This qualitative naturalistic research study investigated peer interaction and its relationship to the learning of Logo geometry concepts within an elementary school computer lab classroom environment. The work of four focal children (10-11 years old) and their partners was analyzed. The study looked at (1) the kind of working relationships which existed between the partners, (2) the verbal strategies used by the partners during their mathematics disagreement, and (3) the ways in which the talk between the partners and the strategies they used both contributed to their learning, and reflected their learning, of the geometry concepts (with an emphasis upon the aspect of angular rotation). / The findings revealed that all but one of the dyadic (and triadic) partnerships were collaborative and symmetrical: the children took turns giving information and explanation. At times the information was incorrect. The number of explanations given was very small. A range of peer teaching skills was in evidence. There was no correspondence found between the rate of use of higher level strategies (which included talk supported by reasons), and the child's general Logo achievement. However, the verbal strategies used during disagreements did reveal the children's modes of working and thinking. Seven of the ten children worked in an algorithmic way; the other three seemed to understand what they were doing when they worked with angular rotations. The study was able to report on aspects concerning the children's understanding of angular rotation in the early stages of Logo learning, as well as on the sociocognitive aspect concerning the effects that children working together can have upon their learning of Logo geometry concepts.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.75899 |
| Date | January 1988 |
| Creators | Zack, Vicki |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Educational Psychology and Counselling.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 000916540, proquestno: AAINL52245, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
Page generated in 0.0022 seconds