Cognitive Apprenticeship and Component Display Theory
Learning Theory Comparison
Cognitive Apprenticeship
Basics:
- Introduced by Collins, Brown, and Newman (1989)
- “embeds the learning of skills and knowledge in their social and functional context” (p. 454)
- “teach the processes that experts use to handle complex tasks” (p. 457)
- Conceptual and factual knowledge used “in solving problems and carrying out tasks” (p. 457)
- Important instructional strategies are modeling, coaching, scaffolding, fading and reflection
- Also emphasizes the importance of “self-correction and –monitoring skills” (p. 458) through the use of “discussion, alternation of teacher and learner roles, and group problem solving” (p. 458)
Strengths:
- Apprenticeship learning has endured for thousands of years
- Proven teaching strategies such as modeling, coaching, scaffolding, and fading
- Successful application in a variety of educational settings and subjects
Limitations:
- Situated learning in a classroom or training setting cannot ever hope to duplicate the complexity of the real world (Vera and Simon, 1993)
- May be time-consuming to implement; resources may simply not be present to implement such a strategy
Component Display Theory
Basics:
- Introduced by Merrill (1983, 1994)
- Like cognitive apprenticeship, it is a cognitive theory of instruction
- Two broad categories of learning outcomes: performance and content
- Objectives should be classified within the Performance-Content Matrix and should indicate conditions, behavior and criteria
- Performance broken into three categories: remember, use, and find
- Content broken into four categories: facts, concepts, procedures, and principles
- Performance
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- Remember – “search memory in order to reproduce or recognize some item of information previously known”
- Use – “apply some abstraction to a specific case”
- Find – “derive or invent a new abstraction” (1994, p. 112)
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- Content
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- Facts – “arbitrarily associated pieces of information”
- Concepts – “groups of objects, events, or symbols that all share some common characteristics”
- Procedures – “an ordered sequence of steps necessary for the learner to accomplish some goal”
- Principles – “or predictions of why things happen in the world” (1994, p. 113)
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- Primary Presentation Forms
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- Content mode represents the level of specificity of the subject matter
- Presentation mode deals with the response expected from the learners
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Strengths:
- Organization of both content and learner performance into a single matrix
- Primary Presentation Forms serve to guide the presentation of the instruction itself, allowing the instructor to ensure that instruction remains aligned with objectives
Limitations:
- Micro-level scope concerning ideas and concepts may not be applied at broader level by learners (Merrill, Li, & Jones, 1991)
- Relatedly, the question of time and resources comes into play; each concept would require a unique performance-content matrix
References:
- Collins, A., Brown, J., & Newman, S. (1989). 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: Erlbaum.
- Merrill, M.D. (1983). Component display theory. In C.M. Reigeluth (Ed.) Instructional design theories and models: An overview of their current status. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
- Merrill, M. D. (1994). Instructional design theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.
- Merrill, M. D., Li, Z., & Jones, M. K. (1991). Limitations of first generation instructional design. Educational Technology, 30(1), 7-11. Retrieved from http://mdavidmerrill.com/Papers/
- Vera, A. H., & Simon, H. A. (1993). Situated action: A symbolic interpretation. Cognitive Science, 17(1), 7-48.
page revision: 15, last edited: 03 Jul 2010 19:48