‘Scaffolding’ through talk in groupwork learning

In the present study, we develop and deploy a conceptual framework of “scaffolding” in groupwork learning, through the analysis of the pursuit of a learning goal over time. The analysis follows individuals’ different experiences of an interaction as well as collective experiences, considering individual attainment as a result of a bi-directional contextualized conversation and action. We detect, describe and evaluate two (2) types of interaction that can be characterized as “scaffolding process”: the first concerns “Scaffolding individual thinking” and the second “Scaffolding collective thinking”. The latter, apart from presenting the educational advantages of collective thinking through peer discussion (D) and curriculum-focused evaluation context of Teacher Initiation – Student Response – Teacher Follow up (IRF), also presents the advantage of ‘spiral’ verbal exchanges in which the teacher “tunes in” to the students’ present state of ability or understanding (spiral IDRF).

[1]  P. Scott.  Teacher Talk and Meaning Making in Science Classrooms: a Vygotskian Analysis and Review , 1998 .

[2]  D. Reid,et al.  Scaffolding: a broader view. , 1998, Journal of learning disabilities.

[3]  Lyn Dawes,et al.  RESEARCH REPORT , 2004 .

[4]  Andrew Tolmie,et al.  Hypothesis testing in science: group consensus and the acquisition of conceptual and procedural knowledge , 2000 .

[5]  J. Lemke.  Talking Science: Language, Learning, and Values , 1990 .

[6]  Neil Mercer,et al.  Common Knowledge: The Development of Understanding in the Classroom , 1987 .

[7]  A. Stables.  Learning, Identity and Classroom Dialogue , 2009 .

[8]  V. Komis,et al.  Examining teachers’ beliefs about ICT in education: implications of a teacher preparation programme , 2007 .

[9]  N. Mercer,et al.  Reasoning as a scientist: ways of helping children to use language to learn science , 2004 .

[10]  H. Daun.  School decentralization in the context of globalizing governance : international comparison of grassroots responses , 2007 .

[11]  C. Crook.  Computers and the Collaborative Experience of Learning , 1996 .

[12]  J. Sinclair,et al.  Towards an Analysis of Discourse: The English Used by Teachers and Pupils , 1975 .

[13]  N. Mercer,et al.  Scaffolding the development of effective collaboration and learning , 2003 .

[14]  J. Bruner.  Child's Talk: Learning to Use Language , 1985 .

[15]  Pd John,et al.  ‘Them and us’: Teachers' and tutors' experiences of a ‘new’ professional development course in Greece , 2005 .

[16]  Roger Säljö,et al.  Learning as the use of tools: a sociocultural perspective on the human-technology link , 1999 .

[17]  N. Mercer,et al.  Methods for studying the processes of interaction and collaborative activity in computer-based educational activities , 2004 .

[18]  P. Dillenbourg,et al.  The evolution of research on collaborative learning , 1996 .

[19]  R. Gallimore,et al.  Rousing Minds to Life: Teaching, Learning, and Schooling in Social Context , 1988 .

[20]  Rupert Wegerif,et al.  The role of educational software as a support for teaching and learning conversations , 2004, Comput. Educ..

[21]  J. Bruner,et al.  The role of tutoring in problem solving. , 1976, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[22]  Janet Soler,et al.  Pedagogy and Practice: Culture and Identities , 2008 .

[23]  Vassilis Komis,et al.  Using educational software to support collective thinking and test hypotheses in the computer science curriculum , 2011, Education and Information Technologies.

[24]  Neil Mercer,et al.  The Guided Construction of Knowledge: Talk Amongst Teachers and Learners , 1995 .

[25]  Päivi Häkkinen,et al.  Teachers' instructional scaffolding in an innovative information and communication technology-based history learning environment , 2002 .

[26]  James V. Wertsch,et al.  Culture, communication, and cognition : Vygotskian perspectives , 1987 .

[27]  Gordon Wells,et al.  Reevaluating the IRF sequence: A proposal for the articulation of theories of activity and discourse for the analysis of teaching and learning in the classroom , 1993 .

[28]  Hans Spada,et al.  Learning in Humans and Machines: Towards an Interdisciplinary Learning Science , 1995 .

[29]  Neil Mercer,et al.  Words and Minds : How We Use Language to Think Together , 2000 .

[30]  Petroula Siminou.  Steps of Educational Decentralization in Greece: between Delegation and Deconcentration , 2007 .

[31]  Karen Littleton,et al.  Rethinking Collaborative Learning , 2001 .

[32]  Päivi Häkkinen,et al.  Is successful scaffolding an illusion? – Shifting patterns of responsibility and control in teacher-student interaction during a long-term learning project , 2003 .

[33]  Peter Scrimshaw,et al.  Computers and talk in the primary classroom , 1997 .

[34]  Phil Seok Oh,et al.  Discursive Roles of the Teacher during Class Sessions for Students Presenting their Science Investigations , 2005 .

[35]  D. Stavroulakis,et al.  The development of vocational education policy in Greece: a critical approach , 1997 .

[36]  K. Norman.  Thinking voices : the work of the National Oracy Project , 1992 .

[37]  L. Vygotsky.  Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes: Harvard University Press , 1978 .

[38]  Phil Scott,et al.  Characterising individual and social concept development in collaborative computer science classrooms , 2005 .

[39]  Karen Littleton,et al.  Productivity through interaction: an overview , 1999 .

[40]  Gerard Seegers,et al.  Effects of Instruction on Verbal Interactions During Collaborative Problem Solving , 2005 .

[41]  Neil Mercer,et al.  Language for the Social Construction of Knowledge: Comparing Classroom Talk in Mexican Preschools , 1999 .

[42]  Georgios Evangelidis,et al.  DELYS: a novel microworld-based educational software for teaching computer science subjects , 2003, Comput. Educ..

[43]  Wouter R. van Joolingen,et al.  Students' reasoning during modeling in an inquiry learning environment , 2005, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[44]  Kristiina Kumpulainen,et al.  The Discursive Practice of Participation in an Elementary Classroom Community , 2005 .

[45]  Neil Mercer,et al.  The Seeds of Time: Why Classroom Dialogue Needs a Temporal Analysis , 2008 .

[46]  Roger Bakeman,et al.  Observing Interaction: An Introduction to Sequential Analysis , 1986 .

[47]  L. McCall.  Scaffolding in the classroom , 2010 .

[48]  Lyn Dawes.  Talking and learning in classroom science , 2004 .

[49]  Evdokia Karavas-Doukas,et al.  Using Attitude Scales to Investigate Teachers' Attitudes to the Communicative Approach. , 1996 .

[50]  Karen Littleton,et al.  Learning with computers: analysing productive interaction , 1999 .

[51]  Vassilis Komis,et al.  Design principles for the support of modelling and collaboration in a technology-based learning environment , 2005 .

[52]  T. Salthouse,et al.  Cognition and context. , 1992, Science.