Make It Worth It: Authentic Learning for Real-Life Students

Who Today’s Students Really Are

As learning designers, we center our courses around the primary participants, depending on the clients we work with. Before we design our courses, we should consider who our students are and what they need from the learning experience. Although college students are commonly believed to be 19 to 22-year-olds, newly graduated, in-person learners, the new average more closely reflects working adults, part-time learners, online students, and those returning to education.

Over 40% of students work full-time while studying, which tends to shift student focus from academics to other responsibilities. Additionally, 20% of students are parents, which places higher priorities on life outside the classroom. The education culture has evolved significantly from primarily in-person learning to online modules to make up for this shift in priorities. For many, online education is a practical solution rather than a personal preference, serving as a stepping stone rather than a primary goal. The “nontraditional” student is, in fact, now the norm rather than the exception.

When Learning Feels Pointless

Considering the new average student, course designers may want to respect their realities and goals and inspire meaningful engagement through content. Our students may only have the time to log in daily, complete a checklist of goals, and log out again. As learning designers, we can respect our students’ realities while also creating educational content that is highly valuable for professional requirements.

When learning feels meaningless, and assignments become hollow tasks, students disengage, and some may ultimately drop out. For example, students (and instructors) often struggle to see value in discussion board assignments that become repetitive. There is little opportunity for students to discuss how topics connect to real life or reflect on applying those ideas to their own environment. Students start to question the purpose of their learning when assignments begin to feel more like busy work and lack reference to the digital era, student goals, and professional relevance. This can lead to consequences, such as student disengagement, frustration, and increased dropout rates.

Making Learning Worth It

Disengagement and dropout do not have to be inevitable outcomes. Learning becomes purposeful when instructional design aligns with students’ goals, realities, and motivations. A solution or method that instructors are applying to instructional content is authentic learning. Authentic learning can be viewed from two different lenses when considering who we are building courses for. By definition, authentic learning typically involves creating educational content relevant to the real world. It allows students to view coursework as meaningful and valuable beyond the classroom. Today’s instructors have a responsibility to engage modern students in learning tasks that clearly connect to their professional and personal lives.

Designing with Authenticity

Authentic assessments help students reengage in education by presenting real-world and career-relevant activities. Here are a few authentic assessments that resonate with today’s learners:

• Portfolios: Students demonstrate their progress and mastery of a course by completing multiple projects applicable in a professional context.
• Client-Based Projects: Students assess client needs, research best practices, and submit recommendations, demonstrating efficiency in common workflows.
• Multimedia: Students can showcase their design, marketing, and research skills by creating a range of multimedia items, including infographics, websites, podcasts, and presentations.
• Fieldwork and Observations: If permitted, students may intern or personally participate in real-world events aligned with their goals. This can also be simulated online through course materials and scenarios.
• Reflective Essays: Can be used to uncover students’ goals, questions, and reasons for student processes. Has an added benefit of quick delivery and turnaround.

These examples support the shift from passive learning to active demonstration, which learners can utilize directly in the real world.

Raising Relevance

When learning designers design for the real world, they present high-quality, highly accessible learning that promotes real-world relevance and student choice. They have found a balance between traditional assessments that promote understanding, written composition, and memorization, and authentic assessments that demand relevance, clarity, and the solving of real problems.

At Magellan Learning Solutions, we are helping partners rethink instructional design by delivering professional, personable authenticity in our content. From reimagining assessments to promoting real-world relevance, we believe students deserve learning that is not just rigorous but worth their time.

If you are ready to design learning that truly resonates with today’s students, email us or fill out the form to explore how we can help.