Abstract

We continue the discussion of cognitive and situative perspectives by identifying several important points on which we judge the perspectives to be in agreement: (1) Individual and social perspectives on activity are both fundamentally important in education; (2) Learning can be general, and abstractions can be efficacious, but they sometimes aren’t; (3) Situative and cognitive approaches can cast light on different aspects of the educational process, and both should be pursued vigorously; (4) Educational innovations should be informed by the available scientific knowledge base and should be evaluated and analyzed with rigorous research methods. We have been involved recently in an exchange concerning the relative merits of the situative and cognitive research approaches, especially with respect to the contributions they can make to improvement of education (Anderson, Reder & Simon, 1996; 1997; Greeno, 1997). There is more to be said in the exchange, and continuing the exchange could serve to sharpen significant issues further. Continuing in the format of debate, however, would obscure some important points of agreement between us about

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