Abstract:

In this paper a number of thoughts are discussed concerning the following proposition: Students engage on work-integrated learning (WIL) if the work appeals to their attention, reflection, confidence and satisfaction.

It seems obvious that when students experience they are being instructed and evaluated properly, their motivation for learning during work integrated learning (WIL) will be greater. This paper makes a strong argument for authentic tasks and authentic assessment to enhance the learning by students during projects in real work environments.

Student engagement on work-integrated learning (WIL) can be fostered by authentic assessment because that assessment offers students clear guidelines. It is based on tasks that learners experience to have a motivating effect on them. Such tasks can be designed by means of the Attention, Reflection, Confidence, Satisfaction approach (Keller, 1984, 1987, 2009).

Because students might wonder what the use of work integrated learning (WIL) could be, it would be interesting to present an instruction and assessment framework even before starting the work experience. Students will show greater motivation for learning if they know that the instruction and appraisal will be structured along certain guidelines.

Is it possible to build a framework for instruction and assessment of students in work-integrated learning that guarantees their engagement in learning? In fact this question relates to the question of motivation: designing instruction and assessment that learners experience to have a motivating effect on them. This paper will go deeper into that subject by means of the Keller framework and offer some ideas on what, how, why, and to what end.

Keywords:

Authentic tasks, authentic assessment, educational psychology, new trends in higher education.