Under these circumstances, learning activities closely resemble their uses in the community outside the classroom. Students expend effort because learning is authentic. However, without motivation to combine these activities, students view integration as an extra, artificial chore. Therefore, the instructors restructure the assignment, making it more authentic, by asking students to use these general education skills to become change agents on issues they find personally meaningful. Once we do this, however, almost every aspect of our classroom changes, as well.
Students find that they achieve their objectives better in cooperative teams.
Time to meet and work in the community becomes more important than time in the classroom. Instructors are transformed from taskmasters to useful guides. Writing, reading, group communication, and public speaking become practical means to relevant ends. As a consequence of integration, students find that research writing, reading, and group and public communication are valuable tools for accomplishing their personal goals. Our re-engineering of the Dynamic Learning classroom also entices students to mindfully engage in productive uses of computer technology.