Having studied music and drafting, I could not be more enthused with any other educational methodology as I am with cognitive apprenticeship.
The teacher who uses this approach doesn’t teach inert musical, mathematical, historical, or engineering facts divorced from real world situations: (s)he teaches the student how to think like a musician, a mathematician, a historian, or an engineer. By doing so, according to DeBruijn (1995), the instructor allows the student to acquire “cognitive and metacognitive knowledge and skills by means of observation and guided practice.”
In its most basic form, cognitive apprenticeship begins with four teaching strategies: modeling, scaffolding, coaching, and then fading. This is precisely what the music teacher does when he shows the young music student how to play an instrument. He demonstrates how it is done, explaining all of the “how’s and why’s”, after which it is the student’s turn to begin to follow the lead of the teacher, and as (s)he gains more and more confidence with his/her newly acquired skill, the teacher begins to withdraw his/her pedagogical presence, until finally the student is able to perform in public without the need of being coached by the instructor.
Once the student has achieved an acceptable degree of competence at the newly acquired skill, (s)he then has an opportunity to articulate his/her problem solving strategies to the instructor, who in turn reflects on the student’s cognitive processes, making the student’s problem solving process perceivable. Finally the cognitive apprenticeship enters into the exploration phase, where the student is able to create and solve his/her own problems.
Also, interestingly enough, evaluation is frequently done by means of nonconventional testing methods, most popularly portfolios. Rather than matching and multiple-choice items, the apprentice is responsible to submit samples of his/her work for instructor approval. This, too, is related to real-world situations, where the test of one’s competence is determined by the quality of the product.
Debruijn cites Resnick (1987) as saying that “(l)earning at school is considered to be an activity in which knowledge and skills are isolated from their practical uses, whereas, in normal life, knowledge cannot be isolated from the activities in which it is required.” Hopefully cognitive apprenticeship will enable us to steer away from antiquated methodologies having little if anything to do with real world situations and towards those which are transferable and relevant to situations outside the halls of academe.
I am personally extremely impressed with this methodology and find it very usable in an online situation. In particular, as a drafter, I can envision a situation where I would be able to create a drawing in, say, Google Sketchup, explaining why I am using the commands available in the program to create a 3-D drawing. A collaborative website such as Dimdim, which would allow me to see the drawing as it is being produced would easily allow me to coach my student. Once the student has demonstrated an acceptable level of skill, I could send him/her a drawing, say “here’s your project, good luck” and have him/her submit the results for evaluation. The student would eventually have the opportunity to create his/her own drawings with all of the problems that the drawing entailed, and would be able to synthesize the problem-solving strategies previously learned for use in their own drawings. What an exciting concept! The only problem I see with this is having a superabundance of apprentices. There are only so many hours in the day. I suppose that the simple solution to that would be to have master drafters under my supervision who could help me with all the Sketchup artists trying to achieve greatness at the craft! :P
I like how you said: "(s)he teaches the student how to think like a musician, a mathematician, a historian, or an engineer." I think this is a good way to summarize this model. This model seems to be a great way for students to walk a mile in another persons' shoes, and really understand how they think.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you made some great connections of how to use/and carry out this method effectively in the classroom. I like the idea you presented about Google Sketchup and explaining why you use certain commands.
I also like the apprentice approach where students have to learn by doing in real world situations. I like the use of a portfolio that students build through out the year. The T/F and Multiple Choice tests are a poor way of assessing what students have learned. It would be nice if the NC EOG's also allowed some portfolios of students work, to show what they have learned over the year.
ReplyDeleteAl,
ReplyDeleteI loved the video clip. There were some interesting points made such as during fading, the instructor creates an environment so students know where to go for further support. It was interesting that it was mentioned that modeling, scaffolding, and fading is a challenge (that should be done properly) with pedagogy used in schools.
I liked the fact that you mentioned that instructors such train students to think like a musician or teacher etc. It is very important for the learners to have real world experience that coincides with assessments generally done through portfolios not through quizzes or tests. The online resource of Google Sketchup seems like a useful tool for art teachers and drafters.
I loved your post and thoughts - and you are so right - musicians would never become masters without this teaching/learning approach. I'm still hung on the aspect of "coaching" with this model in an on-line course - and how to make the coaching authentic and real time and not video clip tutorials.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your thoughts and conversations.
-Jess