Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

The effect of peer collaboration on children's problem-solving ability.

Lillian M Fawcett1, Alison F Garton

  • 1School of Psychology, Edith Cowan University, Australia.

The British Journal of Educational Psychology
|July 22, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Collaborative learning significantly improves children's problem-solving skills, especially when lower-ability peers explain tasks to higher-ability partners. This highlights the benefits of guided peer interaction for cognitive development.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Word meaning, cognitive development, and social interaction.

The Behavioral and brain sciencesยท2008
See all related articles

Area of Science:

  • Child Development
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Educational Psychology

Background:

  • Vygotskian theory emphasizes learning through interaction with more competent individuals.
  • Piagetian theory posits that cognitive conflict during peer interaction drives development.
  • This study explores how collaborative learning impacts children's problem-solving abilities.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the effect of collaborative learning on children's problem-solving skills.
  • To determine if knowledge status differences contribute to learning gains.
  • To examine the role of explanatory language in collaborative learning.

Main Methods:

  • 100 Year 2 children (6-7 years old) from high socio-economic areas participated.
  • Children completed pre- and post-tests using a block sorting task.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Experimental phase involved individual or dyadic card sorting in 'talk' or 'no-talk' conditions, with same or different ability pairings.

    • Main Results:

    • Collaborative learning led to significantly more correct sorts than individual work.
    • Only lower-ability children paired with higher-ability peers showed significant improvement.
    • Within this group, explaining the task to a partner significantly enhanced pre- to post-test performance.

    Conclusions:

    • Vygotskian and Piagetian perspectives on learning may not be mutually exclusive.
    • Collaborative learning, particularly with explanation, is beneficial for children's cognitive development.
    • Findings offer insights for educators on structuring effective peer learning activities.