In the unique microsociety concept implemented in Lowell, Massachusetts, students spend one hour every day simulating real-world activities, such as trying court cases, banking, selling and buying goods. These experiences provide meaning and functional contexts for learning that takes place in the regular classroom as teachers apply principles to real-world examples. Finally, Spiro et al. As students engage in authentic tasks and simulations, struggle to define and solve poorly illustrated problems, examine multiple perspectives, and engage in role playing, they learn to cope with ambiguity, contradictions, and multiple expert opinions. They come to value thinking divergently, critically, and creatively.
Collaboration becomes an essential context for learning.
Students actively participate in setting learning goals, monitoring their own understanding, and assessing their learning. Teachers' primary responsibilities are two-fold. First, they provide multiple knowledge bases, learning opportunities in and out of school, human and material resources, and perspectives their students can draw on as they learn. Second, they help the students learn content and skills as facilitators, mediators of learning, and project managers. They often model thinking and learning processes, such as reflecting, inquiring, problem solving, and learning through experience.