THE ROLE OF TUTORING IN PROBLEM SOLVING

This chapter is concerned with the nature of the tutorial process; the means whereby an adult or “expert” helps somebody who is less adult or less expert. Though its aim is general, it is expressed in terms of a particular task: a tutor seeks to teach children aged 3, 4, and 5 yrs to build a particular three-dimensional structure that requires a degree of skill that is initially beyond them. It is the usual type of tutoring situation in which one member “knows the answer” and the other does not, rather like a “practical” in which only the instructor “knows how”. The changing interaction of tutor and children provide our data.