Situated Learning & Cognitive Apprenticeship

After reading about both methods, I really liked the cognitive apprenticeship more. I think as a Co-Op facilitator, I identified with the key practices of this strategy. I know that students learn and retain a greater knowledge with hands-on experience and it helps to assimilate what they already know. This allows for the mentor to correct and enrich what the student can already perform without the student feeling like all the knowledge is new which causes some students to give up.

The teaching strategies described in the readings were modeling, scaffolding and coaching. This allows a building process that students will be comfortable with. It also gives value to the information that is being learned. Students usually want to know why something really matters and this method answers this questions but also lets them put it into practice.

Problem-Based Learning ( PBL)

I like the concept of PBL because students are accouontable for the learning process and it builds on what they already know. It will teach them to be resourceful and how to find more than one solution to a problem. Unlike traditional teaching styles which starts with solutions, this one presents the problem and then allows for creative thinking to resolve the issue. This is a skill that students must learn and develop for the real world.

Working in groups and delegating roles is another aspect that I like. Group members must know that each person's role is essential to the success of the overall experience. ISelf-directed work teams and ultimately reflection is a great way to teach my students how to make better decisions that will affect them personally. In my classroom, we have examined the problems of the economy and what solutions need to be attempted for the greater good.

Cooperative Learning

This method reminds me of when I was a Continuous Improvement Facilitator for a furniture components manufacturer. My role was to guide and structure communication between several departments in an effort to save money on production. We had a representative from the 4 departments and we analyzed ways that production processes could be modified to increase productivity and reduce costs. Each member of the team had direct knowledge of their particular area but may not have known the impact of the other areas. They were all shy at first and did not want to speak badly about what they thought the issues were outside of their own areas. In order for the group to be successful, we had to build respect for each other, build the idea of community and allow each person to feel that their contribution would be valuable.

The concept of cooperative learning is just that. The group is responsible for their own success and each person in the group has knowledge that can support the group's final goal. Each person taps into their prior knowledge and combines this with new information in order to create an environment where each person has the same understanding of the material. Although they have worked as a group, each person has a sense of accomplishment.

Guided Design

I thought that this strategy basically talked about problem-solving, collaboration and higher order thinking skills which is the sole purpose of 21st century guidelines that we are to institute for our students. Students are ill-prepared for the workplace when they cannot work in team-based work groups due to lack of social skills and problem solving abilities. Students are often looking for the easy solution without giving thought to repercussions of immediate actions.

It is beneficial to analyze other perspective in a group work environment because each individual brings specific experiences to the table. Those strengths will define the roles that each person plays in the design of an adequate solution. Feedback is also important so that the solutions can continue to be work and members continue to learn to adjust to future problems.