Edwards, Katie

Wood et al. & Contingent Tutoring

1. Introduction - What is contingent tutoring?

2. Key Reading

3. Computer-Based Applications (Wood et al., 1999)

4. Conclusions

5. References

"When the student is ready, the master appears" - A Buddhist Proverb which carries a great deal of meaning. In my opinion, it relates to the topic of contingent tutoring by suggesting that it is the student that will lead learning and the master (or tutor) will be there for them when student is ready or requires their assistance.

Introduction - What is contingent tutoring?

Contingent simply means ‘dependant on what may happen’, so contingent tutoring is a method employed by tutors that involves constantly adapting the level of tutor suggestion, or input, depending on the degree of success attained by the learner. For example, if a learner is seen to be succeeding, the tutor will lower their level of input and make any further suggestions more ambiguous, in the hope that the learner will continue succeeding (e.g. why don’t you think about doing this another way) On the other hand, when a tutor sees a learner to be failing, the level of input is increased and comments are made increasingly directive (e.g. press this button; put your hand here). It is thought that by employing contingent tutoring, successful learners will learn more by themselves and attention can be focused on those who are not progressing as well. To achieve contingent tutoring, Wood et al. (1978) determined 5 levels of verbal and non-verbal interventions tutors could make throughout the process, and the way in which these levels are used is contingent on the child’s progress during the task;

· Level 1 - General verbal encouragement - the instructor urges the child to action with a general request.

· Level 2 - Specific verbal information - the instructor tells the child what to look for.

· Level 3 - Selection - the instructor becomes physically involved by selecting or indicating that to do next.

· Level 4 - Prepared material - the instructor prepares the material in a way that it will become very simple for the child to complete the task.

· Level 5 - Demonstration - the instructor demonstrates one operation or step in the process.

Key Readings

Wood and colleagues, in a series of papers, aimed to investigate the way in which adults could teach children through contingent tutoring.

1. The Role of Tutoring in Problem Solving (1976)

This paper was concerned with the contingent tutoring process itself. It examined the process by asking a tutor to teach children aged 3-5 years to construct a three-dimensional structure that required a set of skills that were initially beyond all of the children. It was the interaction between the tutor and the learners which was of interest in this paper, rather than the actual building of the structure itself.

The Task; In order to create a task which could measure contingent tutoring effectively, the authors had to consider certain objectives. First, the task could not be too demanding on the child’s physical strength or manipulatory skills. Second, it had to be ‘feature rich’ in the sense that it contained a variety of relevant components. And third, it had to provide an experience of task mastery which could be applied to a different task at a later date. With these objectives in mind, a wooden toy consisting on 21 blocks which formd a pyramid (shown on the left) was developed and the children were required to build it by manipulating the blocks’ pegs and holes in to place.

Results and Conclusion; Results suggested that contingent tutoring is helpful for everyone but the way in which it is accessed by the individual is different depending on different stages of development and skill. For example, the 3 year olds in this study would actively ignore the verbal suggestions from the tutor and, furthermore, openly reject the opportunity of being tutored, even though it was found they required far more assistance. In contrast, the older children were far more accepting of coaching and did not once reject the tutor.

2. A Study of Assisted Problem-Solving (1975)

This paper examined the role a mother plays when helping their child through a problem solving task. Mothers attempted to help their children in such a way that would allow the children to eventually complete the task by themselves. This paper looks at the way in which mothers can effectively tutor their children using the contingent tutoring method.

The Task; Each child was required to construct a toy which was the same as the one discussed in the previous paper (a wooden pyramid)

Results and Conclusion; The study found that mothers who changed their input according to the success of their child were the most likely to see their child perform the task effectively after instruction. The authors suggest that successful tutoring must be interactive and dynamic, much like contingent tutoring.

Computer-Based Applications (Wood et al., 1999)

Wood et al. (1999) attempted to implement computer-based tutors which will contingently respond to the learners’ success and help seeking. Much like their human counterparts, these computer-based tutors will allow learners to work at their own pace, but at the same time, supporting them in times of doubt. There were four tutoring programs discussed, one of which was ‘DATA: Dynamic Assessment and Tutoring in Arithmetic’.

DATA: Dynamic Assessment and Tutoring in Arithmetic

This program aims to help teachers identifying any problems pupils may have with their fundamental skills in maths literacy, arithmetic and verbal understanding.

Any answers given by pupils are given feedback on which they can seek contingent help. If help is required, any errors are corrected and pupils are shown examples of similar tasks until success is achieved without help or error. Required help can range from a simple verbal cue, right through to a fully explained and worked out answer. For those in need of greater assistance, visual representations can be accessed, for example, a number line or objects to count.

The image on the right shows an example of the computer screen which DATA uses to assist children (the orange button says "Read this to me!" and the red button says "Do it for me!").

Levels of help;

· Level 1 - (Feedback)

· Level 2 - (Verbal cue) "Remember what we want to know is how many he had before he went shopping."

· Level 3 - (The problem is read out as elements of the equation appear, along with the 2 blocks.)

· Level 4 - "So to get the number he had to start with, we must add something to the two to make five."(3 more blocks appear)

· Level 5 - "So Bob must have had 3 biscuits in the beginning."

At the time this article was written, DATA was being piloted in secondary schools with 11-13 years olds who were struggling with their mathematics. On-line/off-line assessments were carried out to explore whether children were better in either context, although no sinificant differences were found. Despite this finding, it suggests that on-line tutoring in a mathematical context works similarly to human contingent tutoring, making these computer-based tutoring programs a worthwhile investment in an educational context.

Conclusions

In conclusion, Wood and colleagues have examined contingent tutoring a number of ways, from mother and child interactions to computer-based applications. Generally, all of the studies suggest that to successfully instruct an individual, the tutor must consistently change their amount of instruction or input contingent on the level of the learner’s success. However, as the Wood et al (1976) paper suggested, not all individuals can be tutored in the same way therefore making this type of tutoring extremely individualistic and rather difficult to reproduce on a mass scale. For example in the education system, allowing children to develop at their own pace, in their own time may seem a great way to teach and consequently learn, but this is very impractical when considering class sizes and the fact that teacher attention is spread over many students. With this impracticality in mind, it would be useful to consider implementing the computer-based contingency tutors discussed previously. By having these available in school, children struggling with aspects of their education (mentioned above by DATA) could have access to a contingent tutor whenever they felt they required extra assistance, leaving those who did not require that one-to-one tutoring free to carry on their own learning. Furthermore, taking into account the previously discussed paper (Wood et al., 1975), perhaps parents could implement a contingent tutoring method at home in order for children to develop and learn at a rate that is suitable to them, for parents have far more attention and resources to give to an individual child than a schooling system does. Additionally, implementing contingent tutoring at home will teach children to seek help only when appropriate, allowing them to flourish and become independent and, in time, successful workers.

References

Wood, D., Bruner, J.S. and Ross, G.. (1976). The Role of Tutoring in Problem Solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiartry. 17 (1), 89-100.

Wood, D. and Middleton, D.. (1975). A Study of Assisted Problem-Solving. The British Journal of Psychology. 66 (2), 181-191.

Wood, D., Wood, H. and Middleton, D.. (1978). An Experimental Evaluation of Four Face-to-Face Teaching Strategies. International Journal of Behavioral Development. 1, 131-147.