What is Activity Theory

The theory of socio-cultural, mediated human activity, evolved from late 1800s, currently a multi-faceted tradition with several sub-traditions. Learn more in: Researching an Activity-Driven Approach to Information Systems Development

Activity theory provides a conceptual framework with which to understand the inter-relationships between activities, actions and artefacts, actors’ motives and goals, and aspects of the social, organizational and societal contexts within which these activities are framed. Learn more in: The Perspectives of Iranian EFL Teachers on the Integration of ICT into their Teaching Practices

A theoretical approach that analyzes how a subject’s mediation of tools to achieve an objective is heavily grounded in and affected by the rules and divisions of labor of the subject’s community. Learn more in: Introduction Discussion Board Forums in Online Writing Courses Are Essential: No, Really, They Are

An approach which proposes that human activity aims at accomplishing certain outcomes through the help of artifacts and other resources.? Learn more in: Theories Used in Information Security Research: Survey and Agenda

A theoretical framework, inspired by the Russian socio-historical psychology school, which focuses on the cultural and technical mediation of human activity. Learn more in: Sustainability of E-Collaboration

A conceptual and methodological framework of a person's knowledge and mediation functions to examine social reality in the field of activity through socio-cultural research. Learn more in: Web-Based Responsive Mobile Learning (M-Learning) Design

Socio-cultural theory initiated by Vygotsky and his colleagues, based on the idea that human activity is situated in social context and mediated by psychological and physical instruments such as language, dancing, books, or computers. Learn more in: Case Study - "Can You See Me?": Writing toward Clarity in a Software Development Life Cycle

Activity theory, grounded in the 1920’s work of Lev Vygotsky and his student Leontiev (who is often credited as the founder of activity theory), brings to the fore that human activity, unlike the animal activity investigated by Pavlov is more than just stimulus and response. Rather, human activity is purposeful, consists of actions and involves the use of tools which mediate the activity (and vice versa). Activity, as understood in activity theory is a conscious action. Learn more in: Context and Participation: Program-Level Curriculum Design in Higher Education

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A system that connects contextual factors, such as individuals, groups, work settings, rules, and tools Learn more in: A Scenario-Based Instructional Design Model

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A conceptual and methodological framework for studying individual subjects and the social reality they reside within through socio-cultural examinations of the mediating activities. Learn more in: Audience, User, Producer: MOOCs as Activity Systems

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A socio-technical theory concerned with human activities development and their consciousness. Learn more in: Deployment of Enterprise Architecture From the Activity Theory Perspective

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A descriptive framework for studying the contextual aspects of different practices, linking the individual and social dimensions of that practice. Learn more in: Activity Theory and the Design of Pedagogic Planning Tools

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Activity Theory is a framework for studying different forms of human praxis as developmental processes, with both individual and social levels interlinked. Learn more in: Online Human Activity Networks (OnHANs): An Analysis Based on Activity Theory

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A conceptual and methodological framework for studying individual subjects and the social reality they reside within through socio-cultural examinations of the mediating activities. Learn more in: Educating the Future Workforce: Bridging the Gap Between Learners' Needs and Skills in Need

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A framework describing a system of goal-directed human action that accounts for the environment. Learn more in: Pre-Service Teacher Preparation to Integrate Computational Thinking

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Is a psychological framework, with its roots in Vygotsky’s cultural-historical psychology. Its goal is to explain the mental capabilities of a single human being. However, it rejects the isolated human being as an adequate unit of analysis, focusing instead on cultural and technical mediation of human activity. Learn more in: Design for Mobile Learning in Museums

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A theory that posits a relationship between a subject (person) and an object, with mediational means. Learn more in: Gaming in Adult Education

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This focuses on the interaction of human activity and the human mind in a relevant environmental context. In activity theory there is no separating the activity from the context (Jonassen & Rohrer-Murphy, 1999). Learn more in: Creating Supportive Multimedia Learning Environments

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A socio-technical theory concerned with human activities development and their consciousness. Learn more in: Deployment of Enterprise Architecture From the Activity Theory Perspective

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A descriptive meta-theory or framework. It considers an entire work or activity system and the motive for the activity in AT is created through the tensions and contradictions within elements of the system. Learn more in: Entrepreneurial Needs for Outer Urban Co-Working Hubs: An Exploratory Study of a “Pop-Up” Co-Working Hub

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The theory of activity was proposed by Aleksey Leontiev, disciple and colleague of Lev. S Vygotsky. In this theory human activity is used as the unit of analysis. It basically presents a socio-cultural and socio-historical framework to comprehend complex human systems. Its aim is to analyze human beings and their social systems in their natural habitats through the study of their activities (Kaptelinin and Nardi, 2006). Human activity is here understood as a triangular relation between a subject, the object of its activity and the mediating tools, physical or psychological, employed to do the activity. This perspective gives an entirely different view to the use of technology in the learning process because here technology is not conceptualized as a mere optional object, but rather relates a subject with his end purpose. Learn more in: Three Contexts Methodology: Strategies to Bring Reality to the Classroom

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Activity theory is aimed at understanding the mental capabilities of a single human being. However, it rejects the isolated human being as an adequate unit of analysis, focusing instead on cultural and technical mediation of human activity. Learn more in: Active Learning Online

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A psychological meta-theory initiated by a group of revolutionary Russian psychologists in the 1920s and 1930s, mainly L.S. Vygotsky and his colleagues A. R. Luria and A. N. Leont’ev. Basic principles of Activity Theory include object-orientedness, the dual concepts of internalization/externalization, tool mediation, hierarchical structure of activity, and continuous development. Learn more in: Intersubjective Meaning-Making in Dyads Using Object-Typed Concept Mapping

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A group of theories created by Lev Vygotsky, Alexei Leontiev and Sergei Rubinstein as a way to understand human behaviour as it relates to systems of work activities. Learn more in: A Product System for Meaningful Work, Rehabilitation, and Social Well-Being in Correctional Contexts

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A meta-model or framework used to describe, theorise and research organised human activities, originating from Soviet cultural-historical psychology in the 1920’s. Learn more in: Dynamic and Context-Aware Process Adaptation

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A psychological theory for understanding human activity in a socio-cultural context. The theory is originally developed by L. S. Vygotsky and A. N. Leont’ev and originates from Soviet psychology. Learn more in: WebCom: A Model for Understanding Web Site Communication

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A sociocultural historical analytic framework founded on the ideas of Leontyev, Engeström, and others. The framework has six elements: subject, object, artifact, praxis, community, and roles. Learn more in: Designing a Computational Model of Learning

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The framework or meta-theory that helps to understand why and how individual(s) is (are) doing what in a cultural and historical context in which is (are) immersed. Learn more in: Usability on Standard Work Visuals in Manufacturing

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