Cognitive Apprenticeship Approach Research Articles

Using virtual teacher PD to support implementation of a historical literacy curriculum

PurposeThis study aims to explore how teachers in a large, diverse district could use a complex adolescent literacy curriculum, and it coincided with the start of the coronavirus 2019 pandemic, also a time of great upheaval for this nation. The authors and district partners collaboratively designed document sets that could help students explore socially complex historical topics with discipline-specific reading and writing support. These challenges led to fully virtual PD and redesigned cognitive tools and lesson materials that could be used in a fully distanced learning environment.Design/methodology/approachPD and data collection were ongoing and iterative, as the authors' goals were to understand variability in teachers' understanding and how the social unrest in the nation and the need for distance learning would influence their application of our curriculum. Data sources included teacher artifacts, interviews and implementation surveys and anonymized student work samples. The third author wrote memos during webinars and district meetings. The authors employed a grounded theory approach to analyze teachers’ evolving understandings of how to teach students to make judgments, their lesson differentiation and their attention to social justice issues.FindingsTeachers who attended the authors' online PD increased their knowledge of the authors' cognitive apprenticeship (CA) approach to instruction, demonstrating more sophisticated understandings of important historical thinking skills and the need to provide students with explicit instruction and appropriate cognitive scaffolds. By the end of the year, teachers also showed ease in using new technological platforms and a more flexible use of disciplinary thinking scaffolds in ways the authors hoped. Finally, teachers in the authors' sample (and their students) frequently made connections between topics and sources in the authors' curriculum and ongoing societal problems (such as systemic racism) in this nation.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors' original sample of teachers was over 70; however, this number eventually fell to nine teachers (about 12.5% of the eligible participants) due to many ongoing challenges (e.g. teaching while parenting) during this time period. The authors note that teachers who remained engaged with the authors had over 10 years of experience and all but one had at some point been in a leadership position such as a team lead or department head. It is possible that experience teachers found on the authors' curriculum intervention to be too challenging to implement during the pandemic.Practical implicationsOnline PD can be successful when sessions focus on content that teachers will use with students. We provided video models showing teachers how to teach historical reading and writing using the authors' tools and supports authors' platform. Although brief, the authors gave teachers opportunities for collaborative practice during webinars, and time to share challenges related to virtual teaching. In return, teachers shared what was working for them and allowed the authors to use anonymized student materials as the basis for subsequent materials for teaching students to make historical judgments.Social implicationsAll students, including those with learning or attentional disabilities/difficulties, emergent bilingual students, underrepresented students or marginalized students, must learn to grapple with complex historical and political information. Doing so will support their ability to make sense of conflicting and/or politicized information that pervades the media today and to judge for themselves what counts as evidence and truth.Originality/valueAlthough there are a small number of teachers, this study shows that a strong research partnership between a university and district office can support the successful implementation of a complex historical literacy curriculum that allows students to explore social justice issues while learning important disciplinary literacy skills. Future work will share student learning outcomes.

Development of a digital training for social and emotional competences for medical assistants in vocational education and training in Germany

This paper describes a digital training for social and emotional competences for prospective medical assistants (MAs) in Germany. Social and emotional competences (SEC) are necessary for the collaboration with colleagues as well as for the contact with clients, patients or customers. The German dual system of vocational education and training (VET) therefore considers them as essential parts of the profile of most training occupations. Nevertheless, few materials exist so far for the systematic training of these competences. In former studies three social and emotional competences have been identified as essential for MAs: emotion regulation, perspective coordination and communication strategies. At the same time development needs have been identified for all of them. To address these needs the three hours online training programme SECOTrain (Social and Emotional Competence Training) has been developed, which offers separate training sessions for all three competences. The aim of the paper is to depict how the fostering of social and emotional competences can be approached via a digital training, report our experiences with this endeavour and to discuss associated advantages as well as challenges and ways to deal with them. Digital formats offer new possibilities and chances for education and training, as they facilitate access to the content in a standardized and efficient way. An independent processing of trainings is made possible, regardless of time and teacher. At the same time, this comes along with a risk of overstraining some learners, as problems of understanding or motivation may occur. SECOTrain transfers pedagogical ideas into the context of digital learning to reduce these risks as much as possible. Each of the three training sessions follows the principles of the Cognitive Apprenticeship approach and is inspired by existing theories and trainings. Video sequences of typical critical interaction situations serve as material for explanation, application and reflection to support a strong practical orientation. Effects of the training will be evaluated in a pretest–posttest-follow-up experimental design. The paper presents goals and content as well as methods, pedagogical principles and theoretical foundation of SECOTrain. Furthermore, results of a small pilot study are presented and discussed with regard to further adjusting the training to the needs of the target group. At the end, an outline of the planned evaluation is given.

Cognitive apprenticeship in vocational students mathematical decision making skills

Exploring the decision-making abilities of undergraduate students, including students from vocational education backgrounds, is the main priority in the achievement of mathematics learning in general and in Calculus courses particularly. Decision-making processes require cognitive guidance through activities describing in detail the systematic steps of each process. It is implicitly said as part of a cognitive apprenticeship procedure. There are claims that students with a vocational education background can develop their academic and practical potential more through a cognitive apprenticeship model. In addition, using video as visual media learning allows students to sharpen their skills. Therefore, the study aims to explore the distinction in achievement and improvement of mathematical decision-making skills between undergraduate students who learn with a Video-assisted Cognitive Apprenticeship approach (CAV), and they are who receive Cognitive Apprenticeship learning (CA) with conventional learning. A quantitative study with the Static-Group Pretest-Posttest Design was employed as a methodology in the research. Based on the research stage, there are differences in achievement and improvement of student decision-making skills with a review of the type of vocational school between undergraduate students.

Exploring the cognitive apprenticeship approach in teacher education: a case study of an early childhood practicum experience

ABSTRACT High quality field or practicum experiences are important for preparing preservice teachers for the profession. Studies suggest preservice teachers rate their practicum experiences more favourably when their cooperating teachers mentor them using apprenticeship-type practices. There is scant research on how such an approach is used in early childhood practicum settings. Using a case study design, the researcher investigated how the teaching methods of the cognitive apprenticeship (CA) could be used to support a year-long early childhood practicum. Twenty junior year practicum students and two cooperating teachers participated in the study. Data were collected from interviews, focus groups, and observations. Findings indicate the methods of the CA approach supported teaching and learning at the practicum site because of intentional support for shared practice among participants, gradual release of support from cooperating teachers, and because the practicum was nested in a community where relationships and collaboration were prioritized.

Learning LXD Through LXD: Applying Conceição and Howles' Framework for Designing Online Learning Experiences

Learning experience design (LXD) builds upon instructional design by incorporating user experience design, user-centered design, and design thinking. While instructional design focuses on creating instruction that meet specific learning objectives, LXD takes a more holistic approach by considering learners' needs, goals, and motivations to create engaging e-courses. Despite e-learning's growing popularity, many online courses employ outdated approaches and technologies that fail to engage modern learners. Using a cognitive apprenticeship approach and Conceição and Howles’ (2021) Integrated Framework for Designing the Online Learning Experience, this design case chronicles the redesign of an online course whereby faculty and students experience LXD through LXD.

Data science knowledge integration: Affordances of a computational cognitive apprenticeship on student conceptual understanding

AbstractThis study implements a computational cognitive apprenticeship framework for knowledge integration of Data Science (DS) concepts delivered via computational notebooks. This study also explores students' conceptual understanding of the unsupervised Machine Learning algorithm of K‐means after being exposed to this method. The learning of DS methods and techniques has become paramount for the new generations of undergraduate engineering students. However, little is known about effective strategies to support student learning of DS and machine learning (ML) algorithms. The research questions are: How do students conceptualize their understanding of an unsupervised ML method after engaging with interactive visualizations designed using the computational cognitive apprenticeship approach? How do the affordances of the interactive visualizations support or hinder student knowledge integration of an unsupervised machine learning method? Design‐based research allowed for the iterative design, implementation, and validation of the pedagogy in the context of a working classroom. For this, data collection methods often take the form of student artifacts. We performed a qualitative content analysis of students' written responses and reflections elicited during the learning process. Results suggest that the computational cognitive apprenticeship promoted knowledge integration. After interacting with the computational notebooks, most students had accurate conceptions of the goal and the nature of the method and identified factors affecting the output of the algorithm. Students found it useful to have a concrete representation of the method, which supported its conceptual understanding and showcased the acquisition of strategic knowledge for its appropriate execution. However, we also identified important misconceptions students held about the algorithm.

Peti Diklat: Sebuah Model Flipped Classroom dengan Pendekatan Cognitive Apprenticeship untuk Pelatihan Guru Baru

This research aims to improve the Kaeophanuek & Chookerd flipped classroom design by accommodating activities in the form of practice and simulation of knowledge gained in real life to be more suitable to apply in the workplace. This study used Research and Development (R&D). Preliminary research was conducted at the Integrated Islamic School involving 15 new teachers from Kindergarten, Elementary School, Junior High School, Senior High School, and Vocational Schools. The results of this study will develop a Flipped Classroom with a Cognitive Apprenticeship approach for training new teachers named PETI DIKLAT. To realize this model, research was conducted using the Integrated Learning Design Framework (ILDF) development model combined with the cart learning design model.

Learning the trade – recognising the needs of aspiring adventure sports professionals

ABSTRACT This paper aims to stimulate debate and prompt further research regarding the training, development and Higher Education (HE) of aspiring adventure professionals (AP's). The design of the paper draws on 10 years of observations and trends within the HE outdoor degree teaching sector, in tandem with the authors' own extensive professional outdoor careers. Initial findings indicate the role and significance of Professional Judgement and Decision Making (PJDM) in professional practice within adventure sports (AS) coaching and leadership. Consequently, PJDM is found to be a vital element of the education of the AP. The training and practice of these PJDM skills is a situated cognition that is conspicuous in its absence within many coach and leader education programmes where the AP is required to balance pedagogical and welfare demands in consequential environments. A cognitive apprenticeship approach is advocated which builds on recent articles highlighting the importance of PJDM in such domains.

A Model for Developing Instructional Design Professionals for Higher Education Through Apprenticeship: Blending Theory and Practice

In light of the growing number of instructional designers (IDs) of diverse educational and professional backgrounds in higher education, there is a need for formalized professional development programs. Currently no systematic pathway exists for equipping novice IDs with the requisite knowledge, skills, and experiences for successful performance and career growth. This article introduces the Development of Instructional Designers Apprenticeship (DIDA) model, comprised of four stages: (1) Observation and Modeling, (2) Tasks with Coaching, (3) Contextualized Practice, and (4) Reflection and Exploration. In this cognitive apprenticeship approach, an expert ID guides a novice through a continuum of tasks that graduate in level of difficulty over time. Case studies and sample tasks for each stage of development are provided as guides for implementation.

Sustainable Development of Hotel Food and Beverage Service Training: Learning Satisfaction with the Situated Cognitive Apprenticeship Approach

The main purpose of this study is to explore the impact of the cognitive apprenticeship teaching approach in food and beverage (F&B) service training courses on learning satisfaction. This study is a quasi-experimental research design conducted using pretest–post-test nonequivalent groups. Its research subjects are primarily new employees from the F&B departments of well-known five-star, high-end hotels in Taiwan who must undergo education and training. The new employees are divided into an experimental group and a control group for the eight-week teaching practicum. This study concludes that learning satisfaction achieved through the cognitive apprenticeship teaching approach during the F&B training course is superior to that achieved through the conventional teaching approach of lecturing. An innovative finding of the current research is that regardless of whether cognitive apprenticeship teaching is adopted, the master–apprentice relationship is the most important factor in the five-facet measurement of learning satisfaction. This point also explains why the cognitive apprenticeship approach is a suitable teaching and training strategy. The greatest contribution of this study is that it provides a direction for the application and sustainable development of hotel staff training and offers references for the improvement of future hotel training programs.

Learning How to Design Apps through the Cognitive Apprenticeship Approach and Collaborative Learning in a Taiwanese Classroom

Learning How to Design Apps through the Cognitive Apprenticeship Approach and Collaborative Learning in a Taiwanese Classroom

The Community of Inquiry Model Training Using the Cognitive Apprenticeship Approach to Improve Students' Learning Strategy in the Asynchronous Discussion Forum

The Community of Inquiry Model Training Using the Cognitive Apprenticeship Approach to Improve Students' Learning Strategy in the Asynchronous Discussion Forum

Developing Guided Worksheet for Cognitive Apprenticeship Approach in teaching Formal Definition of The Limit of A Function

This study aims to develop student worksheets that correspond to the Cognitive Apprenticeship learning approach. The main subject in this student worksheet is Functions and Limits with the branch of the main subject is Continuity and Limits of Functions. There are two indicators of the achievement of this learning that are intended to be developed in the student worksheet (1) the student can explain the concept of limit by using the formal definition of limit and (2) the student can evaluate the value of limit of a function using epsilon and delta. The type of research used is development research that refers to the development of Plomp products. The research flow starts from literature review, observation, interviews, work sheet design, expert validity test, and limited trial on first-year students in academic year 2016-2017 in Universitas Serang Raya, STKIP Pelita Pratama Al-Azhar Serang, and Universitas Mathla’ul Anwar Pandeglang. Based on the product development result obtained the student worksheets that correspond to the Cognitive Apprenticeship learning approach are valid and reliable.

Achieving Greater Musical Independence in Ensembles through Cognitive Apprenticeship

Musical independence is a common objective for large-ensemble classes, but traditional, teacher-centric instructional practices for these groups may discourage rather than promote students’ critical thinking and decision making in music. Cognitive apprenticeship provides an instructional approach through which student musicians can develop skills for musical independence, including critical thinking and problem solving, while at the same time maintaining high-quality large ensembles. This process involves three stages of instruction: modeling, coaching, and fading. This article presents examples from several band directors who use a cognitive apprenticeship approach that can be applied to all types of large ensembles to help students develop the skills and competencies needed to engage with music meaningfully on their own, both within and outside the music classroom.

Design of a learning-centered online environment: a cognitive apprenticeship approach

The design of online course materials is rarely informed by learning theories or their pedagogical implications. The goal of this research was to develop, implement and assess a virtual learning environment (VLE), SOFIAA, which was designed using the cognitive apprenticeship model (CAM), a pedagogical model based on learning-centered theory. We present an instructional design case study that reveals the steps taken to improve student performance in a master’s level blended learning course on program evaluation. The case study documents four phases of improving on-line instruction in program evaluation, starting with Online Course Materials (OCM) that contained resources and information required to complete team field projects. In phase 1, quantitative analyses revealed that there was improvement of student test scores using the OCM, however, qualitative analyses of think-aloud sessions found that students failed to attain key course objectives. In phase 2, a team of experts reviewed the materials and suggested ways to improve opportunities for student learning. In phase 3, a (VLE) was designed based on the results of phase 2 using a reconceptualization of CAM as a design model. In phase 4, the VLE was validated using experts’ appraisal of content and presentation, and student achievement, which indicated that use of the VLE led to significant improvement in learning over use of OCM. The design process is discussed in terms of a reconceptualization of CAM as a general strategy for instructional design that can be used to improve both the content and quality of online course materials.

Cognitive apprenticeship as a vehicle for enhancing the understanding and functionalization of organic chemistry knowledge

This paper presents a pedagogical experiment with parallel groups through which the effectiveness of the cognitive apprenticeship model of dealing with the teaching topicCarboxylic acids and their derivativeswas compared with the traditional approach to the elaboration of this topic. This experiment featured the participation of 241 students aged 17, attending their third year of grammar school, natural sciences stream. The experimental group consisted of 118 students, whereas the control group was made up of 123 students. Within the framework of the experiment, a pre-test consisting of items that resembled regular textbook items was used as an instrument for checking how balanced the previously acquired knowledge concerning the teaching topicCarboxylic acids and their derivativesof the students in the two groups was. A post-test was used as an instrument for comparing the effectiveness of the two approaches, and it mostly consisted of items that required the application of the knowledge concerning the teaching topicCarboxylic acids and their derivativesin solving real-life problems. In the pre-test, no statistically significant difference in the overall percentage of correct answers given by the two groups of students was established. In the post-test, the students from the experimental group scored a statistically significant higher percentage of correct answers compared to the students from the control group. On the basis of this, it can be concluded that the applied cognitive apprenticeship approach has the potential to improve the level of students’ understanding of the concepts from the topicCarboxylic acids and their derivatives, as well as the students’ ability to apply the knowledge on the examples from real life.

Teaching Mathematical Modelling and Problem Solving - A Cognitive Apprenticeship Approach to Mathematics and Engineering Education

We describe a course in mathematical modelling and problem solving, intended to provide the students with the appropriate skills to deal with real world problems in science and technology. The course is inquiry-based and centered around approximately 30 reasonably realistic, highly varied and challenging problems, which are solved in pairs. The students are supervised in a cognitive apprenticeship environment, where the teacher uses a range of techniques to align student thinking with expert thinking. After taking the course, most students express and demonstrate a fundamental change in their abilities to think mathematically, in their understanding of the nature of mathematics and its role in their future profession. They also consider it as one of the most important courses in their education. We therefore argue that this kind of course, or similar teaching, should be present in the engineering curriculum.

COMPUTER-BASED LEARNING SOFTWARE FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS

The rapidly evolving technological knowledge required by engineers imposes important challenges on how to best prepare the engineering workforce of the future. Novice engineers are faced with formulating creative solutions to problems they have never seen before; they did not really learn to solve "real world messy problems". Problem-solving in engineering requires the use of disciplinary-based heuristics that are not immediately apparent to novices in the field. The aim of this study is to evaluate and expand engineering education using cognitive apprenticeship as an instructional framework. Cognitive apprenticeship outlines pedagogical strategies that makes visible experts` problem solving heuristics to support novices in becoming more proficient. This work will provide an overview of a computer-based learning environment in a classroom with third- and fourth-year undergraduate students. First, we discuss the implementation of cognitive apprenticeship in the classroom and evaluate the learning outcomes of students with individual differences in learning styles. Second, we apply cognitive apprenticeship principles to guide the design of a Civil Engineering tutor, a computer-based learning environment that serves as a cognitive tool outside the classroom. The design of the software is driven by a cognitive task analysis of several knowledge areas that mediates competency in calculating the snow loads on buildings. This teaching tool includes the main assumptions of the cognitive apprenticeship approach and also defines instructional methods for enhancing learning. We analyze user satisfaction towards the different features of the software and derive some implications for future innovative educational tools.

A cognitive apprenticeship approach to engineering education: the role of learning styles

Prior to the creation of engineering schools, engineering was taught in an apprenticeship style. However, from the onset of formal engineering education, engineering curricula have been based large...

IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION OF A COGNITIVE APPRENTICESHIP APPROACH TO CIVIL ENGINEERING

From the onset of formal engineering education, engineering curricula have been based largely on science and mathematical knowledge. Applied subject based learning is a common teaching model in engineering education programs today. The professor passes information to the students, the newly acquired knowledge is applied to specific problems and communication between students and professor (and between students themselves) is limited. Furthermore, the engineering curriculum may neglect the critical skills that are necessary for a graduate student to be successful in the workplace, namely the reasoning and strategies that experts employ when they acquire knowledge or put it to work to solve complex real-life tasks (Collins et al., 1991). The purpose of this study is to design an optimal learning environment that meets the requirements of particular learning styles. We investigate a novel approach to teaching civil engineering, referred to as cognitive apprenticeship (Collins et al., 1991; Collins, 2006). The cognitive apprenticeship embeds learning in activities and makes deliberate use of the social and physical context. It tries to acculturate students into authentic practices through activity and social interactions in a way similar to that evident in craft apprenticeships. Collins et al. (1991) have developed a conceptual framework to design learning environments according to four principles regarding content, method, sequence and sociology. Traditional teaching practices do not sufficiently emphasize the reasoning and strategies that experts use to acquire knowledge and apply it to solve real-life problems (Collins et al., 1991), nor do they address students’ individual differences with regard to learning style preferences (Lowery, 2009). Therefore, the cognitive apprenticeship approach was implemented and evaluated to teach civil engineering and compared with a traditional teaching approach.Two experiments were conducted in order to compare the traditional and cognitive apprenticeship approach. The first was done with one group of students attending two different courses taught by the same professor. The first course was taught according to a traditional approach and the other, by a cognitive apprenticeship approach. The second experiment was conducted with a different group of students within the same course where one section of the course was taught according to a traditional approach and the other with a cognitive apprenticeship approach.