Activities, Actions, and Operations (II)
Activity Theory proposes that our "ways of knowing" are shaped by practice, and that people and artifacts mediate our relationship with reality. Consciousness is produced in the enactment of activity with other people and things, rather than something confined inside a human head. The theory is grounded on our everyday practice, not confine to "snap-shot" testing and evaluation of performance.
Leont'ev was the first to use the analytical distinction of three qualitatively different hierarchical levels of human behaviors: Activities, Actions , and Operations.
An activity is composed of actions or chains of actions, which in turns consists of operations.
Action is the goal-oriented process not engendered by the goal alone but by the motive of the activity as a whole, which the given action realizes. One activity may be realized using different actions, depending on the situation and conditions. On the other hand, one and the same action can belong to different activities, in which case the different objects and motives of the activities will cause the action to have a different personal sense for the individual in the context of each activity. We might not be conscious of our activity, but we are conscious of our actions. Before an action is performed, it is typically planned consciously according to a model of the situational circumstances. The better the model, the more successful the action. Different actions may be taken to meet the same goal. When a model for a conscious action is good enough, the action has been practiced long enough, and the situation is sufficiently stable, the action loses its "orienting basis" and becomes "routinized" into an operation. Actions consist of chains of operations.
Operation is the way the action is carried out. It depends on the conditions under which the action is being carried out. If the goal remains the same while the conditions under which it is to be carried out change, then the operational structure of the action will be changed. The routine operation becomes "unfold" and returns to the level of conscious actions.
It is possible that the object/motive remains fixed but goals, actions and operations change as the situation and condition changes. Similarly, the activity/object might change if the condition change and hence the actions/goals change. This activity-action-operation dynamics is the fundamental feature in human development. Learning begins in the form of learning operations and learning actions embedded in activities where its essential feature is mediated by tools.
Leont'ev was the first to use the analytical distinction of three qualitatively different hierarchical levels of human behaviors: Activities, Actions , and Operations.
An activity is composed of actions or chains of actions, which in turns consists of operations.
Action is the goal-oriented process not engendered by the goal alone but by the motive of the activity as a whole, which the given action realizes. One activity may be realized using different actions, depending on the situation and conditions. On the other hand, one and the same action can belong to different activities, in which case the different objects and motives of the activities will cause the action to have a different personal sense for the individual in the context of each activity. We might not be conscious of our activity, but we are conscious of our actions. Before an action is performed, it is typically planned consciously according to a model of the situational circumstances. The better the model, the more successful the action. Different actions may be taken to meet the same goal. When a model for a conscious action is good enough, the action has been practiced long enough, and the situation is sufficiently stable, the action loses its "orienting basis" and becomes "routinized" into an operation. Actions consist of chains of operations.
Operation is the way the action is carried out. It depends on the conditions under which the action is being carried out. If the goal remains the same while the conditions under which it is to be carried out change, then the operational structure of the action will be changed. The routine operation becomes "unfold" and returns to the level of conscious actions.
It is possible that the object/motive remains fixed but goals, actions and operations change as the situation and condition changes. Similarly, the activity/object might change if the condition change and hence the actions/goals change. This activity-action-operation dynamics is the fundamental feature in human development. Learning begins in the form of learning operations and learning actions embedded in activities where its essential feature is mediated by tools.
posted by charlie at 9:07 PM
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