Developing siblings and peer tutors to assist Native Taiwanese children in learning habits of mind for math success (China).

摘要

The purpose of this study was to explore at-risk (Native Taiwanese) children's habits of mind, applying Vygotsky's ZPD theory in learning habits of mind in math. Workshops were used to teach pairs of siblings' habits of mind.; The study was conducted with 62 subjects and 62 siblings or older peers in two elementary schools. Each pair was randomly assigned into either the experimental or the control group. Siblings who were in the experimental group participated in the workshops to receive training that could help the experimental subjects to learn habits of mind. A pretest and a posttest were given to assess their habits of mind in math. Analysis of data revealed no significant differences between experimental group and control group in the pretest. In the posttest, there were significant differences between experimental group and control group in the areas of patterning, describing, and visualizing, but there was no significant difference in the "experimenting" condition.; In summary, the data shows that patterning is easy to learn, visualizing comes next, describing is more difficult, and experimenting is the most difficult. All of these habits of mind can be learned through applying Vygotsky's ZPD theory and using sibling workshop, but there is a need for the students and siblings to have extensive time to practice.