Authentic Experiences: How Active Learning and User-Generated Content Can Immerse University Students in Real Life Situations

Steven Ehrlick, Noah Schwartz, James Slotta

This design-based research study brought the pedagogical methods of active learning and user-generated content into a post-secondary seminar using scripted workshops and scaffolded assignments to immerse students in the real-life experience of working with actual musical artists. The site was a fourth-year undergraduate music business course. It was built upon a social constructivism framework to create a learning community environment, fostered through student blog post discussions on current music industry issues and by way of hands-on work with six musical artists. Student groups created marketing and production artifacts for each artist as needed for their burgeoning careers. In this learning environment, students interacted with music industry stakeholders: musicians, venues, managers and record labels. These tasks culminated in a student conceived, planned and executed live public showcase featuring the artists. The researchers focused on how 21st century skills could be effectively taught in a dynamic active learning environment. Secondarily, the researchers examined the instructor role in the delivery of course content that is largely student-generated. Results indicate that while students achieved most of the stated learning outcomes and experienced an invaluable real-life learning experience, the unpredictable nature of student-generated content and student anxiety associated with real-life activities make future applications of the curricular design challenging for educators who wish to replicate the design. Further research will address the balance between a dynamic learning environment and the ability of instructors to intervene when necessary, without disrupting the model.

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