar classroom-based pedagogies that rely on content delivery and little else. Authentic learning environments have their foundations in situated approaches to learning which advocate that learning is best achieved in circumstances that resemble the real life application of knowledge. Authentic Learning Environments in Higher Education provides a coherent description of the principles that guide the development of an authentic learning environment, and gives concrete examples across a wide range of discipline areas. The book helps teachers to reflect on the important elements of an authentic approach, and to use the descriptions of a range of implementations to guide their own design and development of an authentic learning environment.

Anthony Herrington and Jan Herrington are at the University of Wollongong, Australia.