Complex and ill-defined

2. Authentic activities are complex and ill-defined*, requiring students to define the tasks and sub-tasks needed to complete the activity over a sustained period of time

By and large school type activities are well-defined and the end result is known by the teacher at the beginning of the activity. These activities are usually designed in a step by step approach where the difficulty level increases from easy to difficult as the students progress. These are called structured problems where alternative arguments and/or new evidence is not required. Students are tested whether they achieved the correct outcome or not.

On the other hand, activities in the real world are not well-defined. Unlike school type exercises, the end result is not known at the beginning of the activity and alternative arguments or new evidence is required. In order to achieve an outcome, this characteristic urges learners to employ complex judgmental skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, and as a result students develop higher order thinking skills.

Cho and Jonassen (2002) showed that groups solving ill-structured problems produce more extensive arguments in support of their solutions. This argument suggests that ill-defined activities can provide the necessary conditions for meaningful extensive use of the target language in context as students completing ill-defined activities will produce more extensive arguments to support their solutions.

Suggested sources for further reading on this item:

Herrington, J., & Oliver, R. (2000). An instructional design framework for authentic learning environments. Educational Technology Research and Development, 48(3), 23-48.

Herrington, J., Reeves, T. C., & Oliver, R. (2010). A guide to authentic e-learning. New York: Routledge.

Jonassen, D. (1997). Instructional design models for well-structured and ill-structured problem-solving learning outcomes. Educational Technology Research & Development, 45(1), 65-94.

Jonassen, D. (1999). Designing constructivist learning environments. In C. M. Reigeluth (Ed.), Instructional-design theories and models (Vol. 2, pp. 215-239). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlabaun Associates Inc.

Jonassen, D. (2000). Toward a design theory of problem solving. Educational Technology Research and Development, 48(4), 63-85.

Ozverir, I., Herrington, J., & Osam, U. V. (2016). Design principles for authentic learning of English as a foreign language. British Journal of Educational Technology, 47(3), 484-493.

Reed, D. (2002). The use of ill-defined problems for developing problem-solving and empirical skills in CS1. J. Comput. Sci. Coll., 18(1), 121–133.