Motivating students, creating connections, solving real-world problems - these are just a few of the aims and benefits of authentic learning. Such experiences can be provided through a wide range of activities and assignments in a variety of contexts, including role-playing exercises, technology-based simulations and visualizations, problem-based activities, case studies, and participation in virtual communities of practice. What techniques and assignments have you used to introduce students to real-life problems and practices of your discipline? How do you assess their performance? What challenges have you faced in using such assignments? 

For Bring Your Best Idea sessions, we (locally) crowdsource answers to questions such as these. Please bring your best authentic assignment or activity to this lively, collaborative, and fast-paced sharing session. Each participant who has an idea to share will have two minutes to describe it. No slides please, though a one-page handout to pass around is welcome. After 20-30 minutes of sharing ideas, we’ll shift to Q&A and discussion. Whether or not you bring an idea to share, you’ll leave this session with new food for thought and several new ideas you might try in your own course. Lunch will be provided.

√ Counts toward ALIT certificate
§ Counts toward INNOVATE certificate