EDU 301 Assignment 2

SolutionBy Sheri Khan

Question No 1 Solution:About the TheoryVygotsky placed more emphasis on social contributions tothe process of developmentHe focused on the connections between people and thesociocultural context in which they act and interact inshared experiences.According to Vygotsky, humans use tools that developfrom a culture, such as speech and writing, to mediatetheir social environments. Initially children develop thesetools to serve solely as social functions, ways tocommunicate needs. Discovered By:Lev Vygotsky was born November 17, 1896 in Orsha, a cityin the western region of the Russian Empire. He attendedMoscow State University, where he graduated with adegree in law in 1917. His formal work in psychology did notbegin until 1924 when he attended the Institute ofPsychology in Moscow and began collaborating withAlexei Leontiev and Alexander Luria. His interests inPsychology were quite diverse, but often centered ontopics of child development and education. He alsoexplored such topics as the psychology of art and languagedevelopment.

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EDU 301 Assignment 2

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 3 Major Themes Social InteractionThe More Knowledgeable Other (MKO) Zone of Proximal Development Social InteractionVygotsky felt social learning anticipates development.He states: “Every function in the child’s culturaldevelopment appears twice: first, on the social level,and later, on the individual level; first, betweenpeople (interpsychological) and then inside the child(intrapsychological).”He believes that young children are curious andactively involved in their own learning and thediscovery and development of new understandings.The More Knowledgeable Other (MKO)MKO refers to someone who has a better understandingor a higher ability level than the learner, with respect to aparticular task, process, or concept.For example: Teachers, Other adults, Advancedstudents, sometimes even computers.Many times, a childs peers or an adults children may bethe individuals with more knowledge or experience.For example: Who would know more about the latest teenmusic group, how to be the newest black ops game, orwhat is the latest dance moves, a child or their parent?Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)This is an important concept that relates to thedifference between what a child can achieveindependently and what a child can achieve withguidance and

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encouragement from a skilled partner.According to Vygotsky learning occurs here.Vygotsky sees the ZPD as the area where the mostsensitive instruction or guidance should begiven, allowing the child to develop skills they willthen use on their own, developing higher mentalfunctions. Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) Cont’dAn example would be reading a book with a child. They are reading the words of the book out loud to you as you follow along. They come across a word that in unfamiliar to them and ask for help. Instead of directly telling them the word, show them pictures of ask them questions about what they just read. They will figure the word out on their own and come to understand what the word means on their own. They will later learn to do it themselves first before asking for help. Vygotskys theory differs from that of Piaget in a number of important ways: 1: Vygotsky places more emphasis on culture affecting/shaping cognitive development - this contradicts Piagets view of universal stages and content of development. (Vygotsky does not refer to stages in the way that Piaget does). 2: Vygotsky places considerably more emphasis on social factors contributing to cognitive development (Piaget is criticized for underestimating this). 3: Vygotsky

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places more emphasis on the role of language in cognitive development (again Piaget is criticized for lack of emphasis on this) Teachers and Social Development Theory with Technology Technology can be used to facilitate learning within the ZPD. Online activities and projects can encourage the co- operation of students even when not in the classroom. Teachers can use videos and interactive worksheets to engage their students and assist them through scaffolding.Teachers and Social Development Theory without Technology Even without technology, the basic ideas are the same. Students work better in groups according to Vygotsky, so group projects from art all the way to presentations on the latest math systems learned are a great way to get kids learning. Scaffolding can be done with real world objects and interactions, not just technological ones.Students and Social Development Theory with Technology Technology provides internet, library databases, and chat rooms, technology resources students will be able to use an endless amount of resources. Being able to share information provides classroom opinions. The classroom, based on Vygotsky provides groups for peer instruction, collaboration, and small group instruction.

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The environment of the classroom, the design of material to be learn would promote and encourage student interaction and collaboration. Leading into a classroom community.Students and Social Development Theory without Technology No Technology classes Less opportunity for educational search engines Classroom community is only able to excel with “in- class” searches such as books, fellow peers, and classroom curriculum. Still possible for a classroom community Unable to provide the class needs for certain topics.Practical ApplicationA group project on the major themes in Dracula inwhich students would work in teams exploring one ofa list of possible themes.Each group would be required to use the teacher andtrusted websites for expert supportThe teacher would be hands on, helping students tograsp the concept of themes woven throughout anarrative, utilizing examples, handouts, and practiceexamples.

1:From a Vygotskian perspective, ability (or lack of ability) is not inherent or genetic. Rather a child will learn most effectively if the learning is within his ZPD. Learning outside of a learner's

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EDU 301 Assignment 2

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ZPD – i.e. learning that is too challenging – will be inaccessible, opening the child up to failure and affecting his/her confidence as a learner. Similarly, as noted by Philip Adey, ‘the under-stimulated child does not develop their intelligence as they should’.2:

Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development is based on the idea that development is defined both by what a child can do independently and by what the child can do when assisted by an adult or more competent peer (Daniels, 1995; Wertsch, 1991). Knowing both levels of Vygotsky’s zone is useful for teachers, for these levels indicate where the child is at a given moment as well as where the child is going. The zone of proximal development has several implications for teaching in the classroom.

According to Vygotsky, for the curriculum to be developmentally appropriate, the teacher must plan activities that encompass not only what children are capable of doing on their own but what they can learn with the help of others.

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Vygotsky’s theory does not mean that anything can be taught to any child. Only instruction and activities that fall within the zone promote development. For example, if a child cannot identify the sounds in a word even after many prompts, the child may not benefit immediately from instruction in this skill. Practice of previously known skills and introduction of concepts that are too difficult and complex have little positive impact. Teachers can use information about both levels of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development in organizing classroom activities in the following ways:

Instruction can be planned to provide practice in the zone of proximal development for individual children or for groups of children. For example, hints and prompts that helped children during the assessment could form the basis of instructional activities.

Cooperative learning activities can be planned with groups of children at different levels who can help each other learn.

Scaffolding is a tactic for helping the child in his or her zone of proximal development in which the adult provides hints and prompts at different levels. In scaffolding, the adult

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does not simplify the task, but the role of the learner is simplified “through the graduated intervention of the teacher”.

For example, a child might be shown pennies to represent each sound in a word (e.g., three pennies for the three sounds in “man”). To master this word, the child might be asked to place a penny on the table to show each sound in a word, and finally the child might identify the sounds without the pennies. When the adult provides the child with pennies, the adult provides a scaffold to help the child move from assisted to unassisted success at the task . In a high school laboratory science class, a teacher might provide scaffolding by first giving students detailed guides to carrying out experiments, then giving them brief outlines that they might use to structure experiments, and finally asking them to set up experiments entirely on their own. 

Question No 2 Solution:

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EDU 301 Assignment 2

SolutionBy Sheri Khan

Piaget’s Stage Theory of Cognitive Development is a description of cognitive development as four distinct stages in children: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete, and formal.

KEY CONCEPTS

Swiss biologist and psychologist Jean Piaget observed his children (and their process of making sense of the world around them) and eventually developed a four-stage model of how the mind processes new information encountered. He posited that children progress through 4 stages and that they all do so in the same order. These four stages are:

SENSORIMOTOR STAGE (BIRTH TO 2 YEARS OLD)

The infant builds an understanding of himself or herself and reality (and how things work) through interactions with the environment. It is able to differentiate between itself and other objects. Learning takes place via assimilation (the organization of information and absorbing it

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into existing schema) and accommodation (when an object cannot be assimilated and the schemata have to be modified to include the object.

PREOPERATIONAL STAGE (AGES 2 TO 4)

The child is not yet able to conceptualize abstractly and needs concrete physical situations. Objects are classified in simple ways, especially by important features.

CONCRETE OPERATIONS (AGES 7 TO 11)

As physical experience accumulates, accomodation is increased. The child begins to think abstractly and conceptualize, creating logical structures that explain his or her physical experiences.

FORMAL OPERATIONS (BEGINNING AT AGES 11 TO 15)

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Cognition reaches its final form. By this stage, the person no longer requires concrete objects to make rational judgements. He or she is capable of deductive and hypothetical reasoning. His or her ability for abstract thinking is very similar to an adult.

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