Implementing cognitive apprenticeship and conversation theory in interactive web-based learning systems

Collin, Brown and Newman's Cognitive Apprenticeship Model and Pask's Conversation Theory, both explain the constructivist nature of learning and inform the design of suitable learning resources. This paper briefly discusses the key aspects of both the above model and theory, providing a practical example of their implementation in an intelligent learning system, which has been widely used in multiple institutions in United Kingdom and which was found in an independent evaluation to have achieved significantly improved student performance in the type of learning addressed by it. The paper focuses on cognitive skills acquired through interactive learning and suggests that the different phases of skill acquisition are due, to semantically semi-synchronous conversations. It foresees even greater advantages of designing such interactive learning systems on the World Wide Web and briefly describes the exciting possibilities of distributing development effort to build up an inventory of multiple versions of configurable and extensible building blacks of learning systems that are adaptable to the implementing teachers.