In part of the class, they were very traditional and used lecture style. In other parts of the class, they freely allowed participation among students. For example, one teacher, despite the fact that he is more disciplined with the students, uses comparisons when explaining the concepts and refers to book when giving examples on the board. The class is quiet during a short lecture. Afterwards, the notes are left on the board and the students are asked to take notes. A special student lays head on desk and asks no questions and takes no notes. However, the teacher does the first part of the homework together with the students, which is a quasi-Vygotsky approach. He does ask the students in this class more questions individually than the other class and helps this class a lot more on homework, which is also a sort of scaffolding. He lets students work together as partners. Another teacher uses a great deal of class participation and everyone does the problems, instead of one person answering each question. A student in the back of the room all alone was asked to move up. The teacher also showed students two different ways to solve the answer, which is a type of Vygotsky approach.
There was no teacher that was solely using a Vygotsky approach to learning. In the classes the students were either learning new concepts or reviewing those that they were supposed to have learned. However, except for answering questions and having the students partner up, which is a form of socialized learning, there was no overall scaffolding strategy. Only in one case did students carry out tasks and solve problems that were realistic to better learn the various...
The tasks were not sequenced to guide them through successful knowledge building of increasingly complex and difficult skills. They did not learn to transfer knowledge to new areas and to use resources to further solve problems they would encounter in the future. The teacher did not design problems on a multi-level to challenge their growth upward. There was little "problem solving," where students evaluated solutions and faced problems. It appeared that the students were learning the information. However, whether they were learning by rote or would be able to apply the knowledge gained to other mathematical and subjects and future problem solving is uncertain. Incorporating more Vygotsky methodology would have been a better learning experience.
