Incorporating an Authentic Learning Strategy into Undergraduate Apparel and Merchandising Curriculum

Abstract

An authentic learning strategy fostering students' active learning was studied using the scenario of a real-world project. Students from two different classes at two different universities worked as clients or consultants to develop an apparel sourcing strategy. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from 44 undergraduates enrolled in apparel and merchandising classes to assess students' learning experiences from the project. According to the findings, students had a positive learning experience overall, gaining practical competencies and experiences from various perspectives needed to solve the problems. These results were further confirmed by emerging themes in the qualitative data—namely, improved communication skills, enhanced professionalism through real-world experiences, team building, learning through interaction, and improved research skills. The evidence suggests that incorporating an authentic learning strategy in higher education by providing real-world experiences can benefit students' learning and build their professional competence.

Enhancing Problem-Solving Skills in an Authentic Blended Learning Environment: A Malaysian Context

“…Authentic learning emerges as a suitable solution to fostering problem-solving skills as it places emphasis on problems that are real, relevant, complex, ill-defined and finding the solutions to solving these type of problems [11]. Authentic learning strategies are said to create learning environments that not only provide real-world relevancy to students [17], [18] but also providing an environment that encourages the development of higher order thinking skills [12]. Learning environments that are authentic provide students with authentic context which includes having a purpose or goal to achieve and allows students to see how the knowledge they gain will be used in a real-life context [19].…”

Exploring the Efficacy of Active and Authentic Learning in the Visual Merchandising Classroom

“…University learning often involves abstract knowledge that is difficult for students to apply in real world contexts (Herrington & Oliver, 2000). However, employers commonly emphasize competence with successful work place transition (Ma & Lee, 2012). By combining authentic and active learning, students evaluate and apply their knowledge to solve real world problems.…”

“…Success of Strategy. Students answered surveys with 5 or 7 point Disagree-Agree Likert Scales based on previous research (Ma & Lee, 2012;Walker & Fraser, 2005) and open-ended questions. …”

Building a Bridge Between Authentic Learning and Service Learning: A Case Study From an English Technical Writing Class

“…First, the foci of the authentic learning and service learning are different. The former emphasizes the context directly related to students' professional careers, but the latter focuses on the context relevant to a community project that may not necessarily be closely related to students' professional career (Ma & Lee, 2012). Second, in authentic learning, the students' goal is to apply knowledge learned in the classroom to solve real-world problems, whereas in service learning, students aim at both promoting their education and serving the community.…”

“…The advantages of using authentic learning in the classroom have been seen by many educators through their first-hand experiencing with authentic learning strategies in their classrooms. Ma and Lee (2012) suggest that there are three benefits to authentic learning. First, it can increase students' communication skills through teamwork interaction.…”