This week, I obtain a great deal of knowledge from the article and lecture of Dr. Mayer. Especially guided methods of instruction and balance between game elements and the education features of the game.
For the guided methods of instruction, in the article “Should There Be a Three-Strikes Rule Against Pure Discovery Learning?”, Dr. Mayer describes the different cases for guided methods of instruction. In Strike One: Discovery of Problem-Solving Rules, Dr. Mayer quotes the case of Kittel. Students were divided into a pure discovery group, a guided group, and an expository group in this case. And its result shows the guided group’s performance is best and the pure group’s performance is worst. Further, he pointed out “students need enough guidance so that their cognitive activity results in the construction of useful knowledge”. In Strike Two: Discovery of Conservation Strategies, Dr. Mayer also argued that children will be able to learn better if a teacher provides an effective guide for their activity. Finally, he summarized that “when students have too much freedom, they may fail to come into contact with the to-be-learned material”.
I think that all these contents mentioned by Dr. Mayer just solve a problem that I have been confused about before. This is before I agree on the opinion that children need more freedom, so I usually tell my son that you address this matter by himself. Because I want to give him freedom and I don’t limit his thoughts by my guide. However, in fact, he always doesn’t know how to complete these things without experience. At that time, I was always confused about where the problem was raised. Now, I clearly know that children will be not possible to find the correct materials regarding a topic if they have too much freedom. In other words, children need to be guided by a teacher, their parents, or else adults having experience.
Reference:
Kittel, J. E. (1957). An experimental study of the effect of external direction during learning on transfer and retention of principles. Journal of Educational Psychology, 48, 391–405.
Mayer, R. E. (2004). Should there be a three-strikes rule against pure discovery learning? American Psychologist, 59(1), 14-19.
Hi Xiaojiao, I also agree with your conclusion regarding Mayer's criticisms of pure discovery learning, and it was interesting how you connected it to raising your son. Young children simply do not have enough experience, or prior knowledge, to build on; or, as Mayer says, they may not know how to make the proper connections, or they might make incorrect ones. Since I know your son is in daycare, I am curious now how the teachers at his daycare handle tasks like this. Like, teaching him how to go to the bathroom on his own, etc. (I can't think of other simple tasks like that at the moment--clearly I'm not a mom yet!) 😄 Sara
Hi, Xiaojiao
Thank you for your post. I would like to share something regarding the children's education. It is true that children require self-exploration and self-discovery to figure out their true interests, it may take years. Certain limited freedom could contribute to it. But as you mentioned, it is also hard for children to know how to do the thing correctly in the first place. If we simply leave the children to solve the problem by themselves, it may turn out nothing they could really gain. It could be critical not only for children in the learning process but also for all new learners to have a certain level and guidance and flexibility to make mistakes. That may also be…