How do you "Break it Down"?
The instructor isolates the problem within the larger error so the student can use his or her previous knowledge to come to the right conclusion. Appropriate methods to break down a question for the student would be to give an example, to offer context, to specify rules, to give the first step, to repeat the students answers back to them, and to narrow down the possible answers. The method can be difficult because it is a reactive strategy and the teacher must be able to gage the student’s actual level of knowledge from the knowledge demonstrated by the student answering the question incorrectly. Though saying the correct answer immediately afterwards would be quicker, the “Break it Down” strategy allows for students to do cognitive work and use previous knowledge to reach the appropriate answer.
Why will it work?
“Break it Down” is an appropriate strategy because it follows the Russian developmentalist’s, Leo Vygotsky’s, theory of cognitive development. Specifically, the strategy allows students to work in their Zone of Proximal Development (ZDP). The student cannot answer the question independently, but he or she can answer the question with the help and guidance of others. A child’s ZPD lies between what the child can do independently and what the child could not do even with considerable assistance. Vygotsky believed that children developed primarily by doing tasks that require support or assistance. “Break it Down” is the actual practice of providing the needed guidance.
The strategy also uses the theorist-approved method of scaffolding, which is another term to describe the assistance provided by the instructor to help students achieve the desired task in their ZDP. Like in a building, the teacher’s scaffolding is eventually removed from the topic, because students have learned to support themselves and come to their own conclusions independently based on the previously provided help.
The methods of working in the ZDP and using scaffolding both fall into Vygotsky’s overall idea of mediated learning or discussing with the students to help make sense of something and guided participation, a practice where students gradually enter into more challenging activities that allow them to develop their newly acquired skill and thinking ability. In a one-on-one scenario, the teacher could use “Break it down” when the instructor and the student work together in a cognitive apprenticeship. With cognitive apprenticeships, the instructor provides guidance on how a student should think. By providing the missing step, providing a rule, or providing context, the instructor is showing the student a rational way to think through the problem. Such rational thinking could also be used in similar problems the students work on independently.
The strategy also uses the theorist-approved method of scaffolding, which is another term to describe the assistance provided by the instructor to help students achieve the desired task in their ZDP. Like in a building, the teacher’s scaffolding is eventually removed from the topic, because students have learned to support themselves and come to their own conclusions independently based on the previously provided help.
The methods of working in the ZDP and using scaffolding both fall into Vygotsky’s overall idea of mediated learning or discussing with the students to help make sense of something and guided participation, a practice where students gradually enter into more challenging activities that allow them to develop their newly acquired skill and thinking ability. In a one-on-one scenario, the teacher could use “Break it down” when the instructor and the student work together in a cognitive apprenticeship. With cognitive apprenticeships, the instructor provides guidance on how a student should think. By providing the missing step, providing a rule, or providing context, the instructor is showing the student a rational way to think through the problem. Such rational thinking could also be used in similar problems the students work on independently.