Problem Solving, Metacognition and Composition: The Effects of Interactive Software for First-Grade Children

Abstract

We report an experimental study of the instructional effectiveness of two types of interactive software environments for low SES first-grade students. The first environment consisted of teaching children the Logo programming language. The second contained commercially available software to aid composition and problem solving. Both software environments were contrasted to a no-treatment condition. Students in all conditions had the same teacher. Findings indicated that both software environments enhanced problem solving performance for a novel task, but the Logo environment was most facilitative for “learning to learn.” Both environments also appeared to enhance components of metacognition. Qualitative analysis of writing samples indicated no differences among groups. Results are interpreted as supporting the instructional utility of interactive software environments that are integrated within the curriculum.