Introduction
“Situated cognition” is a loose term for a variety of approaches, in education and in other fields of inquiry, that value context. Its advocates claim that how one thinks is tied to a situation. “Situation” is another loose term; it may refer to a place (a classroom or a laboratory), but a situation may also reside in relationships with people and/or artifacts, e.g., “I am with friends” and “I am at my computer.” This entry briefly considers the history of situated approaches before looking at the development of situated schools of thought in mathematics education. It then considers “knowing” and, briefly, research methodologies, implication for teaching, and critiques of situated cognition.
Characteristics
History
Marx’s 11th thesis on Feuerbach, “Social life is essentially practical. All mysteries … find their rational solution in human practice and in the comprehension of this practice.” (Marx 1845/1968, p. 30), remains a statement that few, if any, situated...
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Monaghan, J. (2020). Situated Cognition in Mathematics Education. In: Lerman, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15789-0_140
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