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to HompageMartin worked with elementary teachers who taught a science lesson developed by the researcher that linked the everyday questions of children to scientific or systematic thinking, an important concept in Vygotsky's theory. The teachers used a segment of Voyage of the Mimi, a multimedia simulation that uses laser disk video. In essence, students become the crew of a ship that travels to different parts of the world on scientific expeditions. The video stored on a laser disk helps set the scene for the simulated world cruise and provides information needed to solve some of the problem presented to the crew members. Martin's data showed that one critical factor in the way the lesson was taught was the teacher's own working assumptions about everyday, versus scientific, problem. One teacher separated the two completely and led the class in separate explorations of the two, even though the goal of the lesson was to bring them together cognitively. That is a decidedly non-Vygotskian approach because it does not draw on the cultural and social experiences of the children. Another teacher used the everyday experiences and knowledge of student as a starting point and help them think through and analyze the scientific problem they faced on the Voyage of the Mimi.
