Towards evaluation of meaningfulness in students' communication: the "Labyrinth" game

Authors:
Vysotskaya E.Psychological Institute of Russian Academy of Education (Russia)
Lobanova A. Psychological Institute of Russian Academy of Education (Russia)
Yanishevskaya M. Psychological Institute of Russian Academy of Education (Russia)

Keywords

assessment, joint actions, computer simulation, learning activity, inquiry-based problem

Abstract

According to the Cultural-Historical Activity approach, the main source for a child's psychological development is the meaningful communication, which revolves around some problem matter. The diagnostic means should thus strive to assess whether this communication is productive, especially in the context of digitalisation of education. The purpose of this study was to test an approach to the assessment design based on Davydov's theory of learning activity, which emphasizes the crucial role of joint actions. We have developed a computer game, which emulates joint solving of a logic task, while distributing the essential operations between students. The "Labyrinth" task challenges students to discover a general rule, following which the sequence of keys should be chosen to pass through all dungeon cells successfully. The twist of the task was used earlier to evaluate students' metacognitive competencies, which gives us the opportunity to compare the results of joint solving to individual performance. In the current procedure students have to coordinate their actions, as the computer simulation does not allow them to make even one "step" through the labyrinth without cooperation. We conducted pilot experiments with pairs of students (8 -12 years old) to test the procedure, and we repeatedly adjusted the procedure to prompt joint actions in the inquiry-based problem, settled in a digital environment. Digital records of students' routes and video-taped discussions were used as data-source. The results show that the successful accomplishment of the labyrinth challenge - the identification of the general rule - significantly depends on the meaningfulness of students' communication. The thoughtful inquiry-based learning activity thus opposes common trial and error method, which proves to be insufficient. The digital means, which scaffold joint actions, contribute significantly here.

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