Sociocultural Theories
Various sociocultural theories have emerged in recent years, expanding upon elements taken from the aforementioned learning paradigm of constructivism. Learning, as derived from the sociocultural perspective, is contextualized, situated, and culturally-based \cite {Soloway96}, recognizing the importance of social interaction. Some of the paradigms developed through this approach include situated cognition, cognitive apprenticeship, and activity theory.
The theory of situated cognition encourages learning and understanding through continued situated use in the context of an authentic situation. Brown, Collins, and Duguid (1989) assert that learning is most effective in authentic, or real world, contexts with problems that allow students to generate their own solution paths. The goal is to prepare students to do the kinds of complex tasks that occur in life \cite{Brown89}. As a result of bringing students into more authentic learning environments, it is hoped that students will evolve from novices to experts. Using technology to build communities of practice and apprenticeship is popular in many recent approaches to project-based science teaching. Other similar approaches include ``learning by doing'', ``guided practice'' \cite{Rogoff90}, and The Cognition \& Technology group's ``anchored instruction''.
The sociocultural perspective emphasizes on helping learners socially construct knowledge through the use of language. Influential in this direction are Vygotsky's views of cognitive development, which focus on discussion and dialogue, as important pedagogical strategies for constructivist design. As mentioned in the previous section, Vygotsky stressed that children use concepts taught to them by adults, and link these concepts to their own ideas and generalization \cite{Vygotsky78}. Important, however, in Vygotsky's thesis is the social context in learning. His emphasis on the significance of the learning culture and the nature of the society within which teaching takes place has been used as the foundation for social constructivism.
The questions that need to be addressed in these perspectives involve the definitions of terms such as ``authentic'' or ``learning by doing''. What constitutes an authentic learning environment and how can one be provided in the context of a classroom? Learning by doing and other theories based on activity and practice are significant, but in many cases can foster automatization and thoughtlessness. These concerns are important to consider when developing synthetic learning environments which seek to provide authentic, project-based contexts that can transfer to real world problems.
Rogoff, B. "Apprenticeship in Thinking: Cognitive Development in Social Context", New York: Oxford University Press. 1990.