Wood Study

• Aim


  to investigate the interaction between child and tutor when completing a problem-solving task and how this interaction changed in different age groups (maturation)
• sample


  30 children, parents volunteered for them, all from USA, equal numbers of girls and boys, equal numbers of 3, 4 and 5 year olds
• research method


  controlled observation in artificial environment at harvard university
• procedure


  coding scheme used, 94% inter rater reliability, each session lasted 20 mins-1 hourchildren given 21 blocks of various shapes/sizes, child not informed they can be put together to form pyramid, child played for 5 mins, female tutor then demonstrated by putting 2 blocks together (some children had already figured it out), tutor then asked child to make more like that one, tutor left, tutor only intervened again if child struggled or stopped building
• teacher responses

  1. standardised responses presented with 3 types of behaviour from childif child ignored tutor, tutor repeated task2. if child overlooked key feature, tutor would highlight mistakes3. if child tried to make something in similar way to tutor, tutor would correct errors
• results

  • took 15 acts of pair construction to make pyramid, 75% unassisted in 5 year olds, 50% 4 year olds, 10% 3 year olds3 year olds usually rejected tutor's suggestions, especially verbalnumber of direct interventions dropped as children got oldersuccess of assistance was greater for showing/demonstrating rather than telling, especially for 3 year olds
• process of scaffolding

  1. engaging learner with task2. simplifying the task3. keeping learners motivated through positive feedback & moving learners onto next task4. highlighting key features, and those that are correct/incorrect5. reduce stress and keep learner relaxed6. tutor modelling correct solution
• conclusion


  as children got older there problem solving abilities improve, older children accept more advice, type of support needed across age groups differ, 3 year olds learn more through demonstration rather than telling