| Another notable aspect of Vygotsky's
theory is that it claims "that instruction is most efficient when students engage in
activities within a supportive learning environment and when they receive appropriate
guidance that is mediated by tools"
(Vygotsky 1978, as cited in Gillani & Relan 1997, 231). These instructional tools can be defined as
"cognitive strategies, a mentor, peers, computers, printed materials, or any
instrument that organizes and provides information for the learner." Their role is
"to organize dynamic support to help [learners] complete a task near the upper end of
their zone of proximal development [ZPD] and then to systematically withdraw this support
as the [learner] move to higher levels of confidence." |
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© 1999 by Peter J. Patsula |
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