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

Sills, Jennifer; Rowse, Georgina; Emerson, Lisa-Marie

doi:10.1111/cch.12330

Cited by 28 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Their study of 6- and 7-year-old children’s CPS with peers in sorting tasks found that only children with lower sorting abilities showed significant sorting improvement when partnered with higher ability peers and that “explaining” problem-solving (talking out loud) with their partner improved this ability. A systematic review of collaboration and cognitive development in young children found low-ability students benefitting the most from tasks requiring visual perception and problem-solving and highlighted the need for discussion and feedback throughout CPS processes for all students (Sills et al , 2016). There is no definitive agreement on how development impacts CPS, however, researchers generally agree that CPS interventions can help develop related skills in all children and teachers can significantly assist with this endeavor (Lai, 2011).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing elementary students’ collaborative problem-solving in makerspace activities

Herro

Quigley

Abimbade

2021

ILS

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Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify and assess collaborative problem solving (CPS) behaviors in elementary students in science, technology, engineering, arts/humanities and mathematics (STEAM)-related making and to garner students perspectives. We offer a valid way for researchers to understand collaborative processes and for educators to create opportunities for collaboration. Additionally, the feedback from the assessment offers students a way to reflect on their CPS skills. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study evaluated 52 elementary students’ CPS skills using co-measure, a validated rubric assessing students’ CPS when working in STEAM-related makerspace activities. Students worked in collaborative groups to “make” artifacts when solving a problem posed by their teacher. They were assessed using co-measure’s four dimensions: peer interactions, positive communication, inquiry rich/multiple paths and transdisciplinary approaches and scored via each dimension’s associated attributes. Student interviews provided their perspectives on CPS. Findings A majority of students scored in the acceptable or proficient range in the social dimensions of peer interactions and positive communication. Students scored slightly lower on the cognitive dimensions of inquiry rich/multiple paths and markedly lower on transdisciplinary approaches when collaborating. Findings suggest to increase CPS skills, teachers might develop “making” activities fostering greater inquiry and model ways to strategize and verify information, approach the problem drawing on student interest and prior knowledge and collaboratively use tools, materials and methods that mimic the real world when problem-solving. Originality/value Much of the current research on assessing CPS during making is in the early stages of considering appropriate assessment approaches, especially in schools. To expand this literature the study includes elementary students between the ages of 6-10, the focus is on assessing their collaboration using an observational rubric. The authors use preliminary findings from young children’s perspectives on making to position the future work.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing elementary students’ collaborative problem-solving in makerspace activities

Herro

Quigley

Abimbade

2021

ILS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…A systematic review by Chang and Locke (2016) [ 25 ] concluded that the inclusion of peers was one of the most promising strategies for social skills intervention. A recent review [ 26 ] concluded that collaborative learning activities are particularly beneficial for low-ability children at younger ages (4–7 years old).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating ‘Enhancing Pragmatic Language skills for Young children with Social communication impairments’ (E-PLAYS): a feasibility cluster-randomised controlled trial

Murphy

Joffe

Donald

et al. 2021

Pilot Feasibility Stud

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Background This article reports the results from a feasibility study of an intervention (‘E-PLAYS’) aimed at supporting children who experience difficulties with social communication. E-PLAYS is based around a dyadic computer game, which aims to develop collaborative and communication skills. A pilot study found that when E-PLAYS was delivered by researchers, improvements on communication test scores and on collaborative behaviours were observed. The aim of this study was to ascertain the feasibility of running a full-scale trial to test the effectiveness of E-PLAYS in a National Health Service (NHS) setting with delivery by speech and language therapists and teaching assistants. Methods The study was a two-arm feasibility cluster-randomised controlled trial of the E-PLAYS intervention with a treatment as usual control arm. Data relating to recruitment and retention, treatment fidelity, acceptability to participants, suitability of outcomes and feasibility of collecting health economic measures and of determining cost-effectiveness were collected. Speech and language therapists selected suitable children (ages 4–7 years old) from their caseload. E-PLAYS intervention (experimental group) was then delivered by teaching assistants overseen by speech and language therapists. The control group received usual care. Assessments included blinded language measures and observations, non-blinded teacher-reported measures of peer relations and classroom behaviour and non-blinded parent-reported use of health and education resources and quality of life. Results Planned recruitment was for 70 children, in the event, 50 children were recruited which was sufficient for feasibility purposes. E-PLAYS was very highly rated by children, teaching assistants and speech and language therapists and treatment fidelity did not pose any issues. We were able to collect health economic data which suggests that E-PLAYS would be a low-cost intervention. Conclusion Based on recruitment, retention and adherence rates and our outcome measures, a full-scale randomised controlled trial estimated appears feasible and warranted to assess the effectiveness of E-PLAYS for use by the NHS and schools. Trial registration ISRCTN 14818949 (retrospectively registered).

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“…While individual trajectories are important for the understanding of child's cognitive development, existing theories highlight the role of social interaction in child's learning (Bandura, 1971 ; Vygotsky, 1978 ; Tomasello, 1995 ). For young children, the development of effective strategies for problem-solving is often associated to scaffolding from the social environment (Tomasello, 1995 ; Cragg and Chevalier, 2012 ); collaboration is particularly beneficial for low-ability children when there is an ability asymmetry (Sills et al, 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child-Robot Collaborative Problem-Solving and the Importance of Child's Voluntary Interaction: A Developmental Perspective

et al. 2020

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The emergence and development of cognitive strategies for the transition from exploratory actions towards intentional problem-solving in children is a key question for the understanding of the development of human cognition. Researchers in developmental psychology have studied cognitive strategies and have highlighted the catalytic role of the social environment. However, it is not yet adequately understood how this capacity emerges and develops in biological systems when they perform a problemsolving task in collaboration with a robotic social agent. This paper presents an empirical study in a human-robot interaction (HRI) setting which investigates children's problemsolving from a developmental perspective. In order to theoretically conceptualize children's developmental process of problem-solving in HRI context, we use principles based on the intuitive theory and we take into consideration existing research on executive functions with a focus on inhibitory control. We considered the paradigm of the Tower of Hanoi and we conducted an HRI behavioral experiment to evaluate task performance. We designed two types of robot interventions, "voluntary" and "turntaking"-manipulating exclusively the timing of the intervention. Our results indicate that the children who participated in the voluntary interaction setting showed a better performance in the problem solving activity during the evaluation session despite their large variability in the frequency of self-initiated interactions with the robot. Additionally, we present a detailed description of the problem-solving trajectory for a representative single case-study, which reveals specific developmental patterns in the context of the specific task. Implications and future work are discussed regarding the development of intelligent robotic systems that allow child-initiated interaction as well as targeted and not constant robot interventions.

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

Abstract: Background: Collaboration is a key facilitator of cognitive development in early childhood;

Cited by 28 publications

References 50 publications

Assessing elementary students’ collaborative problem-solving in makerspace activities

Assessing elementary students’ collaborative problem-solving in makerspace activities

Evaluating ‘Enhancing Pragmatic Language skills for Young children with Social communication impairments’ (E-PLAYS): a feasibility cluster-randomised controlled trial

Child-Robot Collaborative Problem-Solving and the Importance of Child's Voluntary Interaction: A Developmental Perspective

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