Part+II.+Explanation+of+Unit+Plan

=Part II. Explanation of Unit Plan - How it Relates to Theories of Situated Cognition = (Return to Part I. Page)

Assignment from Dr. Young :
"While Ben has asked you to compose a lesson, I would ask you to accompany that with an explanation to the teacher (and to this 5th grader as well) explaining how this lesson puts situated cognition into practice… what ideas and concepts from situated cognition apply to the lesson and the resultant learning, and any ways you think taking a situated cognition perspective shaped the learning environment your lesson hopes to establish".

I. **How the lesson puts Situated Cognition into practice - Ideas and concepts from Situated Cognition applied in the lesson and the learning**
__Cognitive apprenticeship and social construction of knowledge__ - Scaffolding is provided through 1) "built in" advice in early stages and later 2) the option to seek help from experts and other players [MFY: I don't think it really has a social construction of knowledge component yet, but it could, given the final assignment could be to contribute to a hints/cheats site instead of just blogging or reporting] __Goal of tuning attention and intention__ - Use of a generator set of experiences designed to allow the learner, through repeated trials, to differentiate and adopt best practices for evaluating relevance and reliability when reading online sources __Anchored instruction__ - Use of an anchor problem with multiple solution paths to engage the learner and allow opportunities for taking multiple perspectives as the problem is explored (CTGV, 1990) __Situated assessment__ - Assessment is built in to the learning environment in a way that helps the learner improve performance and provides the teacher with information on the learner's intention-driven interactions as he proceeds through the game __Situated learning__ - the outcome behavior goals of the unit plan (attunement to relevance and reliability invariants of online sources) are important to participation in the community of practice of schools, families, society, etc.

**II. How taking a Sit Cog perspective shaped the learning environment**
The way we collaborated to create the unit plan exemplifies the way knowledge construction is embraced by theories of situated cognition, through social construction. The wiki allowed us to negotiate meaning as we worked on solving the "problem" of how to create this unit plan.

We thought about the experiences we would want the learners to have that would provide authentic opportunities to notice features of online sites that indicate relevance or that can be questioned or viewed from different perspectives. We also thought carefully about how to engage the learners with a context and tasks that would be meaningful to them (and fun).

Video game learning environments afford the kinds of experiences that are valued in a situated view. First, it is possible to create contexts that may not be possible in a classroom, which induce the learner to adopt intentions relevant to the learning objectives. Through the use of an anchor problem, the unit is situated within a macrocontext (CTGV, 1990) offering a variety of related experiences that allow the learner to take different perspectives on how the problem can be approached and solved. The virtual world of the game space allows the learner, through an avatar, to have embodied experiences as she perceives and acts. Technology affords the ability to provide "just in time" teaching through built in feedback mechanisms that can provide expert modeling of decision making thought processes (cognitive apprenticeship), information to help the learner take an optimal path, and help features available on an as needed basis.

We incorporated situated assessment that will "optimize the path of the agent through the environment" (Young et al, 1997) by providing immediate feedback that relates to choices (intentions), adaptive "help" features that relate to making more expert choices (perceiving/knowing), and visible changes in the environment (happy kiwi, mad kiwi, kiwi treats) that relate to the agent's choices and interactions.

The final assessment task requires the learner to reflect on his experiences and explain how and why he made the choices he did. This project is shared with the teacher and class. When the teacher makes the final learning project clear from the beginning of the unit, the learner is framed as an "author" (Engle, 2006). This encourages autonomy and increases the likelihood for transfer by raising the learner's awareness of the importance of contributing to the knowledge of the community. It makes clear to the learner that he has an important role in the construction of knowledge related to solving a problem of this type.

Answer to Morgan B's questions: “Why do some students get better than others?” and "What factors concerning your research help students get better grades?"
Hi Morgan,

We appreciate your interest and your very direct questions regarding learning from a situated cognition perspective. Both of your questions get at the same types of problems that learning scientists everywhere are interested in and choose to investigate. Thank you for joining us in our search!

1. //"get better than others"// : We are very interested in how some people are better than others at dealing with situations. So, we look at how people handle what is around them, how people know what to do when they run into a problem, and how people learn. We found that some people are better because they can notice things better than other people. Everyone sees problems differently; you might notice one thing and your friend might notice another. How you solve the problem is going to depend on what you notice. So if you want to get better than others, you have to get better at noticing things. You can get better at noticing things by looking at what is the same and different about all kinds of experiences you have.

2. // "factors...concerning your research help students get better grades?" //: Well, the easy answer to getting good grades is "Do what your teacher says!" But, do you just want to get better grades or do you want to learn more too? In our research we want to help students learn and not just get a better grade.

We believe that the context, or environment, is very important to learning. We think that some kinds of learning environments give you more ways to act in new and creative ways. Environments that are like real-life situations are better for learning because what we learn is connected to where, when, how and why we learn. Most importantly, we need to learn with other people, because we learn from others while they learn from us. So for example, if you want to learn to speak Chinese, the best way would be to go to China and speak with Chinese people. Since that probably isn’t possible, the next best thing is to pretend to be in situations where Chinese is spoken, everyday situations where people are communicating to do the things they do in their daily life, like buying things in a store, making a phone call, or talking about their favorite TV show. It would be best to speak Chinese with others who speak Chinese very well because then they can offer you personal advice about how they think when they want to use the right words and say them the right way. This would be better than just reading a conversation in Chinese from a book, because when you speak with someone in a real conversation, you are much more active. When you are more active, there are more things available for you to notice to help you learn. When speaking to another person, you can notice if they are smiling or frowning, if they are loud or soft, or if they use the same word many times. Later, if you had a chance to go to China and were in the same kinds of situations that you had practiced, you would be more likely to know what to say.

Here are some other ways we think you can learn better based on our research: Focus on how you interact with what's around you. Pay attention to details. Be active and use your whole body as much as you can while learning. Try to solve problems. Play good video games (your parents and teachers can help you pick out which ones are good). Get people to tell you how you are doing, so that you can get better. Listen to experts (like your teacher) talk about how they think and what they notice when they do what they do. Always ask a lot of questions and then seek out people to help you find the answers. Go outside and play with friends often (listen to their ideas and share your ideas with them).