Topics:The Concept of Situated Cognition
           Learning Theories and Concepts
           Collaborative Learning
           Critical and Creative Thinking
           Instructional Communication in Mediated Environment
           Learning Styles Inventories
           Critical/Continental Theory

The Concept of Situated Cognition

John Seely Brown, Allan Collins, and Paul Duguid, Xerox Corporation
Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning
http://www2.parc.com/ops/members/brown/papers/situatedlearning.html
Abstract
Many teaching practices implicitly assume that conceptual knowledge can be abstracted from the situations in which it is learned and used. This article argues that this assumption inevitably limits the effectiveness of such practices. Drawing on recent research into cognition as it is manifest in everyday activity, the authors argue that knowledge is situated, being in part a product of the activity, context, and culture in which it is developed and used. They discuss how this view of knowledge affects our understanding of learning, and they note that conventional schooling too often ignores the influence of school culture on what is learned in school. As an alternative to conventional practices, they propose cognitive apprenticeship (Collins, Brown, & Newman, in press), which honors the situated nature of knowledge. They examine two examples of mathematics instruction that exhibit certain key features of this approach to teaching.

John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid.
Stolen Knowledge
http://www2.parc.com/ops/members/brown/papers/stolenknow.html
Abstract
The authors provide a justification for transforming the question, How do you operationalize situated theory? into, How can you legitimize theft? They do this by contrasting a set of four oppositional terms that respectively underpin and undermine conventional notions of operationalization: instruction v. learning; explicit v. implicit; individual v. social and systems narrowly construed v. systems broadly construed.

David Stein
Situated Learning in Adult Education, 1998 ERIC Digest #195
Stein--SituatedLearningERIC-Digest195.pdf
Abstract
In the situated learning approach, knowledge and skills are learned in the contexts that reflect how knowledge is obtained and applied in everyday situations. Situated cognition theory conceives of learning as a sociocultural phenomenon rather than the action of an individual acquiring general information from a decontextualized body of knowledge (Kirshner and Whitson 1997).This Digest presents an overview of the concepts related to applying situated cognition in adult learning. It should be noted that situated learning theory has not yet produced precise models or prescriptions for learning in classroom settings.

Martin Owen, School of Education, University of Wales, Bangor
The Design of Reflective, Situated, Collaborative Professional Development supported by Virtual Learning Environments
http://www.eurodl.org/materials/contrib/2000/owen/owen.html
Abstract
This paper arises from the need to find formalisms for designing learning environments mediated by WWW and internet technologies based on collaborative, creative and reflexive activity. The limitations of earlier systematic approaches of educational systems design are discussed as an introduction to other approaches. The paper describes some of the ideas that inform the types of systems to be developed based on social cultural approaches to human activity. Guidelines and heuristics drawn from these ideas are investigated in relation to formalisms for describing the design of general computer systems proposed by a unified modeling language. There is a brief illustration of how the approach is applied to the design of a specific course in development.

Jan Herrington and Ron Oliver, Edith Cowan University.
Critical characteristics of situated learning: Implications for the instructional design of multimedia
http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/melbourne95/smtu/abstracts/herrington.html
Abstract
When situated learning was first described as an emerging model of instruction in 1989, its principal proponents believed that this was just the beginning-the model would continue to evolve and develop with new research and theory. This paper will describe the current thinking on situated learning and the critical characteristics that distinguish it from other models of instruction. The use of situated learning as an approach to the design of learning environments has significant implications for the instructional design of computer-based programs. Strategies for the application of these characteristics to the instructional design of interactive multimedia will be explored. Specific examples will be given to show how these strategies have been applied in the development of interactive multimedia products at Edith Cowan University. j.herrington@cowan.edu.au
The correct citation is:
Herrington, J. & Oliver, R. (1995). Critical characteristics of situated learning: Implications for the instructional design of
    multimedia. In J. Pearce & A. Ellis (Eds.). Learning with technology (pp. 253-262). Parkville, Vic: University of Melbourne.

Follow-up Study:
Herrington, J., & Oliver, R. (2000). An instructional design framework for authentic learning environments. Educational
    Technology Research and Development, 48(3), 23-48.

Ted Panitz, Cape Cod Community College
Collaborative Versus Cooperative Learning- a Comparison of the Two Concepts Which Will Help Us Understand the Underlying Nature of Interactive Learning
http://home.capecod.net/~tpanitz/tedsarticles/coopdefinition.htm

Mark Stoner. California State University, Sacramento
I Never Thought Like This Before!": Apprenticing Critical Thinking
Abstract
This essay lays explains the necessity for thinking in multiple ways about any topic in order to facilitate well-grounded observations. The essay outlines four kinds of critical thinking: observation, analysis, synthesis/evaluation. Finally, how these are used within an apprenticeship approach in a course in message analysis is explained.
http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/stonerm/ApprenticeCTEssay.htm

John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid
The Social Life of Documents
Abstract
 In the course of this paper, the authors relate theories of texts, documents, and communication to practicalities of the Web and the Internet. In the process, they argue that a broader understanding of documents and their uses will open new directions for developing document media and allow new social practices and social groups to emerge.
http://www2.parc.com/ops/members/brown/papers/sociallife.html

See also "Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire"
http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html
This particular version allows on-line scoring and immediate feedback for students.  The feedback could
easily to emailed to you if you wished to look at the data yourself.