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Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky

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Vygotsky’s Life Story

Lev Vygotsky was born November 17, 1896Death:He died June 11, 1934.

Vygotsky was well known for his theories of cognitive development where he stresses the importance of culture,

language and classroom development. He was a psychologist born in Orasha an city in the Roman Empire ( now called

Belarus). He was educated in Moscow University were he got his Law degree in 1917. Back in Moscow university Vygotsky studied Philosophy, psychology, sociology and history. Most of Vygotsky’s theories were incomplete because his life was cut

short by tuberculosis at age 38.

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Critical examination of how students learn based on Vygotsky’s theory

Based on Vygotsky’s theory students learn applying the Zone of proximal development, classroom

strategies and assessment strategies.

When teaching a child at age 3 you can use symbols and not just words. So by telling the child to count

from 1 to 5 and showing him/her the numbers you can also use two (2) triangles or circles to caught the child’s

attention.

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Example of how to demonstrate the thinking processes that children use in learning math base on the theoryVygotsky implies scaffolding or apprenticeship-this is when a teacher or other peer apply their help to a student who

is not understanding the task given. For example teaching numbers from one to ten. A five

year old child might have problems identifying the number and the word it represents.

Based on Vygotsky’s theory we can also use classroom Arrangement-teacher would engage students in activities

which will develop on there learning.For example in a Mathematics class teacher can get the

students actively engaged in math games, board counting and board classification game.

What can also be used to demonstrate the thinking process of children is the assessment strategies.

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How Vygotsky’s theory contributes to mathematics

education and its application to the Jamaican classroom

Vygotsky’s theory has been a great contribution to society and teaching mathematics. In the Jamaican

classroom it can be seen where teachers engage students in activities such as discussion that allow them to question, summarize, clarify and practice. According to Vygotsky these four (4) skills improve

their learning ability.

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What was the name of Vygotsky’s theory?a)Cognitive developmentb)Learning conditionc) Cognitive psychologistVygotsky was well known for his:a)Law degreeb)Cognitive theoryc)Beard

Review Session

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What are the four skills that improve a child’s learning ability?a)Bating, bowling, fielding and keepingb) Questioning, summarizing, clarifying and practicingc)Discussing, questioning, summarizing and practicingWhat was Vygotsky’s cause and age of death?a)HIV a)39b)Tuberculosis b)40c)Bronchitis c)48d)Ebola d)38