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Children learning a concept with a book and an e-book: a comparison with matched instruction

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Abstract

Children are exposed to symbolic media, such as printed or electronic pictures. The purpose of this research was to compare children’s learning of a concept (camouflage) with two different picture-book formats. Forty-four-year-olds were assigned to two conditions: learning with a printed book or with an e-book. Instruction and book contents were paired. In a quasi-experimental pre-test post-test design, we analyzed children’s learning, transfer, and justifications. Results showed that correct responses increased significantly throughout the test phases with no differences between conditions. Also, children transferred the concept to both kinds of images. Concerning justifications, children provided more camouflage justifications after the reading than before. However, in the post-test, children in the book condition performed better than children in the e-book condition; also, they gave more camouflage justifications with printed than with electronic images. Given these results, we consider that the debate is not only about using new technologies in educational environments, but also about how to use them to diversify the learning experiences that traditional media already provide.

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Acknowledgements

This research forms part of the doctoral dissertation of Gabriela Raynaudo with the direction of Olga Peralta. Parts of this research were presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Austin, 2017. The authors wish to thank to the children and kindergartens that participated in this research.

Funding

It was supported by a Doctoral Fellowship from CONICET to the first author, and by Grants: PICT 2248 from Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Técnica; 210-134-14 from Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva de la Provincia de Santa Fe; and from Universidad Abierta Interamericana.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Olga Peralta.

Additional information

Gabriela Raynaudo, BA Doctoral Student - CONICET Teaching Assistant - Instituto Universitario Italiano de Rosario Instituto Rosario de Investigación en Ciencias de la Educación – IRICE. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - CONICET Address: 27 de Febrero 210 bis, 2000, Rosario, Argentina. E-mail: raynaudo@irice-conicet.gov.ar

Current themes of research:

Cognitive development. Young children learning of concepts mediated by printed and digital images

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Raynaudo, G., & Peralta, O. (2017). Cambio conceptual: Una mirada desde las teorías de Piaget y Vygotsky. Liberabit, 23(1), 137–148.

Borgobello, A., Raynaudo, G. & Peralta, N. S. (2014). Characterizing papers about ‘blended learning’: An unconsoli-dated field?. Revista IRICE, 26, 37–66.

Olga Peralta, Ph.D. Scientific Researcher – CONICET Full Professor of Educational Psychology – Universidad Abierta Interamericana Instituto Rosario de Investigación en Ciencias de la Educación – IRICE. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - CONICET Address: 27 de Febrero 210 bis, 2000, Rosario, Argentina. E-mail: peralta@irice-conicet.gov.ar

Current themes of research:

Cognitive development. Symbolic development in young children. Interaction and learning.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Peralta, O. (1995). Developmental changes and socioeconomic differences in mother-infant picturebook reading, European Journal of Psychology of Education, 3, 261–272.

Taverna, A. & Peralta, O. (2013). Young children category learning: A training study. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 28, 599–617.

Peralta, O., Salsa, A., Maita, M. y Mareovich, F. (2013). Scaffolding young children’s understanding of symbolic objects. Early Years: An International Journal of Research and Development, 33 (3) 266–274.

Maita, M., Mareovich, F. & Peralta, O. (2014). Intentional teaching facilitates young children’s comprehension and use of a symbolic object. The Journal of Genetic Psychology: Research and Theory on Human Development, 175 (5), 401–415.

Mareovich, F. & Peralta, O. (2016). Learning an adjective. The impact of descriptive information/Aprendiendo un adjetivo en un contexto de interacción con un libro de imágenes. El impacto de la información descriptiva. Infancia y Aprendizaje. Journal for the Study of Education and Development, 39 (3), 528–559.

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Raynaudo, G., Peralta, O. Children learning a concept with a book and an e-book: a comparison with matched instruction. Eur J Psychol Educ 34, 87–99 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-018-0370-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-018-0370-4

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