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The effects of adult guidance and peer discussion on the development of children's representations: evidence from the training of pedestrian skills

Tolmie, A; Thomson, J; Foot, H; Whelan, K; Morrison, S; McLaren, B; (2005) The effects of adult guidance and peer discussion on the development of children's representations: evidence from the training of pedestrian skills. British Journal of Psychology , 96 pp. 181-204. Green open access

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Abstract

It was hypothesised that practical training is effective in improving children's pedestrian skills because adult scaffolding and peer discussion during training specifically promote E3 level representation (linguistically-encoded, experientially-grounded, generalisable knowledge), as defined by Karmiloff-Smith's (1992) representational redescription (RR) model. Two studies were conducted to examine in detail the impact of this social input, in the context of simulation-based training in roadside search skills. Five- to eight-year-olds were pre-tested on ability to detect relevant road crossing features. They then participated in four training sessions designed to promote attunement to these, under peer discussion condition vs adult guidance conditions (Study 1), and adult-child vs adult-group conditions (Study 2). Performance at post-test was compared to that of controls who underwent no training. Study 1 found that children in the adult guidance condition improved significantly more than those in the peer discussion or control conditions, and this improvement was directly attributable to appropriation of E3 level representations from adult dialogue. Study 2 found that progress was greater still when adult scaffolding was supplemented by peer discussion, with E3 level representation attributable to children's exploration of conflicting ideas. The implications of these findings for the RR model and for practical road safety education are discussed.

Type: Article
Title: The effects of adult guidance and peer discussion on the development of children's representations: evidence from the training of pedestrian skills
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Keywords: 5 - 10; UK; Non specific setting; Skills development; Peer learning
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1548576
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