Group+8

Our final page... http://tu-istc301.wikispaces.com/Piaget+Development+Theory Please check the HISTORY tab to see our collaboration for this assignment.


 * Introduce and describe the theorists' contributions to the theory**

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 * Background Information on Piaget**

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a biologist who originally studied molluscs (publishing twenty scientific papers on them by the time he was 21) but moved into the study of the development of children's understanding, through observing them and talking and listening to them while they worked on exercises he set. "Piaget's work on children's intellectual development owed much to his early studies of water snails" [|(Satterly,] 1987:622) His view of how children's minds work and develop has been enormously influential, particularly in educational theory. His particular insight was the role of maturation (simply growing up) in children's increasing capacity to understand their world: they cannot undertake certain tasks until they are psychologically mature enough to do so. His research has spawned a great deal more, much of which has undermined the detail of his own, but like many other original investigators, his importance comes from his overall vision. He proposed that children's thinking does not develop entirely smoothly: instead, there are certain points at which it "takes off" and moves into completely new areas and capabilities. He saw these transitions as taking place at about 18 months, 7 years and 11 or 12 years. This has been taken to mean that before these ages children are not capable (no matter how bright) of understanding things in certain ways, and has been used as the basis for scheduling the school curriculum. Whether or not //should// be the case is a different matter.

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**Overview of the theory**:

Four stages: **Sensorimotor stage Preoperational stage ** Formal operations ** It's a model of how the mind proccess information, and goes sysmematically through birth to adulthood. Piaget obseved his own children while researching this.
 * Concrete operations

Three types of knowledge that 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"
 * 3 main characteristics of the theory**

Link for Three types of knowledge that children have and strengths and weaknesses [] Sensorimotor: 0-24 months Preoperational: 2-7 years Concrete Operational: 7-12 years Formal Operations: 12 years and on

[] > > > > • **Explain the strengths and weaknesses of the theory**
 * 1) //Sensorimotor stage (birth – 2 years old)//–The child, through physical interaction with his or her environment, builds a set of concepts about reality and how it works. This is the stage where a child does not know that physical objects remain in existence even when out of sight (object permanance).
 * 2) //Preoperational stage (ages 2-7)//–The child is not yet able to conceptualize abstractly and needs concrete physical situations.
 * 3) //Concrete operations (ages 7-11)//–As physical experience accumulates, the child starts to conceptualize, creating logical structures that explain his or her physical experiences. Abstract problem solving is also possible at this stage. For example, arithmetic equations can be solved with numbers, not just with objects.
 * 4) //Formal operations (beginning at ages 11-15)//–By this point, the child’s cognitive structures are like those of an adult and include conceptual reasoning.

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- The order and structure derived from the theory's types of knowledge, stages of knowledge development, and processes of knowledge development. - A second strength is the guidance it gives teachers, teachers can determine the stages their students are in, so they can help the students move to higher stages.
 * Strengths:**

- Not all children/adults reach the formal operational stage of development. - Not everyone goes through the stages in order. This creates problems for teachers as they try to determine what stage their students are functioning during this transition period.
 * Weaknesses:**

**Problems with Piaget's Theory of Child Development** Daniel Willingham, in his critique of Piaget, notes that research shows that cognitive development does not occur in distinct stages. Willingham also argued that the learning process for children does not entail stability followed by “seismic” change to new level of stability, as Piaget described. Comprehension does not depend on developmental stage, but instead on the “details the child is asked to comprehend and how they are asked to show that they understand it.” He offers the example of Egocentrism, which Piaget predicted to be pervasive from birth to two years. However, eighteen-month-old children know to give the “yucky” broccoli to the examiner who prefers it, even if they like goldfish crackers. The effects of a child’s present state of cognitive development do not pervade all aspects of functioning, and their functioning in some situations is not consistent with functioning in other situations. McDevitt points out that development is not a unitary, simple process, but a mesh of several interlocking processes.  Applying Piaget's Theory Today Despite these difficulties, Piaget’s theory serves as a rough map of children’s cognitive abilities. McDevitt offers the examples of tolerating repetitive dropping/throwing behavior of infants because this behavior helps to develop infants sensorimotor capacities, keeping patience with the illogical on the part of preschoolers who are dealing with same quantities in different forms, and allowing the disproportionate fervor of adolescents who are not yet ready to accept realistic principles for how society operates. []


 * • Explain how the theory is associated with either direct instruction or constructivism**

**Constructivism:** "Cognitive constructivism is based on the work of [|Jean Piaget]. His theory has two major parts: an "ages and stages" component that predicts what children can and cannot understand at different ages, and a theory of development that describes how children develop cognitive abilities. Piaget's theory of cognitive development proposes that humans cannot be "given" information, which they immediately understand and use. Instead, humans must "construct" their own knowledge. They build their knowledge through experience. Experiences enable them to create schemas - mental models in their heads. These schemas are changed, enlarged, and made more sophisticated through two complimentary processes: assimilation and accommodation" -http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/history/constructivism.html Another site with good definitions of constructivism: []

An example of constuctivism: (something used in the classroom ) media type="custom" key="5741199"


 * • Provide at least one example of how technology can be integrated into classroom instruction that uses your learning theory. What would this classroom look like? What would the instruction look like? Include the targeted grade level. What are the goals for instruction? What would the technology integration look like?**

** Technology in the Classroom ** 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.

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. []

Another example of instruction in the classroom is through Microworlds. “With microworld s, students "enter" a self-contained computer-based environment to learn. These microworlds may be supported by a larger classroom environment, but may also stand alone.” Students need to construct their own knowledge so they need multiple views of an issue. An example of this is a computer simulation about a culture. There would be many roles in this computer game, like servants and rulers. Content adapted from Wilson, B. (1995). [|"Metaphors for instruction: Why we talk about learning environments."] //Educational Technology, 35(5), 25-30.// [|(http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~bwilson/wils95)]

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. [] Websited Used: []

Additional Links: []- very interactive resource that teachers can use in their classroom. []

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVjoh8j2mdI <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">This video might be the perfect way to start out our presentation. It talks about Piaget's theory and how it applys to classrooms today.

More information we can use...

[] I also think it might be important to show how he can connect to other people and how their idea can overlap. and here are some key ideas of his as a chart 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 ||