Episode 27: Authentic Learning and the Wisconsin Idea

Guests: Professor Mike Wagner

In this episode, Molly Harris talks with Mike Wagner,  William T. Evjue Distinguished Chair for the Wisconsin Idea in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Mike shares how he uses assignments and group projects to engage students in issues relevant to their lives, while building students’ practical skills. Listen for inspiration and tips for how you can make learning even more authentic for students.

See the transcript for this episode.

The L&S Exchange Podcast is brought to you by L&S Teaching & Learning Administration and produced by the Instructional Design Collaborative. This podcast is recorded on ancestral Ho-Chunk land, a place their nation has called Teejop (day-JOPE) since time immemorial.

Join the Conversation

How did this episode make you think? What’s on your mind about inclusive teaching? Respond to a poll using the Spotify app on your mobile device, reply with a comment at the bottom of this post, or send us an email. We may ask to feature your contribution in this or a future episode.

Conversation Starters

1. What does authentic learning mean to you?
2. What pressing, real-life topics in your field might interest students?
3. What opportunities and challenges have you experienced when incorporating authentic learning into your course?
4. What small steps could you take to introduce authentic learning into your classroom?
5. How might you engage students in peer learning and scaffold a larger group authentic learning project?

Further Reading & Resources

In this episode we mentioned, were inspired by, or wondered about the following resources and topics.

• The Wisconsin Idea is a guiding principle for the University of Wisconsin-Madison “that education should influence people’s lives beyond the boundaries of the classroom.”
• Learn more about “situated learning” in the book Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, by Jean Lave.

Production Credits