Just the basics please

• Stages are QUALITATIVELY different
• Effected by both environment and genetics
• follows a prescribed sequence
• cannot go backwards
• is relatively orderly
• occurs at different rates
• takes place gradually

• Piaget was trained as a biologist. He believed that human intelligence and biological organisms operated in the same manner.
• Both are organized, and constantly adapting based on their interaction with the environment.
• Cognitive structures are constructed as needed- not predetermined

• is a process that is created by the acts of the learner
• is constructed by the individual attempting to make sense of the world
• does not exist independent of the individual
• is not some entity that exists in the world

• Cognitive development is a process fueled by the individual’s ongoing attempts to make sense of the world.
• Development is influenced by maturation, social transmission, equilibration

• Organization: tendency to organize thinking processes into psychological structures/schemes
• Adaptation: tendency to adapt to the environment through complementary processes of assimilation and accommodation
• Equilibration: a balance among organization, assimilation, accommodation

• Disequilibration: failure of a scheme to produce a satisfying result, so the search continues through assimilation and accommodation.

• Sensorimotor (0-2)
• Preoperational (2-7)
• Concrete Operational (7-11)
• Formal Operations (11-15)
• Stage theory broadly defines unvarying sequences of steps in developing thinking abilities.

• Development based on information obtained through the senses or body movements
• Development of understanding of object permanence
• Development of goal directed actions and reversible actions

• Beginning of logical mental actions
(operations)
• Difficulty with 2 principles: decentering and conservation
• Egocentrism: tendency to see the world from one’s own point of view

• 1. Use concrete props and visual aids whenever possible.
• 2. Make instructions relatively short, using actions as well as words.
• 3. Don’t expect the students to be able consistently to see the world from someone else’s point of view.

• 4. Be sensitive to the possibility that students may have different meanings for the same word or different words for the same meaning.
Students may also expect everyone to understand words they have invented.
• 5. Give children a great deal of hands-on practice with the skills that serve as building blocks for more complex skills like reading comprehension.
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6. Provide a range of experiences in order to build a foundation for concept learning and language.

• “Hands on thinking”
• Child recognizes stability of world, knows change in elements does not change characteristics, change can be reversed
• Operations mastered: conservation, classification, seriation

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1. Continue to use concrete props and visual aids, especially when dealing with sophisticated material.
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2. Continue to give students a chance to manipulate and test objects.
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3. Make sure presentations and readings are brief and well organized.

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4. Use familiar examples to explain more complex ideas.
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5. Give opportunities to classify and group objects and ideas on increasingly complex levels.
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6. Present problems that require logical, analytical thinking.

• Scientific Reasoning Stage: hypotheticodeductive reasoning and inductive reasoning
• This stage is not necessary for survival
• Achieved first in areas of interest and experience

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1. Continue to use concrete-operational teaching strategies and materials.
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2. Give students the opportunity to explore many hypothetical questions.
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3. Give students opportunities to solve problems and reason scientifically.
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4. Whenever possible, teach broad concepts, not just facts, using materials and ideas relevant to the students’ lives.

• Determine logic/solutions as they solve problems
• Look for repeated mistakes or problems

• Keep disequilibrium “just right” to encourage growth
• Ensure adolescent’s active engagement in learning process
• Apply and test principles learned in one situation to a new situation

• Children’s development does not fit neatly into discreet stages
• Understanding of terms may be difficult
• Curriculum is difficult to implement and maintain
• Does not discuss “basic skills” directly
• May underestimate young children, over estimate some adolescents and adults