Appendix B

Let’s list the 4 elements, or dimensions, of every learning environment, and what they entail (1991:12-15):

APPENDIX B

Cognitive Apprenticeship (CA)

Let’s list the 4 elements, or dimensions, of every learning environment, and what they entail (1991:12-15):

1. content: knowledge and strategies

   Domain knowledge:

   concepts, facts, and procedures explicitly identified with a particular subject matter

   Heuristic strategies:

   effective techniques for accomplishing tasks, e.g., “tricks of the trade”

   Control strategies:

   how and when to select among possible problem-solving strategies

   Learning strategies:

   for learning any of the above; learning how to learn.

2. method: opportunities to observe, engage in, and invent or discover experts’ strategies in context

   Modeling:

   expert performs a task (verbalizing/illustrating their knowledge and thinking)

   Coaching:

   expert observes and facilitates

   Scaffolding:

   expert provides supports

   Articulation:

   expert encourages learners to verbalize/illustrate their knowledge and thinking

   Reflection:

   expert enables learners to compare their performance with others

   Exploration:

   expert invites learners to pose and solve their own problems

3. sequence: tasks that structure learning yet preserve meaningfulness (i.e., “situate” the tasks)
4. sociology: social characteristics of learning environments (i.e., “situate” the learner)

   Situated learning:

   the context of working on realistic tasks

   Community of practice:

   communication with other practitioners

   Intrinsic motivation:

   personal goals to seek skills and solutions

   Exploiting cooperation:

   working together (cooperative problem solving) to accomplish these goals

5. There are three important distinctions between traditional and cognitive apprenticeship:
   • in traditional apprenticeship the process is easily observable;
   • in traditional apprenticeship the tasks arise and emerge in the workplace;
   • in traditional apprenticeship the skills to be learned are inherent in the task itself.
6. To translate the model of traditional apprenticeship to cognitive apprenticeship, experts need to:
   • identify the processes of the task and make them visible to students;
   • situate abstract tasks in authentic contexts, so that students understand the relevance of the work;
   • vary the diversity of situations and articulate the common aspects so that students can transfer what they learn.
     (Collins, Brown and Hollum, 1989a;1991:3)