Learning to Do Knowledge Work in Systems of Distributed Cognition

Dorothy A. Winsor Iowa State University

Abstract

Within work sites that engage in knowledge work, newcomers have particular difficulty acquiring knowledge because knowledge keeps changing. Newcomers have to assimilate currently accepted knowledge while remaining open to learning and even generating new knowledge. Such acquisition and generation of communal knowledge are examples of distributed cognition. In workplaces engaging in knowledge work (where knowledge is the primary product), distributed cognition aims at a less stable goal than the one that Hutchins describes for ship navigation. A study of six summer interns in an engineering development center shows that, for them and their more experienced colleagues, learning did not precede activity but rather was the means by which they remained attuned to activity and able to function. Cognition was distributed not only among people but also among people and their tools. Communication tools were particularly important because communication was the means by which the system functioned as a unified whole.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2001-01-01
DOI
10.1177/105065190101500101
Open Access
Closed

Citation Context

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Also cites 3 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1207/s15327884mca0404_3
  2. 10.1017/CBO9780511625510.003
  3. 10.1017/CBO9780511625510.002
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