According to Brown et al., situated cognition is the theory that people’s knowledge is embedded in the activity, context, and culture in which it was learned. It is also referred to as “situated learning”.

Learning is social as people learn while interacting with each other through shared activities and through language, and not isolated as they discuss, share knowledge, and problem-solve during these tasks.

Situated Cognition

For example: To learn a language, learners refer to the dictionary to increase their vocabulary. However, this kind of study only teaches the basic parts of learning a language. When language learners speak with someone who is a native speaker of the language, they will learn important aspects of how these words are used in the native speaker’s home culture and how the words are used in everyday social interactions.

An important aspect of situated cognition is “cognitive apprenticeship”. During the social interaction between a novice learner and an expert, important skills, interactions, and experiences are shared. The novice learns as an apprentice from the expert, wherein the expert teaches the methods and traditions which the apprentice can learn only from the expert and which are authentic learning. This is a form of socio-cultural learning. The expert is a practitioner of the skill and tradition, which they use and practice them regularly in the everyday life. The expert scaffolds the novice’s learning.

This theory has helped educators understand how to capitalize on knowledge and skills that their students may already possess in order to help them learn new content and skills.

For more information, refer to https://elearningindustry.com/situated-cognition-meaningful-learning-college-classrooms.

References

Aydede, M., & Robbins, P. (Eds.). (2009). The Cambridge handbook of situated cognition. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational researcher, 18(1), 32-42.

Collins, A., Brown, J. S., & Newman, S. E. (1988). Cognitive apprenticeship. Thinking: The Journal of Philosophy for Children, 8(1), 2-10.