Group Cognition as a Foundation for the New Science of Learning - New Science of Learning - page 26

into the future. The interaction itself constitutes the discourse as a group interaction,
by, for instance, addressing proposals to the group as a whole.

The Group Unit of Description

The theory of group cognition stakes out a new domain for exploration: the domain
of group meaning-making processes. Importantly, it distinguishes this domain from
the traditional domains of sciences of individual learning and of the development
of social practices in communities. Virtually all discussions in the learning sciences
have been ambiguous in their terminology when it comes to distinguishing the indi-
vidual, group and cultural levels of description. My own writings have used the
relevant terminology in a loose way. Therefore, it may be helpful to try to codify a
set of terms for speaking at the three different levels (see Table 2.1).
Of course, some of this classification of terms is arbitrary and inconsistent with
prior usage. In particular, the terms related to groups and cultures have not been

Table 2.1 Terminology distinguishing the three levels of description

Level of description Individual Group Culture

Role Person/student Group participant Community member

Adjective Personal Collaborative Social

Object of analysis Mind Discourse Culture

Unit of analysis Mental representation Utterance response

pair

Mediating artifact

Form of knowledge Subjective Intersubjective Cultural

Form of meaning Interpretation Shared understanding,

joint meaning
making, common
ground

Domain vocabulary,
artifacts,
institutions, norms,
rules

Learning activity Learn Build knowledge Science

Way to accomplish
cognitive tasks

Skill Group method Member

method/social
practice

Communication Thought Interaction Membership

Mode of
construction

Constructed Co-constructed Socially constructed

Context of cognitive
task

Personal problem Joint problem space Problem domain

Context of activity Embodiment Situation World

Referential system Associations Indexical field Cultural world

Form of existence Being there Being with Folk

Temporal structure Subjective experiential

internal time

Co-constructed shared
temporality

Measurable objective
time

Theory of cognition Constructivist Post-cognitive Socio-cultural

Science Cognitive and

educational
psychology

Group cognition Sociology,

anthropology,
linguistics