#6. Cognitive Apprenticeship

If traditional apprenticeship came first, then I think cognitive apprenticeship is a descendent that has evolved for modern times. As Collins puts it, traditional apprenticeship "characterized learning before there were schools" when a novice learner learns a skill through observing and shadowing a master (Collins, 1990, p.491). However, cognitive apprenticeship differs by the ability to apply "methods in diverse settings" (Collins, 1990, p.459). It presents very promising techniques to prepare the student for real life scenarios. There are six methods of teaching in the system: modeling, coaching, scaffolding, articulation, reflection, and exploration (Collins, 1990, p.481). As the student progresses in the course, the instructor retreats to the background in the "fading" process and allows the student to be more self-directed in their learning. Combined with group collaboration and individual study, I think cognitive apprenticeship creates a well-rounded relationship between teachers and students and a better learning environment.

One disadvantage to this system could be time-consuming to plan, create, and implement. If assessments are in the form of essays and projects rather than closed format multiple choice or true/false exams, then the instructor spends more time to evaluate students as well. However, I do think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages because students have access to a range of resources and techniques to learn the course material and it can probably cater to different learning behaviors. Students receive guidance from the instructor (coaching/scaffolding), can discuss and work with peers (articulation), and can individually reflect on their studies and further pursue it through their own interests (reflection/exploration).

From this lesson, I have been reflecting on my internship experience, one at an art museum and another at a broadcast production company. I will speak about the production internship in more detail because I was actually assigned a project. My project was to maintain a database that archived the company's radio production work. The supervisor modeled tasks by first showing me how to log and format each database entry, burn a backup disc, and store it. Then my supervisor "faded", and I was allowed to continue the project independently. My supervisor and his colleagues were available to offer support and information. Participation in weekly meetings afforded me the opportunity to "articulate" my progress and offer related comments and ideas. Though some internships do provide course credit, which would at least have some pedagogical ties and value to traditional education, my production internship was more like a traditional apprenticeship. The company was not directly affiliated with any educational institution and there were no course goals or objectives to follow. Applying whatever knowledge and skills I possessed, I alone was responsible for what I learned and didn't learn.

Instructor involvement is important for foreign language study. Most of the time, the student is a recipient of knowledge which is actually necessary. Without a strong foundation of vocabulary, grammar, and awareness of cultural context, it would be near impossible for students to further explore and reflect on the language on their own. When an instructor says, "Repeat after me...", it is a form of modeling. I frequently lead repetition exercises in my Chinese language class and then give opportunities for students to lead as they become more familiar with the material. I think group work can be assigned to give added practice of listening and conversation. For beginner groups, teachers can provide a written script that students follow and read. As students become more skilled, teachers can assign a scenario with undefined roles that students need to select and expound upon. Example of such a scenario could be telling the students they are at a library and asking them who is there and what conversations could take place. Once students develop a solid language background, can be self-sufficient and able to solve problems such as looking up an unknown word in a dictionary, an even more advanced project could be letting students plan and build an original role play scenario.

As mentioned in the readings, videos, both pre-recorded or streamed live, could be one of the best technological solutions for web-based application of cognitive apprenticeship. As Herrington describes, videos of "experts performing skills" give students a good visual of "the experienced practitioner at work" (Herrington, p.5). Plus, there is the option to replay or revisit the video as needed by the student. So many devices, such as camcorders, cameras, and cell phones, offer video recording cability and give the video medium greater possibility for information exchange and establish it as the medium of choice. Next to consider should be production quality such as clear concept, well-written script, good pacing, camerawork, and continuity and also video quality like resolution of video, load time, and ease of access. Lack of quality would be frustrating and discouraging to both instructors and students and diminish the educational experience.

References:

Collins, A., Brown, J.S., & Newman, S.E. (1990). Cognitive Apprenticeship: Teaching the crafts of reading, writing, and mathematics. In L.B. Resnick (Ed.), Knowing, learning and instruction: Essays in honor of Robert Glaser (pp.453-494). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Herrington, J., & Oliver, R. (n.d.). Critical Characteristics of Situated Learning: Implications for the instructional design of multimedia.

#5. Problem Based Learning

In learning about all the systems so far, problem based learning or PBL seems to give the student the most active role. After being presented with a problem, students are organized into groups, and begin to discuss, research, and analyze as a team. There is opportunity for independent work, as each student attempts to further dissect the problem on their own (Ryan, 1994, p.3).  The instructor and tutors fade into the background and act as facilitators rather than active lecturers. Their role is to guide the groups, help them maintain focus, and possibly step in to resolve any disruptions. Even though students are proceeding through the lesson with limited knowledge, they discover newfound information through research and critical thinking.

Several factors should be in place in order to reap the benefits of problem based learning. For one, students should be equipped with ample resources, such texts, libraries, video and audio supplements, websites, and more, and the ability to access them. In addition to resources, methods of deduction and organization of material in the form of notes, charts, or diagrams, can better help students arrive at conclusions. Since students are still acquiring knowledge in this stage of learning, instructors and tutors should be available to offer assistance and encouragement, and Hung mentions various skills that a successful tutor would possess (Hung, 2003, p.20). Students need to feel a level of comfort with PBL and be clear with the objectives and goals of this system. That will help them take ownership of learning through PBL.

It is true, we have come a long way from the Collaborative Learning Laboratory and E-talk. However, the principles still stand. Different from F2F discussions, tools such as CLL and E-talk allow users to document, save, and share information. Today's tools enhance the process, with a greater flexibility to manipulate documents visually, to customize them to one's needs, and a range of file formats that fit devices from phones to computers.

Considering the many disciplines that adopt PBL, such as healthcare, law, and business, I find it less applicable to foreign language study. I suppose it's because I don't readily connect the term "problem solving" with foreign languages. The solution, which I consider to be the meaning of a character or grammar structure is usually presented to the student. If PBL could be employed, it may work for radical exercises. Students learn the origin of an unknown Chinese character by analyzing the radical, the component of the character that gives it meaning. Using radicals and counting strokes is a method for locating Chinese characters in a dictionary. In order to participate in this exercise, students need a basic knowledge of radicals and to know their way around a Chinese dictionary. Students can work on this exercise in a group and devise creative ways to memorize the meaning, pronunciation, and written form of the character.

The greatest benefit of PBL is helping students acquire social skills through group interaction and the motivation for deeper learning (Hung, 2003). Though this system may not serve every field of study equally, it does address communication skills that prepare the student for the professional workplace and for handling real life situations.

References:

Hung, W., Bailey, J., & Jonassen, D.H. (2003). Exploring the tensions of problem-based learning: Insights from research. New Directions for Teaching and Learning (95), 13-23.

Ryan, C., & Koschmann, T. (1994). The collaborative learning laboratory: A technology-enriched environment to support problem-based learning. In Recreating the Revolution: Proceedings of the 15th Annual National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) (pp.160-167). Boston, MA.

#4. Cooperative Learning

In Johnson's article, an analogy was made between a family farm and cooperative learning (Johnson, Johnson & Smith, 1998, p.2). The family farm reference struck me in particular because it reminded me of my own experience working for the family restaurant. My cultural background has been a lifelong lesson in family values, depending on each other, and learning to tolerate each other. In certain ways, it has shaped my behaviors and how I work in a group. Perhaps social upbringing is one factor that affects how a person perceives cooperative learning. In any case, this week's lesson also sheds light on what I do not know about working in a group.

The explanation of individual, competitive, and cooperative learning puts many of my past educational and professional experiences into perspective. I would advocate a healthy balance of all three types because there are advantages in each. In individual learning, a person learns to think and arrive at solutions independently. Competitive learning may enhance skills like being assertive and proactive. There is a definite need for cooperative learning. As humans, we are inately social creatures, evident in the way we build units like a family, community, and a country. But it needs to be done right. So I enjoyed the articles' focus on ways to make cooperative learning successful.

Millis (2002) gives excellent suggestions on how teachers can conduct a cooperative classroom, pointing out the need for positive interdependence, individual accountability, criterion referenced grading, and monitoring of group behaviors (Millis, 2002). Prior to implementing the system with students, teachers should understand how to assign groups, such as "considering issues of gender mix" (Haller, 2000, 11) and group size, and then how the group is conducted throughout the exercise. Support and training should be made available to teachers, if they are going to "model the appropriate social skills" and pass them onto the students.

Does cooperative learning translate into the professional world? Most likely. I think there are some careers that thrive on competitive edge, such as businesses being able to offer a product or service that would win over a client, while others fields, such as healthcare, depend on teamwork of doctors, nurses, and other specialists to save a patient's life. On the other hand, a business may have separate departments and teams contributing to the final product and a healthcare system may rely on business principles to promote itself above other providers. I feel that individualistic, competitive, and cooperative skills are frequently intertwined within an industry, though one may be more regarded than the other depending on the line of work.

When studying a foreign language, the ultimate goal is to learn to communicate with others in the language. Most parents and students insist on conversation skills as the highest priority, and cooperative learning may contribute to that goal. There was one Chinese language textbook that had grammar exercises called sentence buildup which introduced one character at a time to progressively build itself into a complete sentence. I called on each student to add a character to the sentence, in both verbal and written form. It became a natural group exercise as each student played a part in creating the final sentence. I think this activity can be recreated into a multimedia game. Even online flashcards have been very useful, especially those with the option to attach audio.

Starting Point, one of the resources this week, mentions role play. Coincidentally, it has been one of the exercises I've been contemplating for Chinese class. Last semester, a small individual role play project was assigned. Though the idea was acceptable, some issues did arise which prompted me to reconsider aspects of the project, such as assigning a topic instead of letting the students choose one themselves and providing more content for them to work with. Though I intended to offer students creative freedom with an open-ended topic, it had in fact overwhelmed them instead. With my newfound understanding of cooperative learning, I look forward to applying the proper techniques on an interactive role play project in the near future.

References:

Haller, C. R., Gallagher, V. J., Weldon, T. L., &  Felder, R. M. (2000). Dynamics of peer education in cooperative learning workgroups. Journal of Engineering Education 89(3), 285-293.

Millis, B. J. (2002). Enhancing learning and more! Through cooperative learning. Manhattan, KS: The IDEA Center.

Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Smith, K. A. (1998). Cooperative learning returns To college: What evidence is there that it works? Change, 27-35.

Starting Point: Teaching Entry Level Geoscience. http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/cooperative/index.html

#3. Guided Design

In my opinion, the most appealing element of guided design, also its most defining, is group interaction. As similarly stated in the articles, a problem is presented to the student where several solutions may be possible. According to Trivette, guided design could essentially apply to an array of disciplines from engineering to theater. I've experienced several instances of guided design being applied throughout my education. In a 9th grade physics class, we were split into teams to try and build the fastest car out of rubber bands and found objects. Our car did not perform its best on the first try which meant more recalculations, consideration of materials, and testing alternate solutions. Another example of guided design is collaborative projects in college art courses. It felt very different from many other disciplines for several reasons. One is that the arts thrives on unbridled possibilities for expression. Also it can be challenging to collaborate when artists have their own subjective, sometimes contrasting views. Nevertheless, parameters such as theme, composition, color, use of material and originality are set in an effort to draw perspectives toward a common ground. Critiques are indispensable parts of the project.

As some research by Trivette suggests, guided design may not be an effective system for foreign language courses. Upon consideration, I can see how guided design may not be a completely relevant system. Interaction and dialogue is encouraged while studying a language, but I think it involves more verbal practice and repetition of prepared content rather than problem solving. As the foreign language student progresses and is more able to form original, complete thoughts with a sufficient vocabulary, perhaps guided design can be weaved in to encourage the student to express themselves in various ways. For the instruction of the Chinese language, a possible guided design exercise could be presenting students with the scenario of visiting a Chinese home and asking the students to exchange greetings and display proper cultural etiquette.

Traditionally, group work in guided design probably took place in face to face classes.  However programs such as Skype and Elluminate, which allow voice and video chat on the internet, provide improved opportunities for guided design in online learning. There is flexibility for group work to be done synchronously or asynchronously. Information is shared easily through email, blogs, and Google Docs to name just a few.

While group work is emphasized and reinforced in guided design, I think students must possess or acquire the necessary communication skills in order to thrive in a learning community. Online programs often inform students of netiquette which is particularly useful for the new online learner. The engineering program in Cascada's article sets a good example by incorporating The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People into its lessons to help students develop professional traits. I believe close observations and prompt feedback contribute to the success of groups. Suggestions can be made as needed on how to work productively in a group and special attention should be paid to students who are struggling. Introductory courses especially should be concerned with content as well as how students learn and apply the content.

References:

Casada, M. E., & DeShazer, J. A. (1995). Teaching professionalism, design, and communications to Engineering freshmen. In Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education, Biological and Agricultural Engineering Division (pp. 1381-1385). Anaheim, CA.

Trivette, C. M. (2005). Effectiveness of guided design learning strategy on the acquisition of adult problem-solving skills. Bridges 3(1).