Situated Learning

Question 1

what are the main theories of situated learning

Answer 1

• behaviourism: measurable change in observable behaviour (product)
• cognitivism: meaning making process inside the head of individual learners (process, conceptual growth)
• constructivism: active construction of personal meaning and understandings (independent process) + social learning
• situated learning: learning is ‘situated’ in the context of social practice in which it has meaning

Question 2

how can we learn via participation

Answer 2

learning cannot be seen as an individual, internal, cognitive process but as a social activity that takes place in a complex socio-cultural world

Question 3

what are the situated perspectives on learning

Answer 3

• situated theorists locate learning in social practice, a process that is part of all human activities, as individuals interact and engage actively in a range of social practices in historical and social contexts that give meaning to what they do
  
  • the ‘situatedness’ of learning means merely that learning takes place in particular sets of circumstances, in time and space
  • ‘the physical and social contexts in which an activity takes place are an integral part of the activity, and of the learning that takes place within it’
  • ‘how a person learns a particular set of knowledge and skills, and the situation in which a person learns, are a fundamental part of what is learned’
• there is both in school and out of school learning
• researchers and psychologists observed that in many cases students in schools learned specific skills or knowledge that could not be used outside of school context

Question 4

what are the implications for practioners

Answer 4

• identify what is to be learned
• consider the ‘real’ world situations in which this learning is to be used
• select to get the learners engaged in those practices and activities that are consistent with the practices of the real world
• recontextualise authentic learning opportunities