1999/03/01 by Paul Cobb, Janet Bowers · 714 citations
Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Artificial intelligence #Cognition #Cognitive science #Computer science #Educational and Psychological Assessments #Educational research #Epistemology #Frame (networking) #Innovative Education and Learning Practices #Learning theory #Meaning (existential) #Neuroscience, Education and Cognitive Function #Pedagogy #Psychology #Situated #Situated cognition #Situated learning #Sociology
paper · doi:10.3102/0013189x028002004
published in Educational Researcher 28(2), 4-15 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 1999/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
In their recent exchange, Anderson, Reder, and Simon (1996 Anderson, Reder, and Simon (1997) and Greeno (1997) frame the conflicts between cognitive theory and situated learning theory in terms of issues that are primarily of interest to educational psychologists. We attempt to broaden the debate by approaching this discussion of perspectives against the background of our concerns as educators who engage in classroom-based research and instructional design in collaboration with teachers. We first delineate the underlying differences between the two perspectives by distinguishing their central organizing metaphors. We then argue that the contrast between the two perspectives cannot be reduced to that of choosing between the individual and the social collective as the primary unit of analysis. Against this background, we compare the situated viewpoint we find useful in our work with the cognitive approach advocated by Anderson et al. by focusing on their treatments of meaning and instructional goals. Finally, we consider the potential contributions of the two perspectives to instructional practice by contrasting their differing formulations of the relationship between theory and practice.