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What is the Situated Learning Theory? Situated learning, simply put, is learning that takes place in the same context in which it is applied. It was first proposed by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger as a model of learning in among group of people who share a craft and/or a profession, i.e., a community of practice.The basic tenet of the theory is that abstract knowledge usually given in the classroom is harder to retain.

When I read about situated cognition, I saw that cognitive constructivism, social constructivism and situated cognition are the same in manner that all reject objectivist point of view to teaching. However, since they are three different theories, I wonder what makes them different from each other.  I encountered this article in which differences are well emphasized. According to the article: Cognitive constructivism says that people learn by building on their previous experiences with the environment. Since individuals have different history of experiences, same type of didactic teaching is not effective. Cognitive constructivism focuses on mainly individual. Social constructivism purports that knowledge are co-constructed by members of groups from different cultural backgrounds and learning environments should foster collaborative learning. Social constructivism mainly focuses on groups rather than individuals. Situated cognition, on the other hand, suggests that regardless of the fact that concepts are handled as individuals or as groups, if those concepts are not taught within their actual-natural context, learning of those concepts are meaningless and inert. Situated cognition mainly focuses on the context.

The video is generally about what is situated learning theory, how it is occurred, what is the Community of Practice and its structural elements. In the video, it is explained that Lave and Wenger observed different populations that learning takes place in social situations with other people thus the situated learning theory was born.

This is a nice little newsletter that mentions some characteristics of situated learning. Some resources on situated learning and its usage in learning environments are offered !

Firstly, it was a nice source to read, thanks for sharing it. I agree with you time concerns, teacher and student charateristics are prominent to implement the principles of situated learning in practice. It is really difficult to create authentic learning environment in our classes under the stess of keeping up with the curriculum which is based on traditional theories of learning. Thus, it is the work of the curriculum specialists to revise the curricula to be more in line with the improvements in the field of learning sciences.

There is a case study which I really advise you to look at it. It is about a political course in which they took a government's problem about content and design of websites. He says "given all the considerations at work in municipal government, the students will decide how the power of the web can best be brought to bear on making government work better."

Dr. Darren Kruisselbrink teaches collage students motor development and perceptual motor development by observing and interacting with babies and pre-elementary children. He changes the way he teaches after seeing slides and lectures bore his class and lead no learning. He then looks for ways to link theory with practice and comes up with in-class baby observation and a community service which enables kids to play, parents to relax, university to bond with community, students to learn and observe motor development of pre-elementary children. This is one of the best authentic activity I've ever seen and similarly with Lave's thoughts his class contains community service, group work, and learning by doing. Kruisselbrink says this kind of teaching makes students thirsty for knowledge, creates lots of questions and curiosity, higher participation, and deeper learning.

The article seeks to establish the usefulness of situated learning theory as a means of thinking differently about the alleged abstraction of school learning in a range of subjects including physical education, and the issue of transfer of learning. Following a discussion of Lave and Wenger's notion of situated learning as legitimate peripheral participation in communities of practice, the article explores the potential of Siedentop's sport education model as a means of providing young people with educative and authentic experiences of sport as legitimate peripheral participants. It is concluded that sport education may have the potential to provide educative and authentic experiences of sport.

This web page is provided by University of Wisconsin-Madison. In the page, there is an emphasis on the technological applications of situated learning theory since the page is allocated for 'transforming teaching and learning through technology'. I've found the page interesting to share because there are very good examples of situated learning through some tools like interactive case scenarios, augmented reality and situated documentary. The page is useful both for discovering those tools and finding some particular examples of situated learning.

This video is good summary of SLT and it also mentions the strengths and weakness of SLT.

This video is similar to Sibel's but there are some different examples. Here are some interesting points; Jean Lave argues that situated learning does not need to be authentic always because there is algebra. Also she says that the situation must have cognitive complexity. She points that social networks can be used to enable learning environment.

This Documentary published by Discovery Channel for a while and actually can be a great example for situational learning! Basically they have to survive in a forest without any technology and clothes. Sometimes it is really fun to watch when they are trying to find a solution to eat or sleep.

Here is an enjoyful video related to situated learning. I think, videos are very helpful to understand basic concepts of subject matter! :)

Here is another similar video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R7XzrrsOUw

Yes, I know it :) I prefered mine among the others :)