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Tools from the Learning Sciences
Published in Jim Goodell, Janet Kolodner, Learning Engineering Toolkit, 2023
Jim Goodell, Janet Kolodner, Aaron Kessler
Tasks that are outside of a learner’s current independent ability—but that are achievable with help (scaffolding)—are within a learner’s Zone of Proximal Development. Every learner’s zone is different, and a learner’s zone is different at different points in time. Learning activities should be adaptive or adaptable to consider the probable zones and to provide the relevant scaffolding required for success. Good scaffolding helps learners succeed past what they can do by themselves and helps them grow their capabilities over time. *
Online Instruction on Scholarly Writing and Library Research in a Physician Assistant Program
Published in Michael J. Madson, Teaching Writing in the Health Professions, 2021
Isabell C. May, Emilie M. Ludeman
A scaffolded approach to writing assignments goes hand in hand with a writing curriculum centered on genre theory and academic literacies that is based on transparency around expectations and conventions. As other authors in this collection have suggested, scaffolded assignments break down complex assignments into smaller, more manageable tasks by building on existing knowledge. The method of instructional scaffolding is based on the psychologist Lev Vygotsky’s45 theory of the “zone of proximal development,” which, briefly put, is a theoretical concept that describes learners’ current level of knowledge and what they can achieve with help. The use of scaffolded writing assignments has been widely discussed in the work of multilingual and second-language experts46,47 as an effective method to teach academic writing and the cultural conventions around academic discourse in English to students for whom English is not one of their primary languages. Scaffolded journal writing assignments have also been used with students in medical and health care–related areas, with the explicit purpose of helping them explore connections between the course content, their own learning, and the further development of their writing skills.48 (Chapter 7, for instance, shows how assignments like these can get students “unstuck” as they learn to write literature reviews.)
Theoretical Underpinnings of Parent-Led Interventions to Treat Psychopathology in Children
Published in Cathy Laver-Bradbury, Margaret J.J. Thompson, Christopher Gale, Christine M. Hooper, Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 2021
Catherine Thompson, Margaret J.J. Thompson, Cathy Laver-Bradbury
The Zone of Proximal Development is the area between what the child can do now with no support and the next step that they cannot do yet independently. These are difficult concepts to relay to parents. The principles of breaking down learning into steps, modelling the skills and explaining the relevant concepts to the child, helping the parent to identify the relevant strategies and supporting them as they trial them, are fundamental and achievable in practice.
Instructional media selection principles for online medical education and emerging models for the new normal
Published in Medical Teacher, 2023
Jihyun Lee, Hyoseon Choi, Robert O. Davis, Marcus A. Henning
In online medical education, the social and collaborative features of learning activities are an important consideration for media selection. Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory identified two types of communication: intrapersonal communication and interpersonal communication. Intrapersonal communication involves inner speech, making the learning engagement a communication and interactive process that happens within an individual (Saville-Troike 2005). Individuals who are reading, for example, experience the interplay of decoding the written format and using their own schematic understandings to decipher that meaning, a process that enables learning through internal reflection on meaning (Ellis 1999). Conversely, interpersonal communication involves social interaction between two or more people (Saville-Troike 2005). In this case, the process of learning happens within a zone of proximal development, the place between what learners can do or know on their own and where assistance is needed from another person with more knowledge (Vygotsky 1978).
Navigating complexity: The importance of design-based research for faculty development
Published in Medical Teacher, 2021
Weichao Chen, John Sandars, Thomas C. Reeves
Our vision of FD is informed by the concept of Zone of Generativity (ZoG), proposed by Arnetha F. Ball (2012) based upon her extensive research and practice in professional development. The concept of ZoG is informed by two perspectives:First, is Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, in which the achievement of generativity is considered to be the central mission of middle adulthood. Adults seek generativity through taking responsibility for the needs of the wider community and nurturing ideas that endure beyond themselves. This pursuit of generativity is necessary for the adult’s further growth.Second, is Lev Vygotsky’s concept of Zone of Proximal Development, a metaphor that refers to the distance between one’s current level of understanding and the potential higher level that one can achieve if guidance and support are available.
Using activity theory to transform medical work and learning
Published in Medical Teacher, 2021
A typical Change Laboratory intervention proceeds through 6–10 sessions. Participants first view video excerpts selected by the researchers to elicit the learning action of questioning the existing mode of activity. Next, participants discuss the problems, their systemic causes, and possible remedies or solutions – performing historical and empirical analysis. Problems, causes, and suggested solutions are written up on whiteboards or flip charts by a scribe. Then, participants engage in the learning action of modeling, jointly drafting a zone of proximal development and a new model for their activity. The aims and contents of the new model are discussed, and detailed changes and improvement suggestions are made, corresponding to the action of examining and testing the model. Participants plan and execute practical changes in the activity, corresponding to the learning action of implementing the model. The process is assessed by examining the work accomplished in an action of reflecting on the process. Consolidation and generalization of the outcomes are initiated toward the end of a Change Laboratory intervention and typically continue after it.