scispace - formally typeset
Open AccessJournal ArticleDOI

Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning

John Seely Brown, +2 more
- 01 Jan 1989 - 
- Vol. 18, Iss: 1, pp 32-42
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
Collins, Brown, and Newman as mentioned in this paper argue that knowledge is situated, being in part a product of the activity, context, and culture in which it is developed and used, and propose cognitive apprenticeship as an alternative to conventional practices.
Abstract
Many teaching practices implicitly assume that conceptual knowledge can be abstracted from the situations in which it is learned and used. This article argues that this assumption inevitably limits the effectiveness of such practices. Drawing on recent research into cognition as it is manifest in everyday activity, the authors argue that knowledge is situated, being in part a product of the activity, context, and culture in which it is developed and used. They discuss how this view of knowledge affects our understanding of learning, and they note that conventional schooling too often ignores the influence of school culture on what is learned in school. As an alternative to conventional practices, they propose cognitive apprenticeship (Collins, Brown, & Newman, in press), which honors the situated nature of knowledge. They examine two examples of mathematics instruction that exhibit certain key features of this approach to teaching.

read more

Content maybe subject to copyright    Report

Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI

Student expectations in introductory physics

TL;DR: The Maryland Physics Expectations survey as discussed by the authors ) is a 34-item Likert-scale survey that probes student attitudes, beliefs, and assumptions about physics in introductory calculus-based physics courses.
Journal ArticleDOI

Problem Solving as a Basis for Reform in Curriculum and Instruction: The Case of Mathematics

TL;DR: The authors argue that reform in curriculum and instruction should be based on allowing students to problematize the subject rather than mastering skills and applying them, and argue that such an approach would facilitate students' understanding.
Journal ArticleDOI

Sociocultural and Constructivist Theories of Learning: Ontology, Not Just Epistemology

TL;DR: In this article, the relation between sociocultural and constructivist perspectives on learning is discussed, and it is argued that learning involves becoming a member of a community, constructing knowledge at various levels of expertise as a participant but also taking a stand on the culture of one's community in an effort to take up and overcome the estrangement and division that are consequences of participation.
Book ChapterDOI

Shared cognition: Thinking as social practice.

TL;DR: The findings indicated that the star teachers are using a variety of instructional approaches that are culturally relevant and aligned with the NCTM’s Principles and Standards for School Mathematics.
Journal ArticleDOI

Supporting Students' Construction of Scientific Explanations by Fading Scaffolds in Instructional Materials

TL;DR: Fading written scaffolds better equipped students to write explanations when they were not provided with support, and showed significant learning gains for students for all components of scientific explanation.
References
More filters
Book

Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation

TL;DR: This work has shown that legitimate peripheral participation in communities of practice is not confined to midwives, tailors, quartermasters, butchers, non-drinking alcoholics and the like.
Book

Mental Models

Journal ArticleDOI

Reciprocal Teaching of Comprehension-Fostering and Comprehension-Monitoring Activities

TL;DR: In this article, two instructional studies directed at the comprehension-fostering and comprehension-monitoring activities of seventh grade poor comprehenders are reported, and the training method was that of reciprocal teaching, where the tutor and students took turns leading a dialogue centered on pertinent features of the text.
Journal ArticleDOI

Cognitive Apprenticeship: Teaching the Craft of Reading, Writing and Mathematics

TL;DR: This paper proposes the development of a new cognitive apprenticeship to teach students the thinking and problem-solving skills involved in school subjects such as reading, writing and mathematics.