The role of collaboration in the cognitive development of young children: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Collaboration is a key facilitator of cognitive development in early childhood; this review evaluates which factors mediate the impact of collaborative interactions on cognitive development in children aged 4-7 years. METHODS: A systematic search strategy identified relevant studies (n = 21), which assessed the role of ability on the relationship between collaboration and cognitive development. Other factors that interact with ability were also assessed: gender, sociability/friendship, discussion, age, feedback and structure. RESULTS: Immediate benefits of collaboration on cognitive development are highlighted for same-age peers. Collaborative interactions are beneficial for tasks measuring visual perception, problem-solving and rule-based thinking, but not for word-reading and spatial perspective-taking. Collaboration is particularly beneficial for lower-ability children when there is an ability asymmetry. High-ability children either regressed or did not benefit when paired with lower-ability participants. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the studies included within this review indicate that brief one-off interactions can have a significant, positive effect on short-term cognitive development in children of infant school age. The longer-term advantages of collaboration are still unclear. Implications for practice and future research are discussed

Children’s Peer Interaction While Playing the Digital Emotion Detectives Game

Collaborative learning and collaborative use of digital technologies are essential skills in the twenty-first century. The aim of this study was to explore the features and types of interaction that can be identified during children’s digital gameplay while playing in pairs. The following research questions were addressed: 1) What are the interactional play features that characterize the play sessions? 2) Which play types can be identified based on these interactional play features? 3) How do the interactional features and play types change during the eight-week play period? In this study, 16 children aged 5–6 years played the Emotion Detectives (ED) game in pairs at day care centres for 15–30 minutes per week. During the eight-week period, the children’s gameplay was video-recorded, and three play sessions from each pair were explored using content analysis. The results of this study deepen our understanding of the features of children’s playing in pairs and extend our knowledge of the suitability of the ED game for joint gameplay. On this basis, we make some recommendations for educational settings

A Single Case Analysis of the Impact of Caregiver-Student Collaborative Learning on an Urban Community

The purpose of this study was to measure the impact of caregiver-student collaborative learning classes on an urban community. The study examined whether the self-efficacy of the caregivers increased with helping their children with school work due to the caregiver-student classes. The study also examined whether providing access to a resource not normally provided within this particular community led to increased self-efficacy within caregivers. The research questions that guided the study were as follows: How do collaborative caregiver-student classes that focus on collaborative strategies impact the self-efficacy of the caregivers in helping their children with school work? How does increasing access to educational services impact the self-efficacy of the caregivers who participate in collaborative caregiver-student classes? The researcher collected data through classroom observations, reflections from participants, and an initial focus group and closing individual interview. Classes were taught by a co-teacher selected by the researcher with the input of the principal. Four total sessions were held, three of which included the teaching of collaborative learning strategies, and the last of which was an individual interview. Overall, data indicated increased self-efficacy within caregivers. The caregiver roles within the neighborhood proved not to always be between an adult and child, but rather cousins and siblings who may have been close in age. Families within the neighborhood exchanged care in different ways according to their culture, work demands, and family dynamic. This program led to strengthened relationships between home and school, as well as enhanced self-efficacy and stronger relationships between caregivers and students

Developing Supports for Conversations About Teaching: Negotiating Problems of Practice in Researcher-Practitioner Collaborations.

This is a study of the importance of “problem negotiation” in collaborations between teachers and researchers. The study presents contrasting cases of negotiation involving two different teacher networks in Chile, each of which was involved in using a web-based tool intended to facilitate conversation about teaching practice. The first phase of this research employs a Design-Based Research (DBR) approach, through which each network engaged with the researcher in iterative cycles of design to shape and improve the tool. In the second phase of the research, the features of problem negotiation in the first stage of the implementation were defined and analyzed using a Design-Based Implementation Research (DBIR) perspective. This study contributes to our understanding of DBIR by exploring the negotiation of a problem of practice employing qualitative methods. The analysis used interviews, observations, survey, and document data to investigate the process of negotiating a problem of practice and the evidence of commitment and/or differing views to understand how they affected the success of the intervention. The study took place in the context of a national reform initiative in Chile. In the first network, problem negotiation involved top-down coordination with policy-makers and a network coordinator. Teacher participation was not consistent, highlighting a potential misalignment on the “problem” being addressed through the intervention. In the second network, problem negotiation was more bottom-up, with all participants engaged in deciding that the intervention was something they wanted to explore in response to a particular problem. The tool use was more independent and involved active participation, suggesting a better understanding of the problem of practice being addressed. Other key findings of this study include the importance of exploring the contextual features of partners’ realities in researcher-practitioner collaborations. Overall, this study identified implications for negotiating problems of practice between researchers and practitioners that highlight the brokering role that some actors play. The study’s implications stress the relevance of negotiating access through key actors, involving different authority figures in problem negotiation, collectively defining goals for the endeavor upon which all partners have agreed, and anticipating expectations that can influence the process of negotiating problems of practice.PhDEducational StudiesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113367/1/fgomezz_1.pd