Collins, A., Brown, J.S., and Newman, S. (1989). The new apprenticeship:
Teaching students the craft of reading, writing, and mathematics.
Summary by Noel Rappin
"Apprenticeship embeds the learning of skills and knowledge into the
social and functional context of their use"
1. Schooling and Apprenticeship
Acquisition of Expert Practice -- Too little attention is paid to
the processes that experts use to do realistic tasks.
Traditional Apprenticeship -- Uses observation (modeling),
coaching, and practice (fading), and is embedded in a social context.
Cognitive Apprenticeship -- Teaching the process that experts use
in complex tasks. Focus on cognitive and metacognitve skills
Differences -- Problems come from pedigogical demands, not
economic ones. Emphasis on decontextualizing knowledge so it can be
applied to different domains.
Cognitive Apprenticeship is designed to supplement, not completely
replace other forms of learning.
2. Models
Reciprocal Teaching of Reading --
Teacher and student take turns playing role of teacher,
formulating questions and making predictions about texts.
Procedural Faciltation of Writing --
Uses "cue cards", prompts designed to get the student to think
about the organization of their writing by suggesting specific things
for the student to do..
Teaching Mathematical Problem Solving --
Explicitly teaches heuristic methods used by experts in
solving problems. Problems chosen carefully, also solves difficult
problems, explaining process along the way.
Common Ground
Teacher and student switch roles. Process taught to student.
Teacher provides scaffolding, gradually removed as student improves...
3. A Framework for Designing Learning Environments.
Content
Domain Knowledge -- Factual knowledge explicitly identified
with a subject matter.
Heuristic Strategies -- Rules of thumb usd by experts to solve
problems
Control Strategies -- Managing Huristics
Learining Strategies -- Strategies for learing any of the above.
Methods
Modelling -- Building a conceptual model from observation
Coaching -- Observing students, and giving advice on their progress
Scaffolding and Fading -- Support enabling students to do
things they would be unable to do otherwise
Articulation -- Getting students to talk about what they know.
Reflection -- Creating an internal model of expertise
Exploration -- Ability to fruitfully search for new problems
Sequence
Increasing Complexity
Increasing Diversity
Global Before Local Skills
Sociology
Situated Learning -- Solving problems in an environment that
reflects future use.
Culture of Expert Practice -- Communication about skills
involved in being an expert
Intrinsic Motivation
Exploiting Cooperation
Exploiting Competition