Applications of Situated Learning to Foster Communities of Practice

Developing Middle School Students' Interests in STEM via Summer Learning Experiences: See Blue STEM Camp

“…Situated learning theory stresses that knowledge is obtained through social processes situated in specific contexts, which is influenced by activities, interaction, and participation of the learner (Comas‐Quinn, Mardomingo, & Valentine, ; Edmonds‐Cady & Sosulski, ; Lave & Wenger, ). Anderson, Greeno, Reder, and Simon () argue, “In the situative perspective, learning by individuals is considered as progress along trajectories of participation, which can involve acting more effectively in contributing more centrally to the functions of communities and in developing identities as learners and knowledgeable people.” Advancement in learning is dependent on access to meaningful practices in a community (Forman, ) where “old‐timers” have more knowledge and skills than the newcomers (Barab & Duffy, ; Forman, ; Lave & Wenger, ).…”

“…Research involving social learning theory and placing students in authentic learning environments has been recently conducted involving language acquisition, community building, engineering writing, pedagogy of teacher education, art curriculum for K‐5 students, and corporate business applications (Comas‐Quinn et al., ; Edmonds‐Cady & Sosulski, ; Johri & Olds, ; Korthagen, ; Pitri, ; Wasko & Faraji, ; Woolf & Quinn, ). The consensus between these research projects is students are able to develop a deeper understanding of content when one is involved in its real‐world application rather than formal learning in school, which is often not transferred as one might wish.…”

How Do You Use Problem‐Based Learning to Improve Interdisciplinary Thinking?

“…Specifically, because many liberal arts subjects may lie outside the realm of student's immediate interest, PBL is an effective way to engage students in social science and liberal arts content (history, democratic governance, ethnic diversity, scientific methodology, and world cultures). Edmonds‐Cady and Sosulski () found the combination of civic engagement and PBL resulted in more complex and deeper understanding rather than surface comprehension because of students’ ability to situate concepts in concrete situations. Fostering civic mindedness and engaged citizenship is an important outcome of college.…”

The Meaning of a Healthcare Community of Practice

“…Wenger defines communities of practice as “groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, and a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis” (Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, , p. 4). Most applications of CoP recorded in healthcare literature use Wenger's definition (Andrew & Ferguson, ; Andrew, Ferguson, Wilkie, Corcoran, & Simpson, ; Bentley, Browman, & Poole, ; Berry, ; Chandler & Fry, ; Cook‐Craig & Sabah, ; Dee, Markwell, Bridges, & Bandy, ; Edmonds‐Cady & Sosulski, ; Garrow & Tawse, ; Jiwa, Ping‐Delfos, Ross, Shaw, & Magin, ; Li et al., ; MacDougall & Riley, ; Moore, ; Thrysoe, Hounsgaard, Dohn, & Wagner, ; White, Suter, Parboosingh, & Taylor, ; Zimitat, ). In some instances, the term CoP does not represent Wenger's concept.…”