The Role of Age versus Expertise in Peer Collaboration during Joint Planning.

The Role of Age versus Expertise in Peer Collaboration during Joint Planning.
Ruth T. Duran Mary Gauvain (1993)
Missie Fee
10-26-10

This study looks at development of children’s planning skills during joint planning versus effects of age on expertise. The current research in social developing shows correlation between dominance and social status. Children learn by observing how other people solve problems or by getting assistance from other people with whom they work (230). The study looked at observation learning of the “novice”, guidance by the “expert”, and conflict between partners. The study predicted that learning would be affected by the age of the “expert” partner and the involvement of the “novice”. The study found that the reports supported the hypothesis.

Piaget and Vygotsky did not share the same views on the topic of peer collaboration, but shared a similar interest in the topic. Vygotsky focused on children learning though participation and interaction with more mature or skilled partners to stimulate intellectual growth. Piaget’s perspective was that children will tend to agree with the person who has the most power or knowledge, without participating in the problem solving process. Both Vygotsky and Piaget looked at children learning and developing the thinking process though interacting with objects and people, as well as, children being active participants in their environment.

Children who were 5 and 7 year old were given a pretest task, collaborative task, and posttest task. The children were from 3 elementary schools who served middle income populations. Children were assigned the rank or “novice” or “expert”. Children were identified as an “expert” when they were able to complete the pretest successfully within three or less attempts. Children who took more than three attempts were considered a “novice”. The interactional process was measured by observational learning, guidance by the expert, and conflict. Conflict was defined as disagreement about handling of the task, choice, and arrangement. The amount of time the novice spends observing the expert at the task is observational learning. Physical intervention, positive support, and directions was considered guidance by the expert. Analysis of variance or ANOVA was used to compare the results.

This study supports Vygotsky’s theory that “cognitive development may benefit from opportunities available in social context” (237). The study showed that children learning better when learning with an expert of the same age or an expert who was older. This is interesting when looking at how children will learn from peers when socially interacting across all environments. Mechanics in social interactions can promote or impede cognitive growth. Children have many opportunities for learning, such as play, and will exhibit these behaviors of observational learning and conflict resolution in their natural environments, not just in more structured environments such as school. I am hoping to catch this behavior when observing my niece and nephews naturally occurring though their interactions with other peers.