Impasses in the wild: Autonomy support in naturalistic, parent-child outdoor play

Abstract

Moments where children encounter problems in their chosen activities represent potentially generative sites for learning, particularly when supportive adults are present to scaffold the learning process. Scholars of autonomy support study these dyadic problem-solving processes in defined tasks, and describe specific types of parental support that have implications for children’s future competence as independent learners. In two exploratory case studies, we expand on the study of autonomy support by examining dyadic problem solving in naturalistic, outdoor family play. We apply a situated method of interaction analysis to perform a detailed, micro-longitudinal decomposition of two extended problem-solving arcs, identifying the specific contributions of parents and children. In doing so, we apply additional lenses of problem-solving, debugging, play-based learning, and intergenerational learning to develop a more comprehensive understanding of endogenous, dyadic problem solving. Our findings suggest the presence of inherent tradeoffs between various potential goals and time horizons for children’s learning and raise actionable considerations for both future research and practice in collaborative learning spaces.

A Multi-dimensional Framework for Documenting Students’ Heterogeneous Experiences with Programming Bugs

“…Similarly, in the cognitive apprenticeship framework, Collins et al (1988) introduced control strategies for monitoring whether a problem exists and then learning "how to select among the various possible problemsolving strategies, how to decide when to change strategies, and so on," especially "if one is stuck" (Collins et al, 1988, p. 14-15). In the context of outdoor play, Baker et al (2022) examined how a parent-supporting a child to reach a high rope-asked the child to assess the efficacy of a proposed fix, thus interleaving a broadly valuable debugging skill into the conversation. In each case above, learners develop skills capable of helping them get unstuck when novel impasses arise.…”

“…Debugging research on whether students can "correct their faulty code themselves" (Lee et al, 2018, p. 1) aligns with currents outside of computer science research. For example, the child development literature covers autonomy support (Meuwissen & Carlson, 2019;Whipple et al, 2011) through attention to parenting practices in which children are "given the opportunity to solve problems on their own" (Bindman et al, 2015, p. 757; see also Baker et al, 2022). A related pedagogical framework in mathematics instruction, focused on minimal interventions, recruits empathetic listening in service of "the student generally find[ing] some kind of resolution of their own" (Foster, 2014, p. 152).…”

“…Translating these five processes from the specific computer science context described in this paper, we can describe them in general terms in the following way: determine which impasses need to be fixed and when; curtail impasses that continue to arise; learn strategies for debugging novel impasses; engage with authority in the repair process; and calibrate confidence relative to skill, resources, task demands, etc. These processes could be prioritized and specified according to the particulars of a discipline, including informal activities such as playing outdoors as a family (e.g., see Baker et al, 2022). For example, on a given day of instruction, a science educator might devalue a student's science model making accurate predictions, and instead prioritize the student avoiding errors already found in classmates' models while also practicing independence with the process of iteratively tinkering with and assessing the model.…”