Fundamental principles of learning
Situated learning
Learner centeredness is at the heart of situated learning, which is grounded in constructivist learning theory. The concept of situated learning is grounded in the belief that learning is most efficient and effective when it takes place within the context of realistic settings in which learners are clear about the reasons for learning
Attributes of situated learning environments
Meaning for learning
Conventional classrooms cannot provide the same sorts of opportunities
that real-world experiences can afford. Some instructors are fortunate
enough to be able to take advantage of field trips and group-based
project work. The advantage of these events is in the meaning that
they provide to students for their academic disciplines.
As designers begin to build technology enhanced learning environments, an essential consideration needs to be the meanings students derive from the learning activities within those environments.
Anchored instruction
It is possible to situate learning in two ways. Both of these types of
contexts or opportunities provide anchors for learning.
micro-contexts - a separate real-world case is used to explain each new dimension. In this tradition, it is possible to encounter several cases in a single course lecture. Such situations can be considered micro-contexts of each specific topic to be learned. Exemplified by many law and business school courses
macro-contexts - situations that are sufficiently rich and complex to be meaningfully viewed from several perspectives, such as by the use of a feature film or book.
Situated learning: The mise en scène of meaningful learning
Learner centeredness is at the heart of situated learning, which is grounded in constructivist learning theory. The concept of situated learning is grounded in the belief that learning is most efficient and effective when it takes place within the context of realistic settings in which learners are clear about the reasons for learning (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989). This is not a new concept. The roots of situated learning are traceable to experiential learning (Dewy, 1938), and problem based learning (Kohler, 1925, Koffka, 1935).
Using what Brown et al. call "authentic tasks¾, situated learning enables students to immerse themselves in the culture of the subject matter, much like an apprentice carpenter is immersed in the building site with the master builder. Similarly, learning experiences can be designed to engage learners into "cognitive apprenticeships¾ which immerse them in the total culture or ecology of their subject matter.
An extreme view of situated learning argues that not only learning but also thinking itself is situated and hence must be viewed from an ecological perspective. This framework draws heavily from the work of Gibson (1966) which emphasizes perception rather than memory as the means by which we learn. This view is in contrast with the information-processing model of learning where meaning is generated on the spot through perceiving and acting. From a situated cognitive perspective, remembering arises through interactions with the environment, when the concept of memory becomes less relevant to an explanation of the knowledge.
From the perspective of situated cognition, there are always two components to learning: the actor and the context. Knowledge and intelligence must be viewed as the relationship between the actor and the environment. It is the relationship between the actor and the problem that is, in fact, problem solving. It would not be meaningful to characterize the problem solving apart from the context in which it occurs. A situated cognitive analysis of thinking must describe both the abilities of the problem solver and all the relevant attributes of the environment perceived by the problem solver, including dimensions of the problem space. Proponents of situated cognition are aware of the importance of the interactive nature of learning environments and its impact on transfer from a learning situation to a novel situation. A rich learning situation has the requisite variety of properties for the requisite variety of abilities in the learning agent, that is, the learner.
Situated cognition requires a radical redefinition of learning, thinking, and what it means to be intelligent. With the emphasis not on memory but on perception, knowledge is no longer simply something stored in the head; rather, it is an interaction in a specific context in which intelligent activity is meaningful and appropriate. The learning context broadly includes people, machines, design artifacts, environments, and other objects and agents, which may interact to establish ecological problem-solving relationships. Context also includes a shared culture, understanding, and motivations. Such a redefinition of learning contends that knowledge is the outcome of an active relationship between an agent and the environment, and learning must take place during the time the student is actively engaged with a complex, realistic instructional context.