Target Audience Description - Free Essay Example

The target audience of this module involves adults in the age bracket of 35-50 years. This presumed audience is uninformed when it comes to the topic of the discussion, which means there is a need to enlighten them entirely on the topic of the discussion, which implies they learn everything related to the topic of the discussion. At the same time, the target audience is goal-oriented, they have a wealth of knowledge, and they are result-oriented. More so, this group of adults requires practical knowledge and experiences, which will improve their daily lives. This target audience also has outside responsibilities and potential physical limitations. Finally, adults are known to have many commitments to friends, family, and community. With these features, the adult audience should be handled specially.

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Learning Activities to be Carried Out by the Audience

• Learners will perform each of these activities during the formal and informal classroom setting.
• Analyze at least ten texts on socially shared cognition- The learners will search the term shared perception through the internet. Further, they will be required to examine the definition of several scholarly sources.
• Engaging in creative discussion talks- The target audience will have to discuss several sections of the selected topic.
• Incorporate the use of technology when learning- Learners will use computers to search through the internet. More so, they will learn through different clips. The learners will watch different video presentations and analyze the ideas in the clips in groups.
• Brainstorm in groups at the end of the lesson and write a 2-page paper on socially shared cognition.
• Terminal Standards and Conditions to Meet the Performance Objectives
• Collaborate with experts, peers, and all other individuals to contribute to the content knowledge.
• Effectively use online sources to meet the needs for collaboration, publications, and research on the topic of discussion.
• Apply the use of technology for problem-solving and information analysis.
• Learning Resources
• Well connected internet
• Computers in perfect working conditions
• Textbooks and journals
• Projector and a laptop
• Practice questions handouts
• Flashcards
• Charts

Introduction

This concept of socially shared cognition shares an essential role in everyone's concept of creating and sustain models of educational activities. In this module, the discussion on the topic of socially shared cognition will focus on several ideas, such as defining the concept, examining the instructional environment selected to introduce the topic in an adult class, as well as determining the instructional strategies and methods to be employed in the adult audience. More so, this module will discuss many other concepts, such as examining the theoretical foundations and the scope of shared cognition, as well as the building blocks of shared cognition along with the necessary insights on the evaluation and the assessment plan of the audience.

The Rationale of Socially Shared Cognition

Shared cognition is closely related to the situated cognition theory, which focuses on peer learning in contexts where they can be applied. This method of social learning is advantageous for several reasons, such as fostering creative thinking among peers and enhanced teamwork. Shared cognition links together knowledge and contexts for learning to enable peers to understand how they can apply knowledge (Andrews-Todd & Forsyth, 2020). More so, the situation brought about by socially shared cognition leads to practical acquiring of knowledge. The bottom line is that this approach focuses on collaboration, which is viewed as the process of maintaining and building a shared conception of a problem to enhance a natural learning environment.

The topic of discussion is defined as the collective cognitive activity from a group of members whereby the joint action of every person has an impact on the overall group activities and group goals. In complicated settings, high levels of collective cognitive abilities are interlinked with solution approaches and problem conceptualization. Therefore, shared cognition is associated with the knowledge possessed by effective teams. Such knowledge from shared cognition is referred to as team knowledge, shared understanding, shared mental model, among many other terms in regards to understanding. As such, shared cognition is the knowledge that every member holds to enable them to form accurate explanations and adapt their behaviors just like the other team members.

Additionally, shared cognition occurs in cases where two or more persons intertwine their thinking to yield the feeling of togetherness and create intellectual accomplishments. A perfect case scenario where this concept is applied is when a mother and child playfully plans for a tea party. In this case, shared cognition occurs effortlessly and naturally. Hence, the underlying mechanisms of shared cognition are readily available for school-aged children and adults. However, in many scenarios, shared cognition does not occur unless two partners or more bring together different assumptions, life experiences, and knowledge to join efforts. Thus, shared cognition can also be described as an achievement realized in an environment through a skillful and intentional interaction.

Shared cognition can also be taught through both formal and informal learning settings to encourage the development of the concept and enjoy the benefits of individual learning for better future opportunities. Existing research also shows that collaborative approaches to learning are beneficial for collective and individual knowledge growth, including the development of disciplinary practices. Besides, the socially shared cognition leads to the development of positive qualities such as motivation and confidence. Teachers also support the development and the expression of collaborative approaches through assessment, careful design of activities and methods of establishing classroom norms to enhance joint work among students.

The Scope of Shared Cognition

Shared cognition is an overlapping concept revolving around collective cognition, intersubjectivity, social cognition, disturbed cognition, team cognition, group cognition, among other concepts such as communities of practice, and transactive memory are all part of research on how individuals learn together. However, to provide a thorough review of shared cognition, the concepts to be considered include joint problem solving and inter-subjectivity (Bietti & Baker, 2018). More into detail, inter-subjectivity refers to the shared understanding of what is currently happening and what will probably happen next. This concept has mainly been applied in the central studies of infant and parent interactions. Joint problem solving, on the other hand, was part of cognitive psychology as a signature cognitive activity. This concept suggests that when solving issues together, people tend to find the need to share goals, plans, ideas, explanations, judgments, and justifications. For instance, in the adult audience class, everyone will offer his suggestion on what is the best way to learn. Through collaboration in a specific direction, the adult team will agree on the best means. Therefore, it is worth concluding that human intelligence action is perceived as an accomplishment that arises from interactions between people.

Building Blocks of Socially Shared Cognition

Shared cognition is built along with four main blocks, and every adult in the class should understand these concepts. The concepts will be presented to the adult class through powerpoint presentations and watching videos. These four building blocks of shared cognition include joint attention, making and acknowledging contributions, grounding, and repair (Barron & Roschelle, 2009). All these blocks will be explained through practical examples that occur in the daily lives of the adult audience. For instance, joint attention is observed between the 9-15 months in the case of a mother and an infant. This case of infant-mother interactions offers exciting insights about subtle ways in which partners regulate the attention of each other and highlight how both the mother and the infant are active contributors to the process. More so, it is worth noting that joint focus in problem-solving cases is always dependent on the mutual intent of the group members to develop a shared understanding.

Team members or any other group of participants further build a sense of shared cognition through interactions that acknowledge and make contributions. Participants, in this case, recognize contribution after one member introduces the idea. Further, grounding is the other block of shared cognition, and it involves finding common ground. Team participants have to agree on something familiar to pass a specific motive or idea. In some cases, common ground can be developed after a smooth transition of ideas to satisfactory joint action. More so, attempts to share cognition go astray at times, which means successful collaborators will intervene to engage in repairs. These building blocks have been discussed in generic terms making it challenging to imagine their application in a learning scenario or a classroom setting. However, the reality is that teachers and learners have to achieve a joint function to acknowledge contributions, find common ground, and repair any misunderstanding.

Shared Cognition Contribution to Learning

Existing literature shows that theorists have different accounts of how socially shared cognition leads to learning, which means the adult audience will have to understand about these theories. The theories will be presented through video clips to enhance better understanding. The existing researchers have developed specific analyses, such as Jean Piaget's theory of social exchange and the development theory by Lev Vygotsky (Barron & Roschelle, 2009). These theories have explained the contribution of socially shared cognition to learning.

Jean Piaget's theory mainly focused on the concept of conflict, explaining how social exchange can lead to cognitive development. This theory is further interpreted that conflicts can lead to disagreements, changing one's perspective, advanced stages of cognitive development, as well as mutual understanding. All these concepts of social exchange are part and puzzle of shared cognition, which can be applied in learning. Besides, Vygotsky, under the theory of development, introduced the idea of interaction within the proximal development zone (Barron & Roschelle, 2009). This zone explains the level at which a learner cannot comprehend any task independently without the help of a teacher or a peer expert. Besides, most recent scholars have offered more details on how group work promotes individual learning. It is also apparent that asking students or any group of learners to work together in groups leads to interactions that capitalize on the knowledge and skills portrayed by the students.