Cognitive Structuring: Taskbased performance assisting
LinKai Jiang lj2306@tc.Columbia.edu
Teachers College, Columbia University

Research Question
What is the role of task in the process of cognitive structuring?

What is cognitive structuring?
(Tharp & Gallimore 1988)
Type 1: provides a framework to structure the content.
Ex. “carrots are vegetables”
Type II: provides a framework to structure the cognitive activities.
Aka learning strategies

Data & Method
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3.5 hours of video recording from two adult community English classes(CEP&CI).
Classroom documents.
Line by line analysis of verbal utterance.
Classroom documents used to provide context & to support the argument.

CEP Student Task

CEP Case Analysis

CEP Case Analysis Cont’d

Grammar-based Strategy
Step 1: Identifying the word type.
Step 2: transforming the new word into a different word type.
Step 3: verifying the definition of the new word in the context of a sentence.

CI Student Task
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Without using a dictionary, the students worked in pairs to figure out the meaning of the underlined word or phrase in the sentences taken from a NPR story on diabetes.
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"The rates of diabetes are going up by almost an order of magnitude over the last generation, and they are going up very rapidly in the U.S. too."

CI Case Analysis

CI Case Analysis Cont’d

Semantics-based Strategy
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Identifying the relevant semantic parts of the sentence and making the semantic relationship explicit.

Findings
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CEP Case: grammar-based strategy helps student score almost 100% on the test.
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CI Case: dwelling on the grammar would not help the students.

Limitation & Future Research
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Need longitudinal analysis of student work and a comparison of their understanding before and after being taught the learning strategy.
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Linking teacher action to student learning outcome.

Pedagogical Implication
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Learning strategies need to be repeatedly applied with a consideration of the specific nature of tasks in order to be effective.

References
Cochran-Smith, M. (2003). Learning and unlearning: The education of teacher educators.
Teaching and Teacher Education, 19(1), 5-28.
Joram, E. & Gabriele, A.J. (1998). Preservice teachers' prior beliefs: transforming obstacles into opportunities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 14(2), 175-191.
Lemke, J. L. (1990). Talking science: Language, learning, and values (Chapter 3: “If you weren’t whispering to Scott..”). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Pupura, J. & Pinkley, D. (2000). On target 2. White Plains, NY: Longman.
Tharp, R. G., & Gallimore, R. (1988). The means of assisting performance. In Rousing minds to
life: Teaching, learning, and schooling in social context (Chapter 3). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes
(Chapter 6). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.