Section Seven

7.1 Brown, J.S., Duguid, P. (1989). Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32-42.

This article details many aspects of learning that need to be implemented in order to allow children to learn more holistically and naturally. And I do not know if this is purely because I went to a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, but I feel as if the arguments are outdated. My high school encouraged taking all types of learning into consideration and in many classes we were offered numerous ways of conducting assignments. Group projects occurred at least once every single course. In my math courses we visited the computer lab to utilize software that is used in the mathematics industry. Brown and Duguid indicate that schools are not doing this, and therefore, not allowing students to learn properly. I just do not agree with that sentiment.

That aside, I do find this article to be a helpful collection of ideas that will allow me to become a better teacher. In detailing a study conducted by Lampert, the authors highlight that "allowing students to generate their own solution paths" is an excellent way to engage and interact with solving the problem. One of the articles I encountered for my paper detailed children being instructed on how to utilize metadata to emphasize their searches, yet repeatedly chose to look at book covers instead. I feel that by having students map out the way they would search for information, and not simply having the media specialist drilling search methods into their heads, students will take more of the information away from the library with them. Not to say that the information will become completely ingrained and they are future librarians after this method, but it does seem to be more interactive, and therefore, more likely to stick with the children.