Key research: Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) The role of tutoring in problem solving

Aim To investigate how children of different age groups respond to tutoring when they had a problem to solve. Participants 30 middle class children from the USA. They were split evenly into three groups of 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds with an even number of boys and girls in each group. The children’s parents responded to a volunteer advertisement. [CE] First section to appear on a click followed by second section. Bullet points appear on a click

The pyramid task Procedure Children were tested individually for between 20 minutes and an hour. The children were asked to put together a wooden pyramid made up of 21 blocks that interlocked together. The task was designed to be difficult enough that children could understand it, but not complete on their own. Procedure The child came in and was seated at a table with the blocks. The child had five minutes to play with them without instruction. A tutor would then, using as many standardised instructions as she could (although she could give individual help if necessary), show the child how to put a pair of blocks together. She would then ask the child to do the same. The child then had to try to construct the pyramid. The tutor would try to let the child do it on their own, only giving them demonstrations when needed. The tutor also had to try to keep the child on task in case they stopped. [CE] First section to appear on a click followed by second section. Bullet points appear on a click

Results and conclusions Results were scored in many ways, including by how well the children put together the pyramid. Two observers (showing 94% agreement) observed how often the tutor needed to provide assistance and give verbal prompts. Each age group conducted a similar number of acts but needed the tutors in slightly different ways. The youngest children needed the most help, with the tutor having to show them how to complete the task rather than learning by verbal instruction. They were also the group most likely to go off task and needed the tutor to keep them motivated. The middle age group needed the tutor to prompt and correct mistakes they made. The eldest group needed the least amount of help. These children were the most independent and only really needed the tutor to confirm whether what they were doing was correct. Wood et al. concluded that this is the action of ‘scaffolding’, with the study demonstrating how smaller children need more direct support, while older children need less. [CE] Bullet points appear on a click

Key components of scaffolding Wood et al. identified several key ideas for teachers and tutors to help scaffold effectively: Recruitment – keep learners interested in the task. Reduction in degrees of freedom – help the learners eliminate the number of things they can do wrong, leaving them with the solution. Direct maintenance – keep learners motivated by providing them with feedback and moving them on when they complete sections. Marking critical features – highlight areas that are important to completing the task. Frustration control – try to make the task less stressful but try to make sure learners are independent. Demonstration – demonstrate a solution and allow the learner to imitate when needed. [CE] Bullet and numbered points appear on a click

Application: Strategies to improve revision or learning

Cognitive techniques in the classroom Cognitive strategies are ways that can help you to learn and understand. What we have learned about cognitive development is particularly useful to teachers who, from the key research, should be able to apply the techniques of scaffolding to help support learners to understand material. Think about how you were taught concepts of psychology at the beginning of your first year. Is it exactly the same as how you are taught in your second year? [CE] Bullet points appear on a click

Memory Students who take exams should be able to appreciate the need to have memory techniques to help them remember details. Some cognitive techniques to help your memory can include: Using mnemonics to help remember stages, e.g. Piaget’s stages of Senori-motor, Pre-operational, Concrete operational and Formal operational can be remembered using the mnemonic: Smart People Cook Fish. Semantic processing also aids memory (giving material a meaning) and one way to do this would be to answer exam questions and then see where each part of your answer links to a revision mind map. [CE] Bullet points appear on a click

Making it stick