The education and research communities are abuzz with new (or at least re-discovered) ideas about the nature of cognition and learning. Terms like \"situated cognition,\" \"distributed cognition,\" and \"communities of practice\" fill the air. Recent dialogue in Educational Researcher (Anderson, Reder, & Simon, 1996,1997; Greeno, 1997) typifies this discussion. Some have argued that the shifts in world view that these discussions represent are even more fundamental than the now-historical shift from behaviorist to cognitive views of learning (Shuell, 1986). These new ideas about the nature of knowledge, thinking, and learning—which are becoming known as the \"situative perspective\" (Greeno, 1997; Greeno, Collins, & Resnick, 1996)—are interacting with, and sometimes fueling, current reform movements in education. Most discussions of these ideas and their implications for educational practice have been cast primarily in terms of students. Scholars and policymakers have considered, for example, how to help students develop deep understandings of subject matter, situate students' learning in meaningful contexts, and create learning communities in which teachers and students engage in rich discourse about important ideas (e.g., National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1989; National Education Goals Panel, 1991; National Research Council, 1993).

What Do New Views of Knowledge and Thinking Have to Say About Research on Teacher Learning

Schooling and the Acquisition of Knowledge

Teachers' beliefs and practices related to mathematics instruction

Both the current school reform and standards movements call for enhanced quality of instruction for all learners. Recent emphases on heterogeneity, special education inclusion, and reduction in out-of-class services for gifted learners, combined with escalations in cultural diversity in classrooms, make the challenge of serving academically diverse learners in regular classrooms seem an inevitable part of a teacher's role. Nonetheless, indications are that most teachers make few proactive modifications based on learner variance. This review of literature examines a need for “differentiated” or academically responsive instruction. It provides support in theory and research for differentiating instruction based on a model of addressing student readiness, interest, and learning profile for a broad range of learners in mixed-ability classroom settings.

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Differentiating Instruction in Response to Student Readiness, Interest, and Learning Profile in Academically Diverse Classrooms: A Review of Literature

Current educational reform efforts in the United States are setting forth ambitious goals for schools, teachers, and students (e.g., National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1989; National Education Goals Panel, 1991; National Research Council, 1993). Schools and teachers are to help students develop rich understandings of important content, think critically, construct and solve problems, synthesize information, invent, create, express themselves proficiently, and leave school prepared to be responsible citizens and lifelong learners. Reformers hold forth visions of teaching and learning in which teachers and student engage in rich discourse about important ideas and participate in problem solving activities grounded in meaningful contexts (e.g., American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1989; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1989, 1991). These visions of teaching and learning depart significantly from much of the educational practice that currently typifies American classrooms — practice that is based on views of teaching as presenting and explaining content and learning as the rehearsal and retention of presented information and skills.

Teacher Learning: Implications of New Views of Cognition

Teachers' developing ideas and practices about mathematics performance assessment: Successes, stumbling blocks, and implications for professional development

Subjects read, sentence by sentence, one of two versions of a text describing a small town. The route version described the town as a driver might encounter it, and the survey version represented the town in spatial terms. Three feedback conditions were used. One group of readers had limited access to a map. The second group could reread a limited number of sentences. The third group read the entire version in paragraph form. There were no differences between conditions in semantic memory, defined as order and number of propositions recalled, or in surface memory, defined as recognition of old/new sentences. However, the sentence feedback proved superior for the route version in inferential (situation) memory, and text feedback was superior for the survey text. This suggests that feedback type that is congruent with the text version is more effective with regard to more complex memorial processes.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758/BF03334093.pdf

Kate Cumbo

Papers

Teachers' developing ideas and practices about mathematics performance assessment: Successes, stumbling blocks, and implications for professional development

The effects of text version and feedback type on memorial representations