Complete thesis - Murdoch University

As developed by Collins et al (1989) Cognitive Apprenticeship, incorporates strategies withinthe following framework:Content should include domain knowledge and heuristic strategies as well as control (iemetacognitive) and learning (eg which model expert learning) strategiesMethod including:• modelling and explaining to include false starts, dead ends etc, so that studentsdevelop ‘conditionalised’ knowledge with its tacit components• coaching to enable exploration and reflection based on ‘correct’ learning, scaffoldingand other aids are provided at a level that changes from high to ‘fading’ aslearning takes place• articulation enables the student to add insight, deal with the issue of problemisomorphs and compare knowledge across contexts• reflection influences strategic goal-setting and intentional learning• exploration so that students try out different strategies and hypotheses and observetheir effectsSequence instruction is ordered from simple to complex, with increasing diversity. In addition,the principle of global before local allows students to develop a conceptual mapof the activity before developing specific skillsSociology the social characteristics of learning environments focus on situated learning –authentic context include both real-life settings and problem-solving situations whichenable students to be intrinsically motivated and work in co operation, at their Zoneof Proximal Development (Vygotsky, 1978)through negotiations among present and past members. Activities thus cohere in a way thatis, in theory, accessible to members who move within the social framework.The notion of Cognitive Apprenticeship includes the development of learning contexts thatmodel proficiency and provide coaching and scaffolding. As students become immersed inauthentic activities (fading scaffolding as students develop competence), the opportunity forindependent practice is provided so that students gain an appreciation of the use of domainrelatedprinciples across multiple contexts. In these contexts, the goal is not simply toapply principles successful in apprenticeships, but actually to transform the culture so thatstudents can appreciate the purposes and uses of the knowledge they are acquiring, actively145