How to combine collaboration scripts and heuristic worked examples to foster mathematical argumentation – when working memory matters

Schwaighofer, Matthias, Vogel, Freydis, Kollar, Ingo, Ufer, Stefan, Strohmaier, Anselm, Terwedow, Ilka, Ottinger, Sarah, Reiss, Kristina and Fischer, Frank (2017) How to combine collaboration scripts and heuristic worked examples to foster mathematical argumentation – when working memory matters. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 12 (3). pp. 281-305. ISSN 1556-1615

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Mathematical argumentation skills (MAS) are considered an important outcome of mathematics learning, particularly in secondary and tertiary education. As MAS are complex, an effective way of supporting their acquisition may require combining different scaffolds. However, how to combine different scaffolds is a delicate issue, as providing learners with more than one scaffold may be overwhelming, especially when these scaffolds are presented at the same time in the learning process and when learners’ individual learning prerequisites are suboptimal. The present study therefore investigated the effects of the presentation sequence of introducing two scaffolds (collaboration script first vs. heuristic worked examples first) and the fading of the primarily presented scaffold (fading vs. no fading) on the acquisition of dialogic and dialectic MAS of participants of a preparatory mathematics course at university. In addition, we explored how prior knowledge and working memory capacity moderated the effects. Overall, 108 university freshmen worked in dyads on mathematical proof tasks in four treatment sessions. Results showed no effects of the presentation sequence of the collaboration script and heuristic worked examples on dialogic and dialectic MAS. Yet, fading of the initially introduced scaffold had a positive main effect on dialogic MAS. Concerning dialectic MAS, fading the collaboration script when it was presented first was most effective for learners with low working memory capacity. The collaboration script might be appropriate to initially support dialectic MAS, but might be overwhelming for learners with lower working memory capacity when combined with heuristic worked examples later on.

Item Type: Article
RIS ID: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/884228
Keywords: Mathematical argumentation skills; Collaboration scripts; Heuristic worked examples; Working memory capacity
Schools/Departments: University of Nottingham, UK > Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Education
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-017-9260-z
Depositing User: Vogel, Freydis
Date Deposited: 28 Jun 2018 12:34
Last Modified: 04 May 2020 19:08
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/52660

Actions (Archive Staff Only)

Edit View Edit View