Knowledge is acquired by framing problems in terms of conditions likely to be encountered on the job. Instructors must select situations that will engage the learner in complex, realistic, problem-centered activities that will support the desired knowledge to be acquired. Instructors must provide a scaffold for new learners, that is, know the type and intensity of guidance necessary to help learners master the situations. As learners acquire additional skills, less support will be needed. The last task is continually to assess the intellectual growth of the individual and the community of learners.
Learners observe how instructors solve problems and develop their own solution paths.
The tools of cognitive apprenticeship include discussion, reflection, evaluation, and validation of the community's perspective. Situated cognition reminds us that adult learners are a rich and diverse source of stories, data that can transform the classroom from a source for transferring knowledge from instructor to learners to a resource for interpreting, challenging, and creating new knowledge. Interactions among the learners and the environment holds the promise of having learners directly intervene in and change the processes that surround their lives at home, in the community, and at the workplace. Developing a Model for Facilitation. The Advancement of Learning.