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INTRODUCTION
Learning through experience involves both explicit and implicit learning. Learning in
most educational institutions is designed as a solitary experience, involving isolation from other
learners, and without the interference of the world (Wenger,1998).The value of learning by doing
has been endorsed by notable learning theorists Piaget, Bruner, and Vygotsky. The placement of
learning in a situation for effective experience in the social and cultural aspects of a professional
field is a common practice for the high skilled fields of the arts, medicine, law and teaching
(Lave and Wenger, 1999). Theorists Lave and Wenger (1999) have developed a theory of
situated cognition that centers on the practice of learning through experience. Legitimate
peripheral participation is a process of situated cognition derived from the cognitive theory of
practice.
mental processes take in sensory information for learning (Driscoll,2000). Cognition is based on
a machine-modeled system of inputs through a registration of the senses processed through the
outputs of memory (Roblyer and Edwards, 2000). The cognitive theory of learning is concerned
with a change in the mental processes resulting in learning. The cognitive theory is the act of
processing information through which knowledge is gained by one’s perception. The process of
learning happens when the brain conceives a thought that involves a change of mental
processed, and put into memory resulting in an increased capability (Driscoll,2000). The
information processed is stored into memory through the senses (Driscoll,2000). The ability to
capture information through mental associations, and the ability to store information in the
working memory or long term memory, allows for information to be related to already stored
The cognitive theory involves the learning process as it is defined by its meaning to the
learner. Meaningful learning as defined by Ausubel is the central focus of the cognitive process
the learning must be meaningful to the learner, the information must be related to the learner, and
the learner must use appropriate learning methods to learn the information through discovery,
to the learner through verbalization or text-based format. Rote learning is learning gained
through verbatim memorization. Discovery learning involves learning through problem solving,
Ausubel stressed that the information to be learned must be related to the learner’s
experiences, and must be organized to enable the learner to make connections with prior learning
(Driscoll,2000). Organizing the new information for connection to previous learning creates a
bridge for association, and information retention(Driscoll,2000). The connection to prior learning
is essential for remembering, and happens through the learner’s cognitive structures as indicated
by the method of anchored instruction (Driscoll,2000). The process of anchoring ideas suggests
that connecting new information to prior learning enables the learner to develop meaning
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(Driscoll,2000). The learner’s experiences are essential for connecting and developing
meaningful learning.
SITUATED COGNITION
Situated cognition is cognitive learning through doing situated in an environment that has
an influence on the learning process. Lave and Wenger (1999) defines learning as situated
activity in which learning occurs. Learning results from information gained through real world
(Jonassen and Land,2000). Situated learning is learning that happens in a time and place in
which the context has an impact on the learner due to the social and cultural influences of the
situation (Lave and Wenger,1999). All elements of the situation impact the learner holistically,
and shapes the learning experience. In situated cognition, learners learn holistically through
social and cultural interactions in a field of practice in which the learning experience is not
Learners gain knowledge as it is applied rather than the acquisition of factual information
learned in isolation from the application. Situated cognitive theory integrates the procedural and
declarative knowledge, and is concerned with the context of the learning experience
knowledge is concerned with knowing the steps in the process (Driscoll,2000). The connectivity
knowledge process in isolation lacks signals and visual cues for connecting the knowledge to the
learner’s cognitive processes. If the context of learning changes from information transfer to
practice, learners often fail to connect the information base to the application (Driscoll,2000).
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Situated cognitive learning occurs when learners are involved in experiences that produce
learning. Knowing and doing goes hand in hand in the learning process (Jonassen and Land,
2000). In a theory by Dewey (1938), learning involves meaningful activities for learners.
Learners learn more by doing than through explicit learning alone, and more gains are achieved
through implicit learning (Brown, 2002). Knowledge has two dimensions explicit – the facts and
concepts and tacit – putting the knowledge into practice (Brown, 2002). The implicit learning is
achieved through experience. Discovery and change occurs when explicit and tacit knowledge
interact (Norris, Mason and Lefrere, 2003). The learning by experience theory is also stressed by
Bruner’s learning by discovery theory. Involving students through participation in their own
learning through exploration, recognizing and relating ideas will yield a higher level of learning
(Bruner,1990). Piaget indicates that instruction does not have to be a formalized instruction,
because students learn from life experience by interacting with their environment (Singer and
Revenson,1996).
The context of the learning process is an influential element of learning. Learning results
from external inputs and internal means – socio-cultural and cognitive processing
two principal parts – assimilation and accommodation (Singer and Revenson,1996). Assimilation
is the taking in new information with preconceived ideas about the acquired information (Singer
and Revenson,1996). Accommodation is the adjustment to the new experience forcing a change
in self-conception in relation to the world (Singer and Revenson,1996). In adaptation, one seeks
balance between self, and the world through the development of emotions, maturation,
experience and social interaction working together to create balance and motivate learning
(Singer and Revenson,1996). In addition to the theory of assimilation and adaptation, Piaget
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defines intelligence as the ability of an individual to cope with changes through organization and
Learning resulting from real world experience involves social interaction. A person’s
thoughts are adapted to the social context of the environment (Driscoll, 2000). Vygotsky’s socio-
cultural theory contributes to the situated cognitive theory (Driscoll, 2000) by stressing that
social and cultural conditions are major influences on the learning process (Vygotsky,1978).
Vygotsky’s theory emphasizes that learning must be understood within the cultural and social
context in which learning occurs. An individual’s intellectual development does not happen
(Vygotsky,1978). To fully use experience as learning, the learner must have a multi-faceted
interactive experience. The student in isolation in the learning experience is not effective because
the experience does not involve the whole learner with others constructing knowledge
(Moore,1998). The learner acquires knowledge through the activities and interaction with the
practice, and consists of interaction (Jonassen and Land, 2000). The community of practice is a
theory that consists of a professional community’s characteristics, practices, culture, and the
formation of one’s identity in the community. The theory is based on the assumptions that all
learners are social beings, knowledge is considered as competence, knowing is participating, and
meaning is derived from experience (Wenger,1998). The practice fields are designed with
meaning, practice, community, and identity (Wenger,1998). Social practice is the way in which
the learner engages with the world in real-life, and occupational settings (Wenger,1998) in order
to learn the application of knowledge, and the nuances of how the professional culture accepts
the newcomer in practicing new found skills. A community of practice is a common ground, and
identity for developing socialization for learning (Norris, Mason and Lefrere,2003).
Practice is a social process of sharing the knowledge, and the application of learning with
newcomers for the purpose of reproduction of the community of practice (Wenger,1998). The
system, and a reproduction cycle (Jonassen and Land,2000). The reproduction cycle consists of
the transition of individuals coming in, and leaving the community. Communities of practice are
continuously evolving through change in membership, and in knowledge that the membership
In a community of practice, the three dimensions that maintains the coherence in practice
are mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and a shared repertoire (Wenger,1998). Mutual
engagement is the act of people working together, and negotiating meaning (Wenger, 1998). A
joint enterprise is a mutual engagement of the participants in response to outside forces, and
forces not within the control of participants (Wenger,1998). The community of practice is a
socio-cultural community that embodies history, activities, conflicts, norms, values, and
A shared repertoire are the resources for negotiating meaning through established
patterns of engagement, organizational structure within the culture, ways of doing things,
terminology, symbols, concepts, gestures, and history (Wenger,1998). Overtime, the community
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repertoire becomes accepted, and sustained through unwritten rules of engagement, practice,
behavior and operating structures. The repertoire embodies the culture of the community, and
the process of enculturation into the social, and practical aspects of a particular profession
(Brown,2002). An example of enculturation is seen in the last two years of undergraduate school
in which students are engaged in advanced learning in a specific discipline, and graduate study
(Brown,2002). In Piaget’s social and cultural theory, cultural norms are understood to be
Intelligences theory, cultures and disciplines can shape a student’s capacity to learn (Silver,
Culture is a system of routines, language, stories, beliefs, and ways of thinking in which
experience, knowledge and interactions are organized in the social experience (Bruner,1990).
The knowledge passed on to a learner can be a collection of social practices that consist of the
culture of the community of practice (Lave and Wenger,1999). Tagiuri’s social system theory
defines culture as the dimension of the psycho-social characteristics including the values, norms,
assumptions, ways of thinking, belief systems, history, heroes and heroines, myths and rituals,
artifacts, and behaviors (Owens,2001). An individual’s life and mind are shaped by the
interaction with the culture that consists of symbolic systems (Bruner, 1990). Culture plays an
important part in the development of the Multiple Intelligences, therefore the value placed on
one intelligence over the other intelligences can cause one intelligence to be more developed
interaction and socialization in the community. As the individual develops within the community
of practice, the identity of the individual is constructed through socialization as related to the
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professional community (Wenger,1998). Learners develop skills and knowledge in the context of
a culture to go from novice to full membership (Lave and Wenger,1999). The identity of the
individual is defined by the relationships with the community, and the individual’s relations with
the classroom (Jonassen and Land,2000). Legitimate peripheral participation is a the process in
which a learner is changed through a social experience incorporating skill in practice within the
community of practice (Lave and Wenger,1999). As a means of approximate participation for the
learner does not simply imply observation, but exposure to learning through closely supervised
Participation involves the construction of knowledge through action in the context of the real
world of practice (Lave and Wenger,1999). The basic premises of legitimate peripheral
participation are consistent with Dewey’s theory that experiences must be connected with
effective and meaningful, the community of practice must allow full interaction with the
knowledge from that specific socio-cultural context and community (Lave and Wenger,1999).
One of the key goals of learning as social practice is the continuous learning through socially and
and Wenger,1999). Learning as social practice involves the learner holistically interacting with
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the world, evolving as a result of socializing, and continuously renewing relations in the world
knowledge through the use of practice fields. Practice fields for learning consist of anchored
Legitimate peripheral participation as conceived by Lave and Wenger (1999) is through the
study of apprenticeship as a means of the social and cultural context of learning. The importance
of apprenticeships are necessary because students do not gain practical application of knowledge
that all real learning comes through experience (Dewey, 1938). Learning as a partial participant
is an empowering practice for the novice in the process of becoming a full participant (Lave and
Wenger,1999). Learners thrive in the learning experience when the practical application of
concepts are used (Brandt,1993). Implicit learning and practices are just as necessary as the
explicit knowledge because it enables the learner to become a part of the professional
community, share in the culture, and gain access to the professional community (Brown,2002).
Through apprenticeships, students can gain skill and knowing (Campbell, 1997).
Lave and Wenger (1999) studied the apprenticeship as a method of legitimate peripheral
participation in the form of cultural traditions. Through the study of the Yucatec Mayan
midwives in Mexico, and the tailors in Liberia, Lave and Wenger (1999) found that the
integrated into the social and cultural ways of daily life. In professions, where high skills and
knowledge are required for practice such as medicine, the academy, law and the arts,
apprenticeships are still used in the learning process (Lave and Wenger,1999). As indicated by a
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study of students using apprenticeships to enter the music industry, apprenticeships are the
connection to the industry through which students are exposed to work behavior and culture, and
SUMMARY
in the form of an apprenticeship, can enable learners to access a professional culture, and to learn
valuable skills of the professional practice. Knowledge put in practice is shared in a social,
(Brown,2002). As an integral part of the learning experience, socialization can provide the
experience is an integral part of the real world (Lave and Wenger, 1999).
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REFERENCES
Brown, J. S. (2002). The Internet and the university: 2001 Forum. In. Boulder, CO:
EDUCAUSE.
Campbell, L. (1997). How teachers interpret MI theory. Educational Leadership, 55(1), 14-20.
Driscoll, M. P. (2000). Psychology of learning theory (Second ed.). Needham Heights, MA:
Allyn Bacon.
Jonassen, D. H., and Land, S.M. (2000). Theoretical foundations of learning environments.
Lave, J. Wenger, E. (1999). Situated learning legitimate peripheral participation. New York,
Education, 161-162.
Norris, D., Mason, J. and Lefrere, P. (2003). Transforming e-knowledge: A revolution in the
sharing of knowledge. Ann Arbor, MI: Society for College and University Planning.
Owens, R. G. (2001). Organizational behavior in education (Seventh ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn
and Bacon.
Roblyer, M. D. and. Edwards, J. (2000). Integrating educational technology into teaching. Upper
Rolston, C. P. and Herrera, D. (2000). The critical role of university-sponsored internships for
entry into the professional music business: A report of a national survey. Journal of Arts
Silver, H., Strong, R. and Perini, M. (1997). Integrating learning styles and multiple
Singer, D. G. and Revenson, T.A. (1996). A Piaget primer: How a child thinks (Revised ed.).
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. New York, NY: