Mediated Learning Experience Research Articles

The effects of Peer Mediation with Young Children (PMYC) on children's cognitive modifiability

Peer mediation with young children is a relatively novel approach aimed at teaching young children how to mediate to their peers. The main benefits of peer mediation are in developing children's mediation teaching style and cognitive modifiability. The peer mediation developed recently is based on Vygotsky's sociocultural and Feuerstein's mediated learning experience theories. The main objectives of the study were to investigate the effects of the Peer Mediation with Young Children (PMYC) programme on children's cognitive modifiability of mediators and learners and to study the effects of cognitive level of the learner and mediator on their cognitive modifiability following the programme. A sample of 178 pupils (89 mediators in Grade 3 and 89 learners in Grade 1) was randomly assigned to experimental (N=43 dyads) and control (N=46 dyads) groups. The mediators in the experimental group participated in the PMYC programme, whereas the mediators in the control group received a substitute intervention aimed at emphasizing general conditions of peer interaction. Following the intervention, mediators of both groups received a demonstration of a multimedia programme as a preparation for the peer mediation interaction and later taught it to their young counterparts. Following the teaching session (e.g. teaching of seriation problems), mediators in both groups were given a dynamic assessment measure of analogies. The learners however were given a test of seriation before and after the intervention. The findings showed that following the intervention the experimental mediators showed higher level of analogies scores, as well as higher improvement on the dynamic analogies measure as compared with control mediators. The experimental learners showed higher pre- to post-intervention achievements on the seriation problems as compared with control learners. The findings showed also that when there was a match between the mediator and learner's cognitive level (i.e. low-low or high-high) the differences between the experimental and control groups were minor and negligible. However, when the mediator-learner cognitive levels did not match, the experimental learners received higher scores than the control learners. Mediators in the experimental group had to cope with the incongruent cognitive level by facilitating their mediational approach and consequently enhancing the learner's performance. The findings are discussed in regard to Piaget, Vygotsky and Feuerstein's theories and recent research on peer assisted learning.

The role of clinical judgements of modifiability in the diagnosis of language impairment

The primary objective of this study was to closely examine the notion of child modifiability in response to scripted mediated learning experience (MLE) sessions that targeted narrative abilities. Forty children (25 with normal language ability and 15 with language impairment) participated in the study. Clinicians who were blinded to child language ability made judgements of children's social-emotional behaviour, cognitive arousal, and cognitive elaboration at the conclusion of each of two MLE sessions. Results indicate that children with and without language impairment performed differently across the four domains that were observed. The strongest predictors of language ability were cognitive arousal and cognitive elaboration. Within these two domains, a composite score of flexibility and metacognition accurately classified children into impaired and non-impaired groups with 93% accuracy. A follow-up case study examining clinician-child discourse examined clinician questions and child response to question...

Operacionalização de escala para análise de padrão de mediação materna: um estudo com díades mãe-criança com deficiência visual

O desenvolvimento cognitivo da criança com necessidades especiais pode ser afetado por padrões inadequados de mediação materna, decorrente das baixas expectativas das mães acerca da capacidade cognitiva infantil, que se constroem a partir da compreensão inadequada acerca dos reais limites e possibilidades de aprendizagem da criança. Nesse sentido, faz-se relevante a avaliação do padrão de mediação materna por instrumentos que forneçam indicadores de análise da mediação presente na interação mãe-criança. Com esse objetivo foi operacionalizada a Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) Rate Scale (Escala de Avaliação de Experiência de Aprendizagem Mediada - Escala MLE), elaborada por Carol Lidz em 1991, com base na Teoria da Experiência de Aprendizagem Mediada. É uma proposta de avaliação da interação adulto-criança, na qual são avaliados os comportamentos mediadores do adulto. Esses comportamentos podem favorecer a construção de expectativas mais otimistas e de um padrão de mediação mais adequado de interação. Após a tradução da Escala MLE, elaboraram-se 36 categorias comportamentais para análise do padrão de mediação materna, organizadas em 4 níveis, para cada um dos 12 componentes da Escala: intencionalidade, significação, transcendência, atenção partilhada, experiência partilhada, regulação na tarefa, elogiar, desafio, diferenciação psicológica, responsividade contingente, envolvimento afetivo. Esta versão adaptada foi aplicada em 12 díades mãe-criança com deficiência visual (5-9 anos), filmadas em 3 sessões de jogos de dominó, com níveis crescentes de dificuldade. A versão operacionalizada da Escala MLE mostrou-se ferramenta útil à análise quantitativa e qualitativa da interação adulto-criança, em situação semi-estruturada de aprendizagem, corroborado por índice de concordância aceitável (77,2%).

Development of a thinking programme for engineering students

The challenge of preparing engineering graduates for a fast‐changing work environment calls for the development of thinking programmes. A psychological basis was used to develop the tenets of the approach. The Cognitive Modifiability Intervention (CMI) was rationalized and conceived as a corollary of observations of learning scenarios and an application of the theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability (SCM). The CMI curriculum encapsulates the following key areas: (1) belief system and affective‐motivational processes; (2) mediated learning experience; (3) cognitive functions; (4) instruments for intervention; and (5) bridging for transfer of learning. The CMI included four major clusters of cognitive domains, namely the Affective‐Motivation Domain (ADM), the Systematic‐Strategic Thinking (SST) cluster, the Analytical‐Inferential Thinking (AIT) cluster and the Divergent‐Creative Thinking (DICT) cluster. It is argued that understanding the cognitive needs of engineering students, an approach of dealing with the prerequisites of thinking through active modification, and coaching skills through staff development are essential to the development of a cognitive curriculum for engineering education.

Programa de Enriquecimiento Instrumental (PEI): alternativa pedagógica que responde al desafío de calidad en educación

<p style="text-align: justify;">Este artículo presenta la implementación del Programa de Enriquecimiento Instrumental en las Escuelas de Enseñanza Secundaria de la red pública estatal de bahía, experiencia acompañada por un proyecto de investigación delineado para evaluar la efectividad del programa como aplicación de la teoría de la modificabilidad cognitiva estructural. La metodología usada fue la experiencia de aprendizaje mediado, en lo que se refiere al proceso de asimilación, significación y transferencia / trascendencia de información por parte de profesores y alumnos. La investigación se ha constituido en un estudio comparativo entre alumnos de unidades escolares que ya integran el PEI a su currículo (grupo experimental) y de aquellas que no tienen la investigación del PEI (grupo control). El análisis de los datos revela modificabilidad en el proceso enseñanza-aprendizaje.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Palabras clave: </strong>modificabilidad cognitiva, mediación, documento, competencias y habilidades, enseñanza-aprendizaje, autonomía.</p>

Caregivers' mediation and toddlers' emotional responses in the child care context

The purpose of this study was to explore the quality of daycare by examining interactions between caregivers and young children. Across 49 Israeli daycare centers, 299 children aged 18–30 months were observed naturalistically in groups of four to eight, together with their main caregiver. Caregivers' behavior was defined in terms of mediation and was assessed using the Mediated Learning Experience Scale developed by Lidz. Mediated learning, a concept developed by Feuerstein, is a reciprocal process wherein an attentive adult sensitively uses didactic skills to mediate between a child and the world. It was hypothesized that caregivers' mediation behavior would be linked to children's affective responses. No correlation was found between mediation behavior and children's positive approaches to the caregiver. There was a tendency toward more crying episodes in daycare centers in which the caregiver mediated less. Two mediation subscales were created, one emphasizing cognitive elements of mediation and the other emotional elements. Episodes of crying were found to be significantly fewer in daycare centers in which caregivers' cognitive mediation skills were higher. Children were found to initiate fewer approaches to their main caregiver when other caregivers were present. A tendency was also found toward fewer approaches the larger the group size of the children, supporting previous findings on the importance of group size for quality of daycare.

Mediated Learning Activities Between Caregivers and Children Among New Immigrants and Veteran Families in Israel: An Experiment on Two “Home-Based” Tasks

The author presents a study of the systematic observation of Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) among Ethiopian immigrants in Israel. The study was based on “semi-naturalistic” observation of two tasks–one experimental task with the new immigrants, another with veteran immigrants. The observation was conducted mainly on the basis of MLE parameters. The study illustrates the components of MLE that are most valuable and ones that are more emphasized than others as part of the overall cultural practice and its value system. Generally, Ethiopian parents infrequently use the mediation of transcendence infrequently and rarely provide mediation of competence and reward, especially in the explicit verbal form of a direct reward. More emphasis is placed on the accomplishment of actual acts with little room for making errors. The mediation of regulation of behavior is done with a more commanding and direct manner–sometimes scolding–with an authoritarian voice and body gestures. The overall picture of MLE among this immigrant population indicates that there is still a huge disparity between the mediational teaching style expressed as ideal in schools and the mediational styles that Ethiopian children are familiar with at home. This suggests a discontinuity between home and school that might inhibit a rapid adaptation to the school’s learning style for the children.

Providing Mediated Learning Experiences Through Multidimensional Play Therapy

Multidimensional Play Therapy is an integrative, multidimensional metatheoretical approach to the use of play in working with clients’ different modalities, with specific focus on the provision of mediated learning experiences through play. It is an attempt to fill in the gap and act as a bridge to integrate different ideas and practices in the fields of cognitive education and play therapy. Specifically, Multidimensional Play Therapy expands the use of play therapy to include providing mediated learning experience, based on Feuerstein’s theory of structural cognitive modifiability and mediated learning experience. The use of play as mediation, proposed by Vygotsky, is integrated with Feuerstein’s systematic application of Vygotsky’s idea of a more competent human being (the play therapist) as mediator in the context of Multidimensional Play Therapy.

The cultural malleability of intelligence and its impact on the racial/ethnic hierarchy.

This commentary highlights previous literature focusing on cultural and environmental explanations for the racial/ethnic group hierarchy of intelligence. Assumptions underlying definitions of intelligence, heritability/genetics, culture, and race are noted. Historical, contextual, and testing issues are clarified. Specific attention is given to studies supporting stereotype threat, effects of mediated learning experiences, and relative functionalism. Current test development practices are critiqued with respect to methods of validation and item development. Implications of the genetic vs. culture-only arguments are discussed with respect to the malleability of IQ. Rushton and Jensen (2005) review decades of literature to support a genetic basis for the racial/ethnic group hierarchy in intelligence, a position they have held unwaveringly for over 30 years. Their report gives little mention to findings that point to the impact of environment and race (i.e., race as a social construction) on intellectual development or performance—what they term the culture-only perspective. We are not among the culture-only adherents as characterized by Rushton and Jensen. While acknowledging the impact of biological factors on intelligence test performance, we have examined the impact of cultural/environmental factors that affect performance on aptitude and achievement measures. Our work, and that of others (e.g., Aronson, 2002; Sternberg, 1996), show us that intellectual performance is much more fragile and malleable than what is often noted in the current literature. The goals of our commentary are to highlight, briefly, assumptions underlying definitions (i.e., intelligence, heritability, genetics, culture, race) and clarify historical, contextual, and testing issues that were only briefly mentioned by Rushton and Jensen. Finally, we comment on the heuristic value and on policy implications of the research.

Mediation in the context of teaching and learning about religions in tertiary education

The revised norms and standards for teacher education in South Africa require an understanding of the beliefs, values and practices of the main religions of South Africa. However, many pre-service educators lack the knowledge and skills to cope within a religiously pluralist school environment. In this article strategies will be discussed for teaching religion to pre-service educators at a tertiary institution to equip them for religious and cultural diversity in South African schools. Feuerstein's theory of Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) is suggested as a means for initiating new and creative ways of thinking about different religions.

Culture and somatization

The effects of intervention for peer mediation and mother-child mediated learning experience (MLE) strategies on children’s MLE strategies and cognitive modifiability (CM) was investigated on a sample of 100 mother–child dyads. CM was examined in domains of executive functions and analogical reasoning. The MLE interactions were analyzed by Observation for Mediated Interaction (OMI) scale. Children of high- and low-mediating mothers were assigned to experimental (n = 49) and control (n = 51) conditions. The experimental group received a peer-mediation program and the control groups received an alternative creativity program. The children (in Grade 3) were assigned as mediators of learners (in Grade 1) and taught them analogical reasoning problems. The peer interaction was videotaped and analyzed by the OMI. All children were given dynamic assessment after the interaction. Children in the experimental group showed higher MLE strategies and CM than did children in the control condition. Mediators of low-MLE mothers in the experimental group showed greater CM than did mediators in the control group. Structural equation modeling analysis showed that mediators’ cognitive modifiability was explained by proximal factors of treatment, mothers’ quality of mediation (QM) and mediators’ QM; learners’ cognitive modifiability was explained by mediators’ QM. The findings were discussed in relation to the MLE theory and earlier findings.

MLE Examined in New Settings: A Review of Seng, Pou, and Tan’s Edited Volume, Mediated Learning Experience with Children: Applications across Contexts

MLE Examined in New Settings: A Review of Seng, Pou, and Tan’s Edited Volume, Mediated Learning Experience with Children: Applications across Contexts

Effects of mediated learning experience on Raven's matrices scores of African and non-African university students in South Africa

Rushton and Skuy [Intelligence 28 (2000) 1.] found that White university psychology students in South Africa averaged between one and two standard deviations higher than African students on Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices. This new study was carried out to determine whether Feuerstein's Mediated Learning Experience would improve the scores of the African students. The sample comprised 70 African and 28 non-African first year psychology students. Subjects were given the Raven's on two occasions and, in-between, randomly constituted experimental groups were exposed to mediated learning experience. Both the African and non-African groups improved over the baseline on the Raven's compared to the control groups, with significantly greater improvement for the African group.

The effects of mediation in computer assisted dynamic assessment

Abstract This study examined the effects of the computer‐assisted dynamic assessment (DA) on cognitive performance as compared to DA with an examiner. The DA approach is based on Feuerstein's mediated learning experience theory and Tzuriel's DA approach with young children. A sample of kindergarden children (n = 60) were assigned to either a Computer Assisted (CA, n = 30) or Examiner Only (EO, n = 30) groups. The sample was randomly chosen from three kindergardens in a middle‐SES area. Initial intelligence level of both groups was controlled by matching their frequency distribution on the Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices score. The CA group was administered the Think‐in‐Order program, which is a multimedia program designed specifically for this study and is based on the Children's Seriational Thinking Modifiability (CSTM) test. The EO group was administered the CSTM test by an examiner. The findings revealed that intervention involving mediation processes in a CA dynamic assessment procedure was more effective in bringing about significant cognitive changes than mediation with only an examiner.

The Development of MLE-Based Intervention Programmes in the Context of Education in South Africa

Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) is proposed here as an effective basis for bridging educational gaps and for promoting crosscultural co-existence and integration. A series of controlled studies in South Africa with pre-service teachers from a disadvantaged community, and with students of different cultural groups, developed and tested programmes based on MLE and on its vehicles, the Instrumental Enrichment (IE) thinking skills programme and the Learning Potential Assessment Device (LPAD). The unique nature of South Africa's sociopolitical situation, and the needs of particular population groups within this country, have served as the impetus for studying the effects of MLE, IE and the LPAD in conjunction with other constructs, approaches or programmes. These studies suggest the potential value of MLE-based intervention programmes in contributing to the transformation of the South African education system from its previous apartheid-based methods and goals of compliance, conformity and passive absorption of information, to an integrated and cognitively based system.

Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) as a Basis for an Alternative Approach to Assessment

This article discusses how Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) is incorporated into testing practices to define a relatively new addition to the assessment repertory called dynamic assessment. Dynamic assessment (DA) typically follows a pre-test-intervene-posttest format. The author has designed procedures where the intervention portion offers mediational interactions that are designed to promote higher mental functioning in the student. The response of the student to these interventions provides important information about the student's abilities and functioning within a teaching/learning situation. The article first operationalizes MLE in a rating scale and then describes four approaches to DA: a group administered screening procedure; a generic curriculum-based approach; an individual assessment for pre-school children and a procedure for determining eligibility for gifted programming demonstrated to be successful with students from ethnic and linguistic minority backgrounds. Some concluding thoughts about the contribution of MLE to assessment are offered.

A Thinking Journey Based on Constructivism and Mediated Learning Experience as a Vehicle for Teaching Science to Low Functioning Students and Enhancing Their Cognitive Skills

An Experimental Astronomy Curriculum or Thinking Journey was developed on the basis of a combination of Constructivism and Mediated Learning Experience (MLE). The Thinking Journey was designed to serve as a vehicle for promoting a process of conceptual change in a wide range of students. Its theoretical background, curriculum and an experiment to test its effectiveness with a class of low functioning high school girls are documented here. The study included an experimental (E) and control (C) group, each of which comprised 16 9th grade students. E focused on the concept of Earth within the framework of the Thinking Journey, while C was exposed to the conventional approach to the study of Earth within the Earth Studies curriculum. The results indicated the relative effectiveness of the Thinking Journey in promoting a process of positive change in the students' conceptualization of Earth, improving their knowledge of astronomy, enhancing their general scientific knowledge and developing their cognitive functioning and problem solving abilities. These findings are discussed in terms of the usefulness of utilizing a scientific subject as part of an educational intervention designed to enhance the cognitive abilities of low functioning students.

Sociocultural Theory and the Mediated Learning Experience

One of the most radical changes occurring in our approach to learning and instruction concerns the agency of learning. Only recently an individual was perceived as a 'natural' agency of learning. Now this position becomes increasingly challenged on both theoretical and practical grounds. The concept of mediation plays the central role in this critical reappraisal. Two theories that have contributed most to the development of the mediational approach to learning is the Vygotskian sociocultural theory and Feuerstein's theory of Mediated Learning Experience (MLE). Both theories emphasized the importance of sociocultural forces in shaping the situation of a child's development and learning. Both pointed to the crucial role played by parents, teachers, peers and the community in defining the type of learning interaction occurring between children and their environments. Beyond their role as tools of theoretical critique, Vygotsky's and Feuerstein's systems have generated a number of applied programs offering new techniques for the enhancement of students' cognitive functions, development of metacognition and integration of cognitive elements into instructional practice.

Dynamic Assessment of EFL Text Comprehension

The goal of this article is to explore the feasibility of the development and implementation of the dynamic assessment procedure in such curriculum-based areas as English as a foreign language (EFL). Vygotsky's notion of the Zone of Proximal Development and Feuerstein's concept of Mediated Learning Experience served as a theoretical base for the construction of the assessment procedure. The procedure included a pre-test, mediated learning phase and a post-test. It was applied with a group of 23 academically at-risk students who failed to pass the high school English exam. The results of the study indicate that dynamic procedure indeed provides information on students' learning potential over and beyond that which is available from the static test. This information can be used for the development of individual learning plans attuned to the students' special learning needs.

The Effects of Intervention in Seriation from the “Bright Start” Program on the Development of Seriational-Mathematical Thinking of Israeli Kindergarteners of Ethiopian and Russian Origin

The author examined the effect of teaching the Pattern and Sequence (useriation) unit from the intervention program Bright Start on the development of seriational mathematical thinking in kindergartners of Israeli, Ethiopian, and Russian origin. In addition, the author examined the effect of the teaching of this unit on the capacity for cognitive change in this area within the study group of children. Bright Start is a plan for the development of thinking in early childhood. This program, developed by Haywood, Brooks, and Burns (1986, 1992), is based on four developmental theories:(a) Feuerstein’s theory of structural cognitive modifiability and mediated learning experience; (b) Piaget’s stages theory of cognitive development; (c) Vygotsky’s social-historical theory of cognitive development; Haywood’s transactional perspective on human abilities.This study was focused on one unit of the program, the unit dealing with the development of seriational thinking. The teaching of this unit, like the remaining units in the program, is based on the mediational teaching style. The main emphasis of the study was placed on the comparison of three groups of different origin in Israel; therefore, no control group was examined.40 kindergartners from a disadvantaged area in Israel’s central region were examined, of whom 9 were native Israelis, 11 were of Russian origin, and 20 were of Ethiopian origin. The chidren were given several tests before and after the program. The examination consisted of three stages. At the beginning of the school year, the children underwent three tests to assess their ability to solve problem tasks when creating series with different elements. Subsequently, the intervention plan was taught with the aim of fostering cognitive skills of planning, comparison, relating to several sources of information, and restraining impulsiveness. Towards the end of the year, the children were again examined, and they underwent the three tests that they had done in the beginning of the year, checking their ability to solve tasks when creating series with different elements. In addition, the extent of internalization of the various skills was examined, as well as the capacity to apply skills to the area of arithmetic.As stated, this study focused on children of Ethiopian and Russian origin in comparison to native Israeli children. The decision to focus on children of Ethiopian origin derived from gaps that emerged in the learning process of this population as a result of the cultural difference that characterizes it. The children of Russian origin were part of the kindergarten’s population. They too manifested gaps as a result of cultural and social changes occurring among immigrants from the former Soviet Union.The purpose of the study was to demonstrate that intervention in specific thinking processes—in this case seriation from Bright Start at kindergarten age—will result in greater effectiveness and a significant cognitive ability to change in this area, particularly in children of Ethiopian origin whose initial cognitive level was poor. The hypothesis was confirmed that the children of Ethiopian descent did indeed evince initial inferiority visa-vis the other two groups, but after the intervention program they improved their performance and narrowed the gaps in comparison to the other groups. It is noteworthy that, according to the theory, cognitive processes are not related to any particular content or culture, but are suited to everyone. These processes were found to be beneficial to all of the children, but the cognitive change in seriational thinking as a result of the intervention program was particularly conspicuous in children of Russian origin.The effect of the intervention program was expressed in the ability to apply acquired skills to unstudied areas. Internalization of cognitive skills was apparent, as was the improved ability to comprehend a series and the acquisition of mathematical skills in all of the kindergarten children.The findings of this study have didactic implications relating to the significance of teaching seriation to kindergarten children. In addition, the study indicates the need for early education programs adapted to the population of children of Ethiopian and Russian origin in Israel.