Learning Sciences

In this TED talk delivered by Nicholas Christakis, you can see how important the role of networks in our lives is. You will also be introduced to some visualization of network analyses which are gaining a crucial role in examining the connections among people or neurons.

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.

When decisions with important consequences involved, people ask for expert opinion let it be a hotel booking (trip advisor, booking...) or purchasing a book (amazon recommends, kitapyurdu...). If the stakes are high, then it becomes obligatory to go and ask for expert opinion. However this becomes a problem if people rely on experts as if they are getting parental advice. People become addicted to experts because of its certainity, assuredness and definitiveness. In a study, a group of adults' brains' MRI scans when they are listening to experts showed that the independent part of their decision making part of their brains switches off while they are listening. This listening becomes unquestionnable and they use these opinions without distinguishing as right or wrong. Considering the doctors who misdiagnose 4 out of 10, not questionning is an important issue. As a result the role of the expert should change because they are affected by social norms, cultural norms and everything. So their judgements may differ. Think about companies who try to sell their products and include experts in the process. Toothpaste, washing detergents etc. are exagerated. Although they are experts, they have assumptions which may have flaws. People should question and become skeptical about experts. People should not blindly accept or listen, rather they should open their eyes wide open, face the world, use experts for certain things but be aware of their limitations and also their own.

What do they mean by deliberate practice? What are the essential components of practising deliberately? The person continuing on an activity should respond first why, how and when to perform it to become an expert. 

Although this article is a short one, it gives a brief information about six common characteristics that expert teachers have.

And to explain to you how I visualize the concept of an expert teacher I want to share a film trailer named as "Stand and Deliver (1988)" which is about a mathematics teacher and his unusual teaching methods and classroom management techniques that help his desperate students in a rural school pass the advanced calculus exam. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG-Cxs8eYkI

The first problem is defined by Dan Lortie in The Apprenticeship of Observations (1975) as being acquainted with the task of teaching.The professor on the video emphasizes that in the countries where immagrants are most successful, teachers spend 50% of their work planning lessons, observing other classes and negotiating about the lessons. She also touches the problem of 'Toxic Environment' of schools for teachers where they gossip about their students and colleagues. She gives a successful school example in which professional development is a part of school culture. Can you list additional problems for teacher expertise faced in schools?

Although sharing ideas and instances about the classroom hours and students can be accepted as components of adult learning for teachers, gossiping about them can be a real barrier to develop on those areas. In my teaching experience, we prohibited the conversations about the negative issues happened in the school.

Research on how deliberate practice combined with innate abilities lead to expertise.

Elanur, Actually, I was trying to find the movie that you mentioned about high-wire actor (Petit). Then I realized that you have already written here. What made me so impressed about him that he worked on that about 6 years. I have read somewhere "experts view mistakes as opportunities to learn", however, this man had no chance to do mistake. the story of the guy in this link http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2015/09/30/the_real_story_behind_philippe_petits_highwire_act_in_the_walk.php

Yes Yasin I totally agree with you about the mistake part but this man dedicated his life to perform on the wire between Twin Towers so I thought that someone who dedicates oneself to perform in a particular area develops expertise in that area eventually and we can call him an expert in being a juggler even he put his life in danger. By the way this is an extreme example of being an expert. I just try to make connections between dedication and developing an expertise through this example.

The study reveals how consumers increase their knowledge when they were posed to extend their existing knowledge and experience. When the learners were assumed to be consumers of knowledge, can this study be a good pathway to understand how people learn?

What I understood from this article is that to move from novice position to expert position, one should increase the range of their experiences. That's why novice consumers experience on a particular product. Am I right in my conclusion to this article?

Another interesting study about expertise similar to the video related to chess players " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWuJqCwfjjc&feature=player_embedded ". Should we use and extend the experts points of view while producing new technological tools for learning?

Professor John Loughran of Monash University shares his ideas about how to become an expert teacher. Do you agree? What are your individual opinions about how to become an expert teacher? Metacognitive abilities? Ability of selecting among procedures?

CORVALLIS, Ore. - English learners are more likely to become proficient English speakers if they enter kindergarten with a strong initial grasp of academic language literacy, either in their primary language or in English, a new analysis from Oregon State University has found.

Even if someone would be an expert, the things that he can do have a boundary. Do not expect impossible thing from experts. this video is a good example for this.

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.

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 curriculum of Concordia Language Villages immersion programs distinguishes itself by being designed on the following precepts. Students participate in a grand simulation that creates a purposeful 24/7 environment where participants engage in a community of learners. This setting, centered around community-based learning, creates a focused and supportive environment that facilitates learning from peers and mentors alike.

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.

A short funny video about situated learning. A teacher takes students to the supermarket so that they naturally learn basic subtraction in Math.

Situated cognition theory

I like this website; it gives the connection between situated learning and current educational necessities like modeling, scaffolding. In the class, these are expected from us and it really helps students visualize the target point. Thank you for sharing it with us.

A case study in situated learning

When situated learning theory (SLT) is investigated, it can be seen that most of the articles or documents mention learning by doing within an actual context. The first thing that comes to mind is the real world environment while someone mentions the SLT. What if we want to form a "legitimate peripheral participation" environment to learn a concept by the boundaries of online platforms? How can we design online platforms by using situated learning theory?

"Participation Learning becomes a social process dependent upon transactions with others. Learning is not separated from the world of action but exists in robust, complex, social environments made up of actors, actions, and situations. How to incorporate participation in online learning? *Create discussion boards to enable students to reflect socially *Encourage engagement in discussions and issues presented *Require students to present/defend their arguments in forums, discussion groups, bulletin boards *Encourage students to engage in critical reflection with other *Instructors should continually assess the growth of the student, and let the student know " These are the principles applied in our 542 course. We are experiencing situated cognition in progress.