Guiding hints and challenge can help scaffold learners to progress beyond what they would achieve independently. The interactive and adaptive capabilities of mobile devices allow educational applications (apps) to support learning through scaffolding designs. However, little research has tested the effects of scaffolding features in apps on young children’s learning. Using a 3 × 2 between‐subjects design, this study experimentally tests how three types of app feedback (nonverbal sounds, verbal encouragement, or scaffolded verbal hints) and two types of leveling (gradual vs. random‐ordered challenge) influence 4–5‐year‐old children’s learning of novel words (N = 240). Results showed that scaffolded feedback was especially useful when provided at the beginning of app play (p < .01), and scaffolded leveling through gradual increases in difficulty supported faster and more accurate responses than random order challenge (p < .001).

中文翻译：

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支持学龄前学习的移动应用程序功能：口头反馈和水准设计

指导性提示和挑战可以帮助脚手架学习者超越自己独立取得的进步。移动设备的交互式和自适应功能允许教育应用程序（apps）通过支架设计支持学习。但是，很少有研究测试应用程序中的脚手架功能对幼儿学习的影响。使用3×2主体间设计，本研究实验性地测试了三种类型的应用反馈（非语言声音，言语鼓励或支架式言语提示）和两种类型的测评（渐进式与随机排序的挑战）如何影响4–5 2岁儿童对新单词的学习（N  = 240）。结果表明，在应用播放开始时提供脚手架反馈特别有用（p <.01），并且通过逐渐增加难度来进行脚手架调平，比随机顺序挑战（p  <.001）支持更快，更准确的响应。