Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Microgenesis'

Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Geography
J. M. Shawn Hutchinson
The theoretical framework of spatial microgenesis as presented by Siegel and White (1975), and updated by Montello (1998) posits that through exposure, humans will create spatial knowledge of places in their minds. This process is thought to be an ongoing one, and will eventually lead to a metrically-scaled ‘map-like’ image in the mind. In Siegel and White’s dominant framework, knowledge of space progresses through the stages of landmark and route, and ends with survey knowledge, whereas in Montello’s continuous framework, metrically-scaled survey knowledge is present from the first exposure. Beyond that primary difference between the two theoretical frameworks, the continuous framework also provides for greater nuance in how the process may occur for different individuals. There is little research directly addressing the differences between the two frameworks, and this dissertation adds support for the continuous framework by testing three of its five tenets. Utilizing a virtual environment as a laboratory, participants were exposed to a novel environment and asked to complete spatial tasks based on knowledge of the layout of said environment. Over the course of three sessions, measures of spatial knowledge were recorded using distance, direction, and sketch map tasks. The results support the first tenet of the continuous framework: metrically-scaled survey-type knowledge was found in all participants beginning with the first session. The concepts of landmark, route, and survey knowledge are still valuable though, as the results clearly showed that they help to describe the way that individuals conceptualize mental representations of space. These conceptualizations may potentially be valuable as a component of a larger spatial ontology for the American public school system. Regarding tenet two, some improvement in error rates was observed over time, but not at a statistically significant rate for all tasks, suggesting that other factors such as the study length and motivating factors may have played a role in performance. Tenet four was also supported, with significant variation in performance between participants with similar levels of exposure to the environment. Overall, this dissertation finds that the continuous framework is largely correct in its descriptions of the process of spatial microgenesis, albeit with some elements that are not fully supported by the data collected. Despite not being a good model of the process, the dominant framework remains valuable for describing how people conceptualize their spatial knowledge of environments.

A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar os procedimentos empregados pelo sujeito na atividade tocar de ouvido, procurando compreender de que modo organiza suas ações para encontrar as notas da melodia no piano. Os três sujeitos que participaram deste estudo tinham idade entre 7 e 14 anos. A atividade de reprodução de uma melodia conhecida por audição representou recortes das aulas particulares de piano ministradas no município de Taquara/RS. Os dados foram coletados no segundo semestre de 2010 através dos seguintes instrumentos de registro: gravação em vídeo, diário de campo e anotações musicais feitas pelo próprio sujeito. Após as degravações dos vídeos, foram acrescentadas as anotações do diário de campo e as digitalizações dos materiais correspondentes às anotações dos alunos, constituindo os protocolos dos sujeitos. A partir dos protocolos, foi feita a decupagem das sequências de ações pertinentes para cada sujeito, tendo em vista o estudo pretendido. A coleta de dados teve como princípio a análise microgenética proposta por Inhelder e Cellérier (1996) associada à estratégia do estudo de caso (Yin, 2002). A interpretação dos dados foi realizada a partir da Epistemologia Genética de Jean Piaget, que possibilitou a compreensão da trajetória percorrida pelos sujeitos ao realizarem a atividade. Os resultados desta pesquisa poderão contribuir para a compreensão das significações feitas pelos alunos durante o processo de aprendizagem, bem como possibilitar novos olhares sobre a prática dos professores de instrumento.
The present research has the objective of analyzing the procedures used by the subject in the activity of playing a musical instrument by ear, trying to comprehend the way he/she organizes his/her actions in order to find melody notes on the piano. The three subjects that took part of this study were at the age between 7 and 14 years old. The activity of reproducing a familiar melody by ear represented excerpts in the schedule in private piano classes that are carried on in the city of Taquara/RS. The data was collected in the second semester of 2010, through out the following registration instruments: video records, field diary and musical notations made by the subject him/herself. After the transcription of the videos, the notations from the field diary and the digitalization of the material corresponding to the notations made by the students were added, constituting the protocol of the subjects. From the protocols the decoupage of the sequence of actions pertinent to each subject was made considering the intended study. The collection of the data had as its principle the microgenetic analysis proposed by Inhelder and Cellérier (1996) associated with the strategy of case study (Yin, 2002). The interpretation of the data was based on the Genetic Epistemology of Jean Piaget, which made it possible to comprehend the path the subjects explored while performing the suggested activity. The results of the present work may be a contribution for understanding the significations made by the students during the learning process as well as an opportunity for new sights upon the practice of musical instruments teachers.

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Within a Piagetian and a micro genetic approach, it was investigated the dialectic thought and the construction of possibilities in the solution and comprehension of a computer game. A previous study with a group of adolescents, made up of 40 boys and 26 girls from 6th. to 8th. grades, showed personalized preferences, without a group tendency and linked to complex games. The need for non-experienced subjects in such games and for starting studies making use of a simpler game, led to the research of Tetris solution by two female university students. The procedure, which was individual and videotaped, consisted of a 4-proof pre-evaluation of possibilities, 9 sessions using Tetris (more than 30 games and about 10-hour filming per person) and 3 self-evaluations (after session-1; before sessions 4 and 9). The pre-evaluation revealed a formal level of thought for both subjects. A quantitative analysis showed great progress of the subjects: throughout the sessions, there was a fall in the average number of games, associated to long lasting games, to a larger production of lines and to a larger punctuation, with the advance from the building of unitary to double, triple and quadruple lines. The micro genetic analysis demonstrated the presence of equilibration as well as the dynamic of dialectic constructions and dialectic thoughts underlying the procedural and conceptual schemes. Although the final solutions have achieved a III-Level (Subject 1) and a II-III Level (Subject 2), there were initial possibilities and more elementary mistakes than it was hypothesized to people who had formal thought. On the other hand, the constructed interdependences, both initial and global, comprised larger complexity and scope than it was foreseen. The obtained results suggested that, when solving the Tetris, it was as if the subjects were remaking the cognitive evolution course, projecting their progress to the top level of their cognitive structures or tending to this level.
Com uma abordagem piagetiana e microgen?tica, investigou-se o pensamento dial?tico e a constitui??o de poss?veis na resolu??o e compreens?o de um jogo computadorizado. Um estudo pr?vio com adolescentes, 40 meninos e 26 meninas de 6? a 8? s?ries, mostrou prefer?ncias personalizadas, sem tend?ncia grupal e ligadas a jogos complexos. A necessidade de sujeitos inexperientes nestes jogos e de estudos iniciais com um jogo mais elementar levou ? pesquisa do processo resolutivo do Tetris por duas universit?rias. O procedimento, individual e filmado, incluiu pr?-avalia??o com 4 provas de poss?veis, 9 sess?es com o Tetris (mais de 30 jogos e cerca de 10 h de v?deo por sujeito) e 3 autoavalia??es (ap?s a sess?o-1; antes das sess?es 4 e 9). A pr?-avalia??o revelou n?vel formal de pensamento para os dois sujeitos. Uma an?lise quantitativa mostrou acentuado progresso dos sujeitos: ao longo das sess?es, queda no n?mero m?dio de jogos, associada ? sua maior dura??o, maior produ??o de linhas e maior pontua??o, com avan?o da forma??o de linhas unit?rias para compostas (duplas, triplas e qu?druplas). A an?lise microgen?tica da resolu??o indicou a presen?a de equilibra??o e da din?mica de constru??es dial?ticas e pensamento dial?tico, subjacentes aos esquemas procedurais e conceituais. Embora as solu??es finais tenham sido de N?vel-III (Sujeito 1) e N?vel II-III (Sujeito 2), ocorreram poss?veis iniciais e erros mais elementares do que o hipotetizado para sujeitos com pensamento formal. De outro lado, as interdepend?ncias criadas, iniciais como globais, comportaram abrang?ncia e complexidade maiores do que o previsto. Pelos dados obtidos, ao resolverem o Tetris, os sujeitos como que refizeram o percurso da evolu??o cognitiva, com seu progresso projetado at? o patamar de suas estruturas cognitivas ou tendendo a este patamar.

A presente dissertação objetivou investigar as estratégias cognitivas de resolução de problemas em Robótica Educacional (RE) utilizando o kit semiestruturado LEGO Mindstorms® 9793 e programação RoboLab®. Com base na teoria da Microgênese Cognitiva, de Bärbel Inhleder, foram investigadas as estratégias cognitivas do sujeito psicológico para resolver problemas de Robótica Educacional. O estudo baseou-se na análise do caso de seis sujeitos, alunos de Robótica Educacional em nível de Ensino Fundamental, que resolveram individualmente um problema de RE. O procedimento de resolução do problema foi gravado em vídeo e analisado com suporte do software Transana®. A análise do procedimento dos sujeitos em situação de resolução de problema de Robótica Educacional com enfoque nas microgêneses cognitivas possibilitou visualizar como acontece a construção das estratégias de resolução de problemas através da elaboração da representação mental e construção ou atualização dos esquemas familiares através da ação do sujeito sobre os objetos e sobre si mesmo no nível operatório concreto. Os resultados finais apontam contribuições da análise microgenética para refletir a macrogênese cognitiva, além de indicar contribuições para o ensino de robótica e para o ensino em geral, voltado para a resolução de problemas e construção do conhecimento.
This thesis investigated the cognitive strategies for problem solving in Educational Robotics (ER) with the LEGO® Mindstorms 9793 kit and programming with RoboLab®. The cognitive strategies of a psychological subject solving problems of Educational Robotics were investigated using the Bärbel‘s Inhleder theory of cognitive microgenesis. The study was based on the analysis of six subjects, students of Educational Robotics in basic education level, whom individually solved a problem using the ER LEGO® kit. The procedure for solving the problem was recorded and analyzed with the help of Transana® software. The analysis of the subjects‘ procedure in a situation of problem solving on Educational Robotics, focusing on cognitive microgeneses, enabled the visualization of how happen the construction of strategies for problem solving through the development of mental representation and construction or upgrading of familiar schemes by the action of the subject over objects and over himself in the concrete operational level. The final results indicate the contributions from microgenetic analysis to reflect the cognitive macrogenesis besides indicating contributions to robotics teaching and teaching in general focused on problem solving and knowledge construction.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
Esta pesquisa investigou, numa abordagem microgenética, a influência de duas áreas profissionais no processo de tomada de consciência das estratégias e dos procedimentos utilizados por universitários na resolução de um problema contido em um jogo de regras. Participaram do estudo quinze estudantes do curso de Engenharia Civil e quinze do curso de Psicologia. O instrumento de investigação utilizado foi o jogo Torre de Hanói, cujo objetivo é transportar uma torre de n discos da coluna inicial para a coluna de destino, passando por uma coluna intermediária. A pesquisa desenvolveu-se em três etapas, a saber: etapa 1 - abrangendo tentativas de resolução do problema contido nas torres com 2, 3, 4 e 5 discos, seguidas do registro das jogadas em um protocolo; etapa 2 - compreendendo o preenchimento de um quadro por meio do qual se podiam analisar as regularidades entre o número de deslocamentos de cada disco e o número total de deslocamentos em cada torre; etapa 3 - envolvendo uma entrevista com base em um roteiro contendo questões sobre as estratégias utilizadas. Para analisar o processo de tomada de consciência, caracterizado pela relação entre o fazer e o compreender, foram elaborados seis níveis evolutivos (IA, IB, IIA, IIB, IIC e III). Os principais resultados obtidos permitiram verificar que, em relação ao fazer, a maioria dos participantes (60%) resolveu o problema contido em todas as torres. No entanto constatou-se que, enquanto a maioria dos estudantes de Engenharia Civil (80%) obteve êxito pleno, ou seja, solucionou o problema contido nas quatro torres com número mínimo de deslocamentos, a maioria dos de Psicologia (60%) obteve êxito parcial, isto é, resolveu o problema contido em algumas torres com um número mínimo de movimentos, e em outras, com número excedente de deslocamentos. No plano do compreender, verificou-se que a maioria dos alunos de Psicologia (66,7%) coordenou pelo menos duas estratégias por meio das conceituações, enquanto a maior parte dos de Engenharia Civil (53,3%) não conseguiu coordenar nenhuma. Quanto ao processo de tomada de consciência, os resultados mostraram que 33,34% dos alunos de Psicologia se encontravam no nível IIA, ou seja, alcançaram êxito parcial no nível do fazer e uma compreensão parcial do problema, enquanto 46,66% dos alunos de Engenharia Civil se encontravam no nível IIC, isto é, atingiram êxito pleno no nível do fazer e uma compreensão parcial do sistema contido no jogo.
This research investigated, with a microgenetics approach, the influence of two professional areas in the process of conscience building of the strategies and the procedures utilized by university students in the resolution of a problem contained in a game of rules. Participated in the study fifteen civil engineering students and fifteen psychology students. The instrument of investigation utilized was the Hanoi Tower game, which has the objective of transporting a tower of "n" discs from the initial column to another column, passing through an intermediary column. The research developed in three stages, as follows: stage 1 - grouping trials of resolution of the problem contained in towers with 2, 3, 4, and 5 discs, followed by the recording of the plays in a protocol; stage 2 - comprehending the construction of a table from which the regularities between the number of displacements of each disc and the total number of displacements in each tower; stage 3 - involving an interview based on a script containing questions about the utilized strategies. To analyze the process of conscience building, characterized by the relation between the do and the understand, six evolutionary levels (IA, IB, IIA, IIB, IIC and III) The main results obtained allowed to verify that, with respect to doing, most of the participants (60%) solved the problem contained in all towers. However, it was noticed that, while most of the Civil Engineering students (80%) achieved complete success, that is, solved the problem contained in the four towers with a minimum number of displacements, most of the psychology students (60%) achieved partial success, that is, solved the problem contained in some towers with a minimum number of movements and, for other towers, with an extra number of displacements. With respect to comprehending, it was verified that most of the psychology students (66,7%) coordinated at least two strategies by means of conceptualizing, while the majority of the engineering majors (53,3%) was not able to coordinate any. With respect to the process of conscience building, the results showed that 33,34% of the psychology students were classified on level IIA, meaning that they achieved partial success in doing and partial comprehension of the problem, while 46,66% of the Civil Engineering were classified on level IIC, that is, achieved complete success in doing and a partial comprehension of the system contained in the game.

New ideas and methodologies need to be developed to advance our knowledge in the understanding of moral development. The intertwined nature of human activities, communication processes, and the numerous aspects of morality pose a challenge to researchers to construct a methodology that takes into account cognition, affect, sociocultural processes and characteristics, as well as the active role of individuals in their own development. In this paper we aim at suggesting fresh theoretical ideas and a micro genetic methodology to study moral development, particularly within educational contexts.
Se parte de la importancia del desarrollo de nueva ideas y metodologías que posibiliten elavance en la interpretación científica del desarrollo moral. La relación entre la ctividad humana, los procesos de comunicación y las cuestiones de moralidad, colocan a los investigadores frente al desafío de desarrollar un abordaje metodológico del desarrollo moral a partir de un enfoque que considere los aspectos cognitivos, afectivos y socioculturales, así como el papel activo de la persona en su proceso de desarrollo. A partir de esas ideas, nuestro objetivo es proponer el análisis microgenético para el estudio del desarrollo moral, tanto desde el punto de vista teórico como metodológico, en el contexto educacional.

The present study examined young children’s analogical performance and strategy use in both classical and problem analogies in an attempt to bridge the gap between children’s strategy use across both types of analogy. There were three studies in all; the classical analogy tasks monitored sixty-four, 3, 4 and 5-year-olds’ performance on two separate occasions, six months apart; study 2 monitored thirty-four, 3 and 4-year-olds’ strategy use on problem analogies, at week one and week 30; and the microgenetic study followed thirty, 4 and 5-year-olds strategy use over a 30 week period, at weekly intervals. The results revealed that children relied on a number of strategies and their choices varied over the 30 week period. The microgenetic methodology provided us with a chance to monitor intra- and inter-individual changes. The problem analogies raised awareness of a number of performance factors that affect children’s strategy choices. These included relational knowledge, relational difficulty, practice and transfer. Children’s ability to use analogy improved over time with practice, and some children showed consistency in their use of analogy over certain tasks, but often regressed to less effective strategies on subsequent tasks The use of individual case studies provided an in depth account of children’s patterns of behaviour over the observation period. This allowed us to explore children’s rate of change, path and breadth in strategy choices and what affected these changes. The case studies provided strong evidence for a gradual wave-like change in children’s analogical development. The theoretical and educational implications of this were discussed. It can be concluded that preschool children continue to find analogy difficult and the findings of strategic variability highlights the fact that 4- and 5-year-olds are in a period of transition in the development of analogical reasoning.

Abstract This study examined microgenetic changes in mother-child behaviors while they collaborated on a cognitive task that involved planning shopping routes around a table model of a grocery store across 4 trials. Sixty- eight mother-child dyads were randomly assigned to two conditions in which the goals of the task differed. In the experimental condition (n = 32) mothers were encouraged to help their child prepare for a solitary posttest and the dyad was informed they would be timed. In the control condition (n = 36), dyads were simply asked to work together. Research suggests that maternal instruction is most effective when matched to the child’s learning needs. While working with children on a collaborative planning task, it was expected that mothers would change their level or style of instruction as they became more aware of the child’s skill at the task. Specifically, mothers were expected to decrease their level of support behaviors and control across trials. For children, it was expected that they would become more engaged and more responsible for task completion across trials. Results suggested that as mothers and children became familiar with the task, mothers decreased their use of instructional behaviors. Also, that mothers in the experimental condition used more controlling behaviors across trials. Patterns of association emerged between mother’s control behaviors and child uncooperative behaviors, as did mother’s support behaviors and child engagement behaviors. These results suggest that mother-child behaviors may exhibit change due to factors other than the goals of the task itself, such as intersubjectivity (a shared understanding of the task at hand) and shared responsibility, which in turn may be influenced by shared social history (the extensive prior experience that the partners have had with one another in a social- historical context). Keywords: children, dyad, intersubjectivity, mothers, planning, sharing responsibility

The research reported in this thesis arose from a comment made by a student who had achieved highly in examinations yet felt that science: ‘doesn’t make sense’. Different conceptualisations of learning are analysed leading to the development of the concept of making sense as the formation or modification of a conceptual compound in which concepts are related in a coherent causal system that may be transferred to novel situations. This definition is situated within a constructivist epistemology. The research question asks how students make sense of physics concepts in dynamics and electricity. Five 17-18 year-old students, conceptualised as a multiple case study, were selected from an English secondary school using purposeful sampling. The students were interviewed once a week for 22 weeks in sessions using a range of probes such as interviews about instances, concept maps and concept inventory questions. It is assumed that data collection occurred at a frequency that was high relative to the rate of conceptual change, hence, the work is conceptulaised as microgenetic. The analysis focuses on the development of the students’: a) ontologies of concepts from concrete instances towards abstractions; b) conceptual structures from temporary organisations to more stable structures; c) understanding of causality from focused on macroscopic objects to abstract concepts; d) judgments of coherence; f) conceptual change modeled as an alteration in the ‘oftenness’ of application of a concept in a given context; and e) ability to apply concepts to novel contexts. The implications of these findings for teaching and future research are discussed.

The aim of this thesis is to extend the understanding of early communication development through the design and implementation of methods, which enable close examination of developmental change as it happens. I pose that meaningful distinctions of infant’s attentional abilities, and preferences, in the early period of infancy are necessary and valuable for understanding the ontogeny of communication. Chapter 2 describes the First Steps longitudinal study, where the work of this thesis took place. Chapter 3 describes an adaptation to a coding scheme that allows for new advances in understanding of early infant’s attention abilities and preferences for social and non-social stimuli. Results show that by 2-months infants demonstrate group levels of engagement, as well as notable individual differences in time spent attending to mother’s faces and hand actions. Chapter 4 further demonstrates the value of the methodological adaptation described in Chapter 3, by assessing the predictive power individual differences shown in attention at 2-months hold for the emergence of social attention at 5-months. Results show that individual differences in infant attention to the social stimuli of faces and hands, demonstrated at 2 months with the adapted engagement coding scheme, differentially predict the social attention skills of attention following. Chapter 5 further extends the relations found in Chapter 4, by examining the relation between point following at the end of the first year and the proclivity to attend to hands, during interactions, at 18- months. Results show infants’ point following performance at 12-months predicts later durations of attention to hands, while playing with mothers at 18- months. In this thesis I argue that infant communication development cannot be understood from examining one domain, as infant’s employ multiple domains in the journey to communication. Secondly I argue that detailed observations following a multi-domain approach, offer significant potential for understanding communicative development. Chapter 6 details the design, application and assessment of the continuous unified electronic (CUE) diary method. Results show that the CUE diary method is reliable and valid method for the study of infant development. Chapter 7 utilizes the CUE diary method to examine whether the emergence of independent walking predicts later productive vocabulary. Results show that walking is a unique gross motor predictor of later vocabulary. Further, when entered into a predictive model for language, walking and pointing deliver independent predictive power, with walking demonstrating as strong an association as pointing. Taken together, these observational, experimental, parent-report and electronic diary methods demonstrate the advances in understanding communicative development that can be made when sensitive methods are applied across periods and domains of developmental change.

Qatar’s education system has recently been subjected to a process of deep structural reform. One of the beliefs which underpins this reform is the assumption that learner-centred pedagogy is more effective than traditional teacher-centred pedagogy. However, there is limited empirical evidence from a Qatari classroom context regarding the effectiveness of using learner-centred pedagogies. This lack of empirical evidence extends to the teaching of English as a foreign language. This study employed Vygotskian sociocultural theory as a lens to investigate the effects of working collaboratively on learners’ longer-term performance of two grammatical structures, the simple past passive and the present continuous passive, as well as the cognitive processes involved. Interventionist dynamic assessment was used to quantify the linguistic performance of male Arabic undergraduate EFL learners (N = 52) three times (pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest) over a 12-week period. In-between the pretest and the posttest, six form-focused treatment tasks were administered. The experimental group (n = 20) completed the treatment tasks collaboratively; the comparison group (n = 16) completed the treatment tasks individually; and the control group (n = 16) did not complete the treatment tasks. In addition, the genetic method was employed to trace the linguistic development of four participants in the experimental group. These four participants were audio-recorded as they collaboratively completed each treatment session. Mood’s median test (Mood, 1954) found a pretest to posttest statistically significant difference (M = 7.70, df = 1, p = 0.01) between the performances of the experimental and control groups for the structure of the simple past passive which is moderate to large in size (Cramér’s V = 0.46). However for both target structures, no statistically significant difference was found between the experimental group and the comparison group, suggesting that the treatment condition of working collaboratively was not more effective in promoting learners’ linguistic development than the treatment condition of working individually. Additionally, the descriptive statistics revealed high levels of individual variation. Of the four participants who were audio-recorded, the journey of one learner is presented. This data was analysed using a microgenetic approach with LREs (Swain and Lapkin, 1995, 1998, 2002) as the unit of analysis. The microgenetic analysis shows how working collaboratively provides learners with access to a shared cognitive space. Within this space, they can employ language as a cognitive tool to access other-regulation from their peers and deploy their own self-regulatory strategies. The experience of an individual was explored within the context of the linguistic gains made by the collective to whom he belongs. Thus, even though the statistical analysis of the results suggests that working collaboratively is not more effective in facilitating learners’ linguistic development than working individually, the process of language learning has been connected to the outcome of language learning through the results of the descriptive statistics and the microgenetic analysis. This study contributes to a better understanding of: the types of pedagogies that may be effective in a Qatari undergraduate context, why collaborative learning can be effective, how knowledge which is initially social can take on a psychological function, and how the Vygotskian sociocultural methodologies of the genetic method and dynamic assessment can be integrated into an SLA design.

FundaÃÃo de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do CearÃ
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O objetivo desta pesquisa foi compreender o papel das estratÃgias de mediaÃÃo simbÃlicas, utilizadas por surdos usuÃrios de LIBRAS, quando estes, em situaÃÃo de interaÃÃo entre si ou entre surdos e professor, construÃam conhecimento escolar de forma compartilhada. Para tanto, foi realizado um estudo no Centro de CapacitaÃÃo de Profissionais da EducaÃÃo e Atendimento Ãs Pessoas com Surdez â CAS, sendo que foram selecionadas duas duplas de surdos atendidos na oficina de jogos e exercÃcios para estimulaÃÃo do raciocÃnio lÃgico. Realizou-se entÃo uma pesquisa com enfoque etnogrÃfico no intuito de se compreender tais estratÃgias utilizadas no contexto escolar. Para tanto foram realizadas vÃdeo-filmagens das atividades dessas duplas e, posteriormente, seguiu-se a fase de traduÃÃo / transcriÃÃo do material destinado à anÃlise microgenÃtica. Foi tomada como unidade de anÃlise a atividade discursiva desses sujeitos em seus momentos de interaÃÃo. As teorias que orientaram esse trabalho foram a teoria histÃrico-cultural de Lev Vygotski (conceitos: funÃÃes psicolÃgicas, mediaÃÃo, zona de desenvolvimento proximal) e a teoria da linguagem de Mikhail Bakhtin (conceitos: dialogia, polifonia, enunciaÃÃo). Foram identificadas e analisadas algumas estratÃgias. Para efeito de exposiÃÃo, procurou-se dividir as estratÃgias em dois grupos: o primeiro deles seriam aquelas estratÃgias que estariam ligadas Ãs funÃÃes psicolÃgicas superiores em sua dimensÃo instrumental (compreensÃo como instrumentos psicolÃgicos), o segundo grupo ficou ligado Ãs funÃÃes psicolÃgicas superiores em sua dimensÃo processual (compreensÃo como processos psicolÃgicos). No primeiro grupo identificou-se e analisou-se diferentes estratÃgias para as operaÃÃes de soma e divisÃo, no segundo grupo foram encontradas estratÃgias ligadas à percepÃÃo visual e à aÃÃo organizadora do pensamento. O estudo das estratÃgias permitiu realizar uma reflexÃo em torno da idÃia de que à psicologia poderia estabelecer como foco o estudo das eficiÃncias dos surdos, discurso este para alÃm da deficiÃncia, e ainda tentar afastar metanarrativas sobre a constituiÃÃo psÃquica de surdos, do tipo incompetÃncia cognitiva.
The aim of this research was to understand the role of symbolic strategies mediating, used by the deaf people who make usage of Sign language, when the formers, when in situation of interaction among themselves or between the deaf and teachers, constructed some enabling common knowledge. For that, a study was made at Centro de CapacitaÃÃo de Profissionais da EducaÃÃo e Atendimento Ãs Pessoas com Surdez â CAS, having two pairs of deaf people selected and assisted at the workshop of games and exercises to stimulate logic reasoning. A survey was carried out ethnographicly focusing on the intention of figuring out strategies used in the school context. For doing so, video-tapings of the activities of the pairs were done and afterwards came the phase of the translation / transcription of the material destined to the microgenectic analysis. Discursive activities of these people in interaction situations were taken as a unit of analysis. The theories that led this paper were the historic-cultural approach of Lev Vygotski (concepts: mental functions, mediation, zone of proximal development) and the language theory of Mikhail Bakhtin (concepts: dialoge, polyphone, enuntiation). Some strategies were identified and analyzed. For exhibition purpose, these strategies were divided into two groups: the first one would contain those which were connected to high mental functions in its instrumental dimension (understanding as psychological instruments), the second group was connected to high mental functions in its dimension of process (understanding as psychological processes). In the first group, different strategies of addition and division were identified and analyzed, while in the second group were found strategies connected to visual perception and the organizing action of thoughts. The study on such strategies allowed us to have a reflection concerning the idea that Psychology could establish as a goal the study of the efficiency of the deaf, this matter is beyond deficiency, and also try to push away metanarratives about the mental constitution of the deaf, such as cognitive incompetence.

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A dissertação de mestrado trata do desenvolvimento de uma pesquisa, organizada em torno do tema Tecnologia, com o planejamento de ações contextualizadas que associam os conteúdos de Ciências às vivências e aos interesses dos estudantes do 9º ano do Ensino Fundamental, de uma escola pública estadual do município de Dom Pedrito. O objetivo da pesquisa, ao desenvolver um projeto de trabalho (HERNÁNDEZ, 1998), considerando a Tecnologia como objeto de estudo e como estratégia metodológica de ensino foram organizadas em quatro eixos: Biotecnologia, Lixo Eletrônico, Viajando no Espaço e Radioatividade, sendo utilizado um blog como recurso didático para o desenvolvimento das atividades. Este estudo baseia-se teoricamente na perspectiva histórico-cultural (VIGOTSKI, 2008), considerando indícios ou evidências que demonstram a aprendizagem dos estudantes. Os resultados da pesquisa foram analisados com o uso da análise microgenética, considerados como materiais para a análise, os relatos das aulas em registros do diário de aula da professora, as transcrições de questionários realizados com os alunos ao longo das aulas, e as gravações em áudio dos diálogos dos estudantes e professora pesquisadora. Como principais resultados do desenvolvimento do projeto de trabalho, esse possibilitou uma reflexão sobre o ensino de Ciências, a partir da observação de um maior interesse e motivação dos estudantes para o estudo de Ciências, o desenvolvimento de possíveis relações conceituais, atitudinais e procedimentais na produção do conhecimento escolar, na aprendizagem e desenvolvimento dos estudantes, bem como a percepção de indícios de elaboração conceitual pelos alunos de assuntos trabalhados nos eixos temáticos, possibilitando a construção do conhecimento escolar a partir da interação dos conhecimentos científicos e cotidianos.
The masters dissertation deals with the development of a research, organised around the technology theme, with the planning of contextualized actions that associate science content with the experiences and the interests of students in the ninth grade of elementary School, State public of the municipality of Dom Pedrito. The objective of the research, when developing a work project (HERNÁNDEZ, 1998), considering the technology as a study object and as a methodological teaching strategy were organised on four axes: biotechnology, junk e-mail, traveling in space and radioactivity, Being used a blog as a didactic resource for the development of activities. This study is based theoretically in the historical-cultural perspective (Vygotsky, 2008), considering clues or evidence demonstrating students learning. The research results were analysed with the use of microgenetic analysis, considered as material for analysis, lessons in the teacher's diary records, the transcripts of questionnaires performed with pupils throughout the lessons, and the recordings in Audio of the dialogues of the students and a researcher teacher. As the main results of the development of the work project, this has enabled a reflection on the teaching of sciences, from the observation of a greater interest and motivation of the students for the study of Sciences, the development of possible conceptual relationships, Attitudinal traits and procedural in the production of school knowledge, learning and development of students, as well as the perception of conceptual elaboration by students of subjects worked on thematic axes, enabling the construction of knowledge School from the interaction of scientific and everyday knowledge

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The intention of this research was to analyze and clarify the conceptual foundations of the Historical-Cultural Theory, based on the Historical-Dialectical Materialism by Marx, and their direct implications for the pedagogical practices, specifically on the processes of teaching and learning, in order to contribute to the Brazilian Basic Education, in the search to understand and overcome the problems related to the difficulties of teaching and student learning. The Historical-Cultural Theory is based on the Historical-Dialectical Materialism by Marx and has its methodological foundation founded in the microgenetic analysis. The Marxist theoretical presumptions assists Vigotsky s analysis with the discussion of humans being not only a biological structure, but rather a consequence of the historical-cultural relation, having work as the main mediator. Vigotsky and collaborators present important theoretical and practical contributions to the understanding of the dialectical relations between Teaching and Learning. Vigotsky s microgenetic analysis shows us how to overcome this dilemma between the processes of teaching and learning. From Vigotsky s point of view, the pedagogical processes are intentional, deliberate, and the school is the place where the intentional pedagogical intervention triggers the learning and quality teaching processes. The research is of a bibliographic nature and uses two sources: the primary ones, pieces of work of authors from the Historical-Cultural Theory, and the secondary ones, pieces of work of authors who interpret the primary pieces of work. The question that guided the research was: What are the core concepts of the Historical-Cultural Theory, based on the Marxist theory and its implications for the pedagogical practices? The objectives outlined to answer this theme were: to analyze, in the writings of the Marxist philosophy, the major theoretical points of the Historical-Dialectical Materialism that assist the Historical-Cultural Theory; to clarify the contributions to the Historical- Cultural Theory to the understanding of the dialectical relations in the processes developed in the pedagogical practices. The results clearly show the necessity of overcoming the biological paradigm of Education and presenting an educative model oriented around the viewpoint of society, of human being and of knowledge as highly social, as well as the conceptions of teaching and learning as processes of human activity mediated by human relations and of nature itself. An educative model oriented around the teacher s mediated activity in students zone of proximal development. The work intended to contribute to the advancement of pedagogical practices and in-depth academic discussion about the mediated activity and the zone of proximal development, as focuses of teachers performance, towards school teaching and learning problems.
A intenção desta pesquisa foi analisar e explicitar as bases conceituais da Teoria Histórico-Cultural, fundamentadas no Materialismo Histórico-Dialético de Marx, e suas implicações diretas nas práticas pedagógicas, especificamente sobre os processos de ensino e de aprendizagem, com o intuito de colaborar com a Educação Básica brasileira, na busca de compreender e superar a problemática relacionada às dificuldades de ensino e de aprendizagem dos alunos. A Teoria Histórico-Cultural baseia-se no Materialismo Histórico-Dialético de Marx e tem sua fundamentação metodológica alicerçada na análise microgenética. Os pressupostos teóricos marxistas subsidiam as análises de Vigotsky na discussão de que o ser humano não é só estrutura biológica, mas, sim, consequência da relação histórico-cultural, tendo o trabalho como mediador principal. Vigotsky e colaboradores apresentam importantes contribuições teórico-práticas para a compreensão das relações dialéticas entre Ensino e Aprendizagem. A análise microgenética de Vigotsky nos mostra como superar esse dilema entre os processos de ensino e de aprendizagem. Para Vigotsky os processos pedagógicos são intencionais, deliberados e a escola é o lugar onde a intervenção pedagógica intencional desencadeia os processos de aprendizagem e de ensino de qualidade. A pesquisa tem natureza bibliográfica, usando duas fontes: as primárias, obras dos autores de Teoria Histórico- Cultural e, secundárias, obras de autores que interpretam as obras primárias. A questão que orientou a pesquisa foi: Quais os conceitos centrais da Teoria Histórico-Cultural, fundamentados na teoria marxista e suas implicações nas práticas pedagógicas? Os objetivos delineados para responder esta temática foram: analisar nos escritos da filosofia marxista os principais pontos teóricos do Materialismo Histórico-Dialético que subsidiam a Teoria Histórico-Cultural; explicitar os aportes da Teoria Histórico- Cultural para a compreensão das relações dialéticas nos processos desenvolvidos nas práticas pedagógicas. Os resultados evidenciam a necessidade de superação do paradigma biologicista da Educação e de apresentar um modelo educativo pautado na visão de sociedade, de homem e de conhecimento como eminentemente social, bem como as concepções de ensino e de aprendizagem como processos da atividade humana mediados pelas relações humanas e da própria natureza. Um modelo educativo pautado na atividade mediada do professor na zona de desenvolvimento proximal dos alunos. O trabalho pretendeu contribuir para o avanço das práticas pedagógicas e discussão acadêmica aprofundada sobre a atividade mediada e a zona de desenvolvimento proximal, como focos da atuação docente, frente aos problemas de ensino e aprendizagem escolares.

CHAVES, Hamilton Viana. Estratégias de mediação e construção compartilhada de conhecimentos entre surdos. 2006. 129 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Psicologia) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Departamento de Psicologia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia, Fortaleza-CE, 2006.
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The aim of this research was to understand the role of symbolic strategies mediating, used by the deaf people who make usage of Sign language, when the formers, when in situation of interaction among themselves or between the deaf and teachers, constructed some enabling common knowledge. For that, a study was made at Centro de Capacitação de Profissionais da Educação e Atendimento às Pessoas com Surdez – CAS, having two pairs of deaf people selected and assisted at the workshop of games and exercises to stimulate logic reasoning. A survey was carried out ethnographicly focusing on the intention of figuring out strategies used in the school context. For doing so, video-tapings of the activities of the pairs were done and afterwards came the phase of the translation / transcription of the material destined to the microgenectic analysis. Discursive activities of these people in interaction situations were taken as a unit of analysis. The theories that led this paper were the historic-cultural approach of Lev Vygotski (concepts: mental functions, mediation, zone of proximal development) and the language theory of Mikhail Bakhtin (concepts: dialoge, polyphone, enuntiation). Some strategies were identified and analyzed. For exhibition purpose, these strategies were divided into two groups: the first one would contain those which were connected to high mental functions in its instrumental dimension (understanding as psychological instruments), the second group was connected to high mental functions in its dimension of process (understanding as psychological processes). In the first group, different strategies of addition and division were identified and analyzed, while in the second group were found strategies connected to visual perception and the organizing action of thoughts. The study on such strategies allowed us to have a reflection concerning the idea that Psychology could establish as a goal the study of the efficiency of the deaf, this matter is beyond deficiency, and also try to push away metanarratives about the mental constitution of the deaf, such as cognitive incompetence.
O objetivo desta pesquisa foi compreender o papel das estratégias de mediação simbólicas, utilizadas por surdos usuários de LIBRAS, quando estes, em situação de interação entre si ou entre surdos e professor, construíam conhecimento escolar de forma compartilhada. Para tanto, foi realizado um estudo no Centro de Capacitação de Profissionais da Educação e Atendimento às Pessoas com Surdez – CAS, sendo que foram selecionadas duas duplas de surdos atendidos na oficina de jogos e exercícios para estimulação do raciocínio lógico. Realizou-se então uma pesquisa com enfoque etnográfico no intuito de se compreender tais estratégias utilizadas no contexto escolar. Para tanto foram realizadas vídeo-filmagens das atividades dessas duplas e, posteriormente, seguiu-se a fase de tradução / transcrição do material destinado à análise microgenética. Foi tomada como unidade de análise a atividade discursiva desses sujeitos em seus momentos de interação. As teorias que orientaram esse trabalho foram a teoria histórico-cultural de Lev Vygotski (conceitos: funções psicológicas, mediação, zona de desenvolvimento proximal) e a teoria da linguagem de Mikhail Bakhtin (conceitos: dialogia, polifonia, enunciação). Foram identificadas e analisadas algumas estratégias. Para efeito de exposição, procurou-se dividir as estratégias em dois grupos: o primeiro deles seriam aquelas estratégias que estariam ligadas às funções psicológicas superiores em sua dimensão instrumental (compreensão como instrumentos psicológicos), o segundo grupo ficou ligado às funções psicológicas superiores em sua dimensão processual (compreensão como processos psicológicos). No primeiro grupo identificou-se e analisou-se diferentes estratégias para as operações de soma e divisão, no segundo grupo foram encontradas estratégias ligadas à percepção visual e à ação organizadora do pensamento. O estudo das estratégias permitiu realizar uma reflexão em torno da idéia de que à psicologia poderia estabelecer como foco o estudo das eficiências dos surdos, discurso este para além da deficiência, e ainda tentar afastar metanarrativas sobre a constituição psíquica de surdos, do tipo incompetência cognitiva.

碩士
國立屏東科技大學
幼兒保育系所
95
The research adopts to explore by microgenetic method mainly and utilizes the POE (Prediction-Observation-Explanation) teaching, in order to probe into the optics concept teaching that POE refraction and reflection, the changes and migration results of immature optics concepts of the stage of children and scientific reasoning tactics, and understand the development situations of the optics concept and scientific reasoning tactics in teaching course. This research includes two experiment teaching: Refraction concept teaching and reflecting concept teaching, the research objects sampled respectively, and choose 32 children of the top class in a kindergarten and 32 children of the second grade in a primary school respectively, assigning to the experiment group and controlling the group at random, 128 are tried altogether. The experiment group that studies one “refraction concept teaching” accepts three “The POE refraction concept teaching activity”, the experiment group that studies two “reflection concept teaching” accepts three “The POE reflection concept teaching activity”, each activity includes 6 continuous sessions. Examine “the optics concept and the optics concept and scientific reasoning tool of commenting amount” from beginning to end (include refraction concept and reflection concept), Examined before and after the same as experiment group and controlling the group, but did not accept the teaching activity. Examine three factors of adopting and mix and design and make a variation to count analysis and percentage analysis from beginning to end, in order to probe into the changes and migration results of the optics concept and scientific reasoning tactics, test group accept “The POE refraction concept teaching activity” with “POE reflection the concept teaching activity” the course, analyze with percentage that probes into the change situations of the optics concept and scientific reasoning tactics. Discover: Study a refraction concept teaching to find: (1) “The POE refraction concept teaching” can promote the immature the stage of children to the refraction concept, its effect does not have the difference because of the age. (2) “The POE refraction concept teaching” can roughly improve the stage of children to inference strategy level of refraction concept. (3) Immature the stage of children unable “the POE refraction concept teaching” result move to concept of reflecting. (4) Immature the stage of children unable “the POE refraction concept teaching” result move to reflect reasoning tactics of concept. (5) Immature the stage of the children’s refraction concept, as the number of times of the activity increases, present the fluctuation rising and falling from head to foot and tend to be correct, relatively the children of the top class in a kindergarten are good in the second grade. (6) Immature the stage of children’s refraction concept scientific reasoning tactics, increase with the number of times of the activity but improve the reasoning level, yet unable to spread to most high-level reasoning tactics. Study and reflect concept teaching to find two times: (1) “The POE reflection concept teaching” can promote the immature the stage of children to the reflection concept, its effect does not have the difference because of the age. (2) “The POE reflection concept teaching” can roughly improve the stage of children to inference strategy level of refraction concept. (3) Immature the stage of children can “POE reflect concept teaching” result move to refraction concept, only it is limited to move the result, so with having obvious difference without accepting teaching children after teaching. (4) Immature the stage of children can “The POE reflection concept teaching” result move to refraction reasoning tactics of concept. (5) Immature the stage of children’s reflection concept, as the number of times of the activity increases, present the fluctuation rising and falling from head to foot and tend to be correct, its effect does not have the difference because of the age. (6) Immature the stage of children’s reflection concept scientific reasoning tactics, increase with the number of times of the activity but improve the reasoning level, only the children of the top class in a kindergarten are still unable to develop into the high-level reasoning tactics. Finally, this research proposes the suggestion according to the result, for immature the stage of children’s optics concept teaching and reference studied in the future. Key word: microgenetic method, optics concept, refraction concept, reflection concept, scientific reasoning, predicts - observe - explain tactics

碩士
輔仁大學
臨床心理學系碩士班
105
Private speech (PS), a form of self-directed speech, plays an important role in helping children to think, plan, self-guide, and solve problems. PS is vital for children, yet the relationship between PS and task performance has yet to be fully resolved. Using microgenetic methods, the present study aims to investigate and further establish the curvilinear relationship between the two. One hundred and two normally-developing children aged from 4 to 6 were recruited. The Chinese Planned Connections task (CPC), which increases in difficulty across testing, was administered in order to induce PS. Results indicate that (a) as task performance gradually became worse, the frequency of PS showed a curvilinear, inverted-U-shaped relationship with overt PS increasing in frequency and peaking at moderate task difficulty; (b) at high task difficulty, the more frequent the task-irrelevant private speech, the worse the task performance; (c) a lack of PS is associated with poor task performance; (d) in line with Vygotsky’ s predictions of PS developmental trajectories, the frequency of PS across age demonstrates a curvilinear, inverted-U-shaped relationship, beginning with the preschool years with overt PS increasing in frequency and peaking during kindergarten; (e) the quality of PS becomes better with age.

This thesis replicates and explores some of the recent findings by Robert Siegler regarding the development ofaddition skills in grade one children. Siegler states that children employ a number ofdifferent strategies to solve single digit addition problems, these strategies coexist and compete, and cognitive variability is an essential aspect of cognitive development. He also advocates the use ofthe microgenetic approach in order to explore cognitive development. Many of Siegler' s observations were replicated while the microgenetic approach produced valuable information. Consideration of Siegler's work resulted in two research questions being formulated, both concerning the actual selection of strategies. First, a prediction analysis was employed to test the hypothesis that children attempt to match the most appropriate strategy to the problem presented according to a principle ofleast effort (defined as the attempt to maximise benefit and minimise cost). The predictions were stipulated prior to the analysis and were based on the arithmetic development literature. It was predicted that children would tend to retrieve the answers to small problems and tie-problems or calculate the answer by counting on from the larger addend by the amount indicated by the small addend (which involves reversing the order of the addends when the first addend is the smaller of the two). The strategy selections (n=229) made by a sample of 12 grade one learners on 21 single digit addition problems were categorised and compared to the predictions. The prediction analysis reduced the expected error by 63%, supporting the least effort model of strategy choice. The result is statistically significant (2=10.231, p
Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

In early childhood, planning provides a basis for organizational skills that are useful for future school performance (Perez & Gauvain, 2009). However, research shows that preschoolers’ planning abilities are limited because they often fail to consider task demands, are inefficient at self-monitoring, and are unlikely to use strategies to their advantage (Gardner & Rogoff, 1990). The present study examined whether preschoolers could improve their planning skills by consciously drawing connections between objects and events through the use of verbal self-explanations. A microgenetic design was used in order to repeatedly measure preschoolers’ performance on the Tower of Hanoi (ToH) task over a period of 6 to 8 weeks. Forty-five children between the ages of 4 and 6 years were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: self-explanation, no self-explanation, and control. Each child was administered a pretest, 3 micro sessions based on condition, and a posttest. In addition to ToH performance, children also were measured on inhibitory control, working memory, short-term memory, and verbal ability at pretest, and on a novel planning task, the Box-ToH, at posttest. Multilevel models were used to analyze the data at the between- and within-person levels. Although no differences were found in ToH performance over time between conditions, preschoolers’ use of self-explanations and strategies were independently related to individual improvements in ToH performance over time. Moreover, preschoolers’ improvements in ToH performance were not reducible to age-related increases, inhibitory control demands, working memory, short-term memory, or verbal ability. Lastly, findings did not support preschoolers’ ability to transfer their knowledge of strategies on the ToH to the Box-ToH. Overall, the present study demonstrated that self-explanations and strategy use are both important predictors of understanding individual changes in planning performance during the preschool years. These findings have important implications in terms of improving preschoolers’ executive function skills and preparing children for early academic success.
Graduate

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
This thesis explores the developmental pathway of thematic coherence among one Saudi female student in a foundational second language (L2) writing composition course, contributing to the field of L2 academic writing by offering a rich description of writing development. Despite a rapid increase in enrollment in the past 10 years, students from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) remain an understudied L2 learner population. In addition, although a number of studies have explored coherence among L2 learners of English, such research focuses either on the linguistic features utilized by learners to ensure cohesion or on the contrast between L2 learners’ cohesive devices and that of professional standards. To date, no studies offer insight into learners’ developmental trajectory toward greater competency in producing coherent academic paragraphs. The present study proposes an alternative approach by analyzing academic paragraphs in light of the definition of thematic coherence as a general-to-particular structure of ideas, i.e., a flow of information to form a superordinate-subordinate structure in which subordinate ideas support the abstract, overarching assertion. Further, the study uses the methodology of a microgenetic analysis to facilitate the tracing of the history of mediation and micro-changes in the focal learner’s written production over time as it relates to the proposed definition of thematic coherence. Each of the written drafts of paragraphs produced by the focal student is analyzed in sequence. An analysis of qualitative data is presented to contextualize and describe the focal learner’s experience in the instructional context and how this is interconnected to the development of her written paragraphs. The results showed an increase in the student’s ability to produce academic paragraphs with a general-to-particular structure, particularly during mediation that was rich with metalinguistic terminology that also created opportunities to collaboratively construct meanings of such terms. A main contribution to L2 academic writing this study offers is a rich description of a student’s developing skills in producing academic paragraphs. An implication is that to nurture academic writing skills, such as thematic coherence among students from KSA, instruction must be attentive to the developmental stages this student population progresses through.