In our view, the catalyst for this transformation is centering instruction around authentic, challenging tasks . As shown in Figure 1, the provision of authentic challenging tasks has implications for almost every other part of pedagogy, leading to the kinds of changes reformers advocate. Further, the fact that the tasks will be more complex suggests that longer blocks of time will be required to work on them, again conflicting with the notion of 50-minute periods for distinct subject areas. Authentic Challenging Tasks as the Core of Education Reform Complex tasks permit students to take a more active role in defining their own learning goals and regulating their own learning. Students explore ideas and bodies of knowledge, not in order to recite verbal formalisms on demand but to understand phenomena more deeply and search for information they need for their project work.
Instruction becomes interactive .
Complex, authentic tasks lend themselves to collaborative work . Among the advantages of collaborative learning for students are opportunities to negotiate the purpose of their work, the meaning of the terms they use, and so on. As students justify their conclusions and act as external critics for each other, they become more reflective about their own thinking and able to evaluate the quality of their own work. Collaborative projects facilitate the adjustment of tasks to accommodate individual differences. Within such groups, the experience of explaining something to a fellow student who does not understand it can in itself be an educationally valuable experience.