Introduction
MEANING OF THE THEORY(COGNITIVE APPRENTICESHIP)
Long time ago,people were learning via apprenticeship. This is a process through which a more experienced person assists a less experienced one, providing support and examples, so the less experienced person gains new knowledge and skills. Apprenticeship is the process through which a parent may teach a child how to tie her shoes and the process through which a person may learn to become a chef or a tailor. Often larger skills are broken into smaller ones, and supports are provided so that tasks that are given to the apprenticing learner are within the reach of the learner’s current ability level or zone of proximal development (ZPD) (Vygotsky, 1978). Also critical to apprenticeship is that tasks must be representative of authentic skills and not mostly classroom-type exercises.
Definition of the terms.
APPRENTICESHIP:
A process through which a more experienced
person assists a less experienced one by
way of demonstration, support, and examples.
Cognitive apprenticeship: Is defined as “learning through guided experience on cognitive and metacognitive, rather than physical, skills and processes” by Collins et al. (1989, p. 456)
Coginitive apprenticeship is an accurate description of how learning occurs, and is the instructional strategies that have been extracted from these observations of everyday life can be designed into more formal learning contexts with positive effect.
. expert demonstration (modeling) and guidance (coaching) in the initial phases of learning are essentiall. Learners are challenged with tasks slightly more difficult than they can accomplish on their own and must rely on assistance from and collaboration with others to achieve these tasks
advantage of learning by cognitive apprenticeshipas opposed to traditional classroom-based methodsis the opportunity to see the subtle, tacit elementsof expert practice that may not otherwise be explicatedin a lecture or knowledge-dissemination format.
Task
.THE TASK OF THE THEORY
1:Increasing complexity refers to the con- struction ofa sequence oftasks such that more and more of the skills and con- cepts necessary for expert performance are required (Burton, Brown, & Fischer, H)8-+; White, 1984). For example, in reading increasing task complexity might consist of progressing from relatively short texts, with simple syntax and concrete description, to texts in which complexly interrelated ideas and the use ofabstractions make interpretation more difficult.
2. Increasing diversity refers to the construction of sequence of tasks in which a wider and wider variety of strategies or skills are required. As a skill becomes well learned, it becomes increasingly impor- tant that tasks requiring a diversity of skills and strategies be introduced so that the student learns to distinguish the con- ditions under which they do (and do not) apply. Moreover, 3S students learn •to apply skills to more diverse problems, theirstrategiesacquirea richer netofcon- textual associations and thus are more readily available for usc with unfamil- iar or novel problems. For mathematics, taskdiversity might be attained by inter- mixing very different types of problems, such as asking students to solve problems that require them to use a combination of algebraic and geometric concepts and techniques.
3. Global beforelocalSkills. In tailoring (Lave, 1988) apprentices helps the students to learn to put together a garment from precut pieces before learning to cut out the pieces themselves.
Process
1:Modeling involves an expert performing a task so that the students can observe and build a conceptual model ofthe processes that are required to accomplish it. In cognitive domains, this requires the exter- nalization of usually internal processes and activities. For example, a teacher might model the reading process by
reading aloud in one voice, while verbalizing her thought processes in another voice (ColJins & Smith, illS:!). In mathematics, Schoenfeld (1985) models the process of solving problemsby having studentsbring difficult new problems for him to solve in cla
2. Coaching consists of observing students while they carry out a task and offering challenges, scaffolding, feed- back, modeling, reminders, and new tasks aimed at bringing their performance closer to expert performance. Coaching is related to specific events orproblems that arise as the student attempts to accom- plish the task. In Palincsar and Brown's (1984) reciprocal teaching of reading, the teacher coaches students while they ask questions, clarify their difficulties, gener- ate summaries, and make predictions.
3· Scaffolding refers to the supports the teacher provides to help the studentcarry out the task. Coaching refers broadly to all the different ways that coaches foster learning, whereas scaffolding refers more narrowly to the supports provided to the learner. These supports can take either the form ofsuggestions or help, as in Palincsar and Brown's (11)84) reciprocal teaching, or they can take the form of physical supports, as with the cue cards used by Scardamalia, Bereiter, and Steinbach (1984) to facilitate writing, or the short skis used to teach downhil1 ski- ing (Burton, Brown, & Fischer, 1984). Fad- ing involves the gradual removal of sup- ports until students are on their own.
4: Articulation includes any method of get- ting students to explicitly state their knowledge, reasoning, or problem solving proceSSes in a domain. Inquiry teaching is a strategy ofquestioning students to lead them to articulate and refine their understanding. Also, teachers can encouragestudents to articulate their thoughts as they carry out their problem solving, For example, an inquiry teacher in reading might question students about why one summary ofthe text is good hut another is poor, in order to get them to formulate an explicit model ofa good summary.
5:Reflection involves the processes with those ofan expert, another student, and ultimately, an internal cog- nitive model of expertise. Reflection is enhancedby theuseofvarious techniques for reproducing or "replaying" the per- formances ofboth expert and novice for comparison. Some form of "abstracted replay," in which the critical features of expertand studentperformance are highlighted, is desirable (Collins & Brown, 1988). For reading or writing, methods to encourage reflection might consist of recording students as they think out loud and then replaying the tape for compari- son with thethinking ofexpertsand other students.
6. ExpLoration involves guiding students to a mode of problem solving on their own. Enabling them to do exploration is critical, if they are to learn how to frame questions or problems that are interesting and that they can solve. For example, the teacher might send the students to the library to investigate and write about theories as to why the dinosaurs disappeared.
Evaluation
The essential way people get better at doing things is by thinking about what they are going to do beforehand, by trying to do what they have planned, and by reflecting back on how well what they did came oul. If they can articulate criteria for evaluating what they did, this will help them as they plan what to do on the next cycle. The wide availability of computers and other record· ing technologies makes performances easier to produce and to reflect on. For example, students can now produce their own news broadcasts, musical performances, or plays, eitheron audiotape, videotape, orcable tele· vision, and send them to other schools or to parents. Furthermore, they can play these back, reflect upon them, andedit them unlil they are polished. One ofthe best examples oftheuse oftechnologyfor recording perfor- mances has been in Arts Propel (Gardner, 1991) with its cycle of performing, reflect- ing upon the performance in terms of a set ofcriteria, and then performing again. Most educational practice has not recognized .the power ofthis learning-cycle approach.
Conclusion
Hence the use of the cognitive apprenticeship has brought alot of the advantages in the learning process to the llearners ,this is because the use of these theory enables the learners to acquire thse skills such as through exploration process, reflectio,.Also the teachers should support the students in their learning so as to make them to understand well the studies.
Also the cognitive apprenticeship theory is applied in societies such as in tailoring, and in other varrious activties.