Piaget+Development+Theory

Piaget's Development Theory

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Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a biologist who originally who studied molluscs. He moved into the study of childrens undersanding, through observing them, talking and listening to them while they worked on excercises he set.

His view of how children's minds work and develop has been very influential, particularly in educational theory. His thoughts were that children must be mature enough to understand certain things in the world. He proposed that children's thinking doesn't necessarily develop smoothly, at times it can take off and move into new areas and capabilities.

The development theory has four stages and was created as a model of how the mind processes information, and goes systematically through birth to adulthood. Piaget observed his own children while researching this.

Main Characteristics of Theory:

The three types of knowledge that Piaget proposed children have:

1. Physical knowledge - :knowledge about objects in the world, which can be gained through their perceptual properties" 2. Logical -mathematical knowledge - "abstract knowledge that must be invented" 3. Social-arbitrary knowledge - "culture-specific knowledge learned from people within one's culture group"

Link: http://home.gwu/edu/~mcorry/corry2.htm

Stages of Development: 1. Sensorimotor stage (birth-2 years) - The child through physical interaction with his or her environment builds a set of concepts about reality and how it works 2. Preoperational stage ( ages 2-7) - The child is not yet able to conceptualize abstractly and needs concrete physical situations 3. Concreate operational (7-11) - As physical experience acculumlates, the child starts to conceptualize creating logical structures that explain his or her physical experiences. 4. Formal operations (11-15) - By this point, the child's congnitive structures are like those of an adult and include conceptual reasoning. Strenghts and Weaknesses of the Theory: media type="custom" key="5753003"

How it relates to Constructivism: The child must construct their own knowledge and cannot simply be given information. Piaget proposed that children must complete his stages in order and build upon knowledge of experience. Experiences enable them to create schemas which can be described as mental models in their heads. Cognitive constructivism is based off of Piaget's theory. Below is an example of how constructivsm is applied in daily classroom instruction...

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How this theory can be incorporated into the classroom.What would the classroom/instruction look like?

Technology is an important tool that should be used in a Piagetian classroom. He believed in the constructivist approach where students learn based on their own experiences. Technology can help students gain the background knowledge that they need. The technology that is available now can be a great resource to students. A typical classroom that focuses on Piaget and technology would have a lot of computers in the classroom. There could be many other forms of technology like a projector so the students can share what they learned on their own with their classmates and teacher. There could also be stations of technology software around the room. This would almost be like reading groups. All groups would be assigned to a location in the room on different days. Individual work is also important. Students should be given an opportunity to individually work on the stations that promote critical thinking through a constructivist approach. There are so many ways that technology can be integrated in a constructivist classroom. The first example is an anchored instruction approach. Students become actively engaged by focusing on one interesting topic. The technology that students use helps students develop effective thinking skills that lead to effective problem solving and critical thinking. In order to be an anchored approach the learning and teaching activities should be focused around one subject through a story, or adventure. There is a problem in this story that the students are interested in. The students are to think about the problem and find a way to solve the problem with resources provided.

Examples of technology that incorporates the Development Theory: There are many resources that students can use that are an example of anchored instruction. One example is, [|Jasper Woodbury Problem Solving][|Series]. This website has a plethora of stories that provide information for students to figure out. This is a very interactive site for students that promote critical thinking. Anchored Instruction can be used by many different grade levels. This can be Kindergarten through 12th grade. The problems can be differentiated so any grade level can do it. The link is below. []

There are many types of microworlds, one that many people may be familiar with is Oregon Trails. Oregon Trails focus on a certain time in history. Students play the game and are provided resources to survive. They travel in a wagon and of face dangerous weather, hunt for food, ford treacherous rivers, and live off the land. They make decisions every day and can come up to potentially deadly dilemmas that require concentration and problem-solving skills. This game can be played by students who are in elementary school. Mainly 3rd to 5th grade students. There is a link that follows that shows pictures of Oregon Trails and how to play it. []

What are the goals for instruction? Using technology in a way that students are interacting with technology, but also using problem solving skills and critical thinking. As they go through the program they are builiding upon prior knowledge.

What would the technology integration look like? Students would use those programs to complete English and Soical Studies assignments. They would be learning the subject matter, and at the same time learning how to use different types of technology. The students could work on the assignments and use the programs through out the day at a classroom computer stations. If needed, the assignments can be continued at home. ​Key ideas of Piaget Note that assimilation and accommodation go together: you can't have one without the other. || [] Ideas
 * **Adaptation** || What it says: adapting to the world through assimilation and accommodation ||
 * **Assimilation** || The process by which a person takes material into their mind from the environment, which may mean changing the evidence of their senses to make it fit. ||
 * **Accommodation** || The difference made to one's mind or concepts by the process of assimilation.
 * **Classification** || The ability to group objects together on the basis of common features. ||
 * **Class Inclusion** || The understanding, more advanced than simple classification, that some classes or sets of objects are also sub-sets of a larger class. (E.g. there is a class of objects called dogs. There is also a class called animals. But all dogs are also animals, so the class of animals includes that of dogs) ||
 * **Conservation** || The realisation that objects or sets of objects stay the same even when they are changed about or made to look different. ||
 * **Decentration** || The ability to move away from one system of classification to another one as appropriate. ||
 * **Egocentrism** || The belief that you are the centre of the universe and everything revolves around you: the corresponding inability to see the world as someone else does and adapt to it. Not moral "selfishness", just an early stage of psychological development. ||
 * **Operation** || The process of working something out in your head. Young children (in the sensorimotor and pre-operational stages) have to act, and try things out in the real world, to work things out (like count on fingers): older children and adults can do more in their heads. ||
 * **Schema (or scheme)** || The representation in the mind of a set of perceptions, ideas, and/or actions, which go together. ||
 * **Stage** || A period in a child's development in which he or she is capable of understanding some things but not others ||