Wood Flashcards
Wood aim
To see how children responded to W tutor when they had a problem to solve and see if this behaviour changed with different age groups
Wood participants
30 children aged 3, 4 or 5
Equal gender and number of ps in each condition
Volunteer sampling from adverts
Massachusetts, America
Wood method
Pyramid building task - within reach of child’s ability but not doable alone
6 layers, interlocked through a rod and hole system
Observations were carried out of the ‘natural’ tutorials
They wanted to see how the children responded to a tutor, who used a standardised set of prescribed actions
The tutor had to make sure that the child did as much as possible by themselves, using some verbal instructions where needed, and only physically intervene if they really needed it
The child came in and was seated at a table with 21 blocks to play for 5 minutes
The tutor showed them how to make a pair of blocks and asked the child to make some more
It took 15 constructions to make the pyramid
Children were scored on manipulating separate pieces, assembled pieces made up, assisted, unassisted
Two independent scorers who achieved 94% agreement
How could the tutor respond to the child in Wood
Tutor could demonstrate again
Verbally draw attention to the fact that the construction wasn’t completed
Verbally point out errors, if necessary
Wood results
3 year olds generally performed worse than 4 and 5 year olds
No 3 year olds put 4 blocks together successfully, but all 4/5 yr olds did at least once
3 year olds needed more tutor help to construct blocks, often ignored the tutor (median 11 occasions) whereas 4/5 year olds accepted help on all occasions
Tutor had to intervene 4x as much with 3 year old than 5 year old
Children enjoyed free play more than pyramid task
Older children required less trial and error
Older children less likely to deconstruct assemblies
Wood conclusions
Older children require less support from a tutor than younger children when completing a task
Tutors / teachers need to adapt their teaching approach (known as scaffolding) depending on individuals cognitive development
How can Wood’s findings be used by teachers
Scaffolding - teachers can adapt type and amount of support depending on stage
Younger children need more assistance, middle age children may need verbal prods and correction, older children may need confirming and checking
BACKGROUND: Samuel and Bryant
252 5/6/7 year olds from Devon
Completed number task - two rows of six counters, one row spread out or bunched up
mass task - two equal cylinders of playdoh, one then rolled out
and volume task - two identical glasses of liquid, then one poured into a narrower or shallower container
Found older children made less errors than younger children, found number task easiest and volume task hardest
BACKGROUND: Freund
Aim: to investigate whether discovery learning or scaffolding is more effective
Sample: 3 and 5 year olds
Procedure: children were asked to help a puppet decide which furniture should be placed in which rooms of a dolls house, either independently or with mother
Findings: children assisted by their mother performed better
