A framework for designing interactive multimedia to scaffold young children's understanding of historical chronology

Young children's understanding of the historical past is often characterised by a lack of temporal differentiation and a sense of total discontinuity with the present. Research has suggested that this situation may be caused in part by their formation of inappropriate representations when solving problems of chronology. To help children construct more appropriate external representations for particular tasks and reason more effectively with them about chronological concepts, we investigated the role that interactive multimedia might play in scaffolding teacher-led activities in the classroom. In this paper we report on our conceptual design and pedagogical approach to developing effective dynamic, interactive representations and activities at the computer interface, aimed at bridging the conceptual gap between concrete experience and abstract concepts. Evaluations of the software built using this framework showed that the program was well received by children and teachers alike, and that it was able to facilitate children's understanding of, and ability to reason about, chronology.