ABSTRACT
TVERSKY AND KAHNEMAN’S (1984,1986) research on framing effects calls attention to the everyday phenomenon whereby the same data, expressed differently, leads to a new appreciation of a problem. This chapter’s objective is to elaborate on the disciplinary framing effect I introduced in the previous chapter and prompt a new understanding of the problem of authentic learning by shifting between the language of constructivism and that of rhetoric and persuasion. If we revisit constructivism in educational technology armed with an appreciation of the role rhetoric and argumentation play, the challenge of authenticating learning becomes transformed from that of presenting the learner with new and improved “reality kits” to that of persuading learners that the problems with which they are presented correspond in some important way to their own sense of how the real world works. In this light, the constructivist view of education looks very different. But not only different; a rhetorical view can actually make the issue of authenticity “smaller.” Applying rhetoric as an Occam’s razor, we find that authenticity is more rightfully confined to particular domains, certain topics within domains, and to certain learners.
