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--- learning_theories:stage_theory_of_cognitive_development [2011/04/12 10:39]
jpetrovic [What is stage theory of cognitive development?]
+++ learning_theories:stage_theory_of_cognitive_development [2011/04/12 15:08]
jpetrovic [Criticism]
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
   * **Constructivism** - Piaget was a constructivist theorist suggesting children **construct** their knowledge through **interaction of their biological predispositions with their experience**. **Active self-discovery** of rules underlying current concepts and outcomes is the key to learning.
+These assumptions made Piaget believe that learning using tutoring procedures was ineffective, and that constructive learning should provide much better results. Still, research has soon shown that both assumptions were generally incorrect.
 ===== What is the practical meaning of stage theory of cognitive development? =====
-Piaget's theory suggests that in order to make learning effective, learner's stage of the cognitive development needs to be taken into account. General suggestions for adopting teaching methods to the four stages of development are following:
+Piaget's theory suggests that in order to make learning effective,
-  * **Sensorimotor stage** - teaching an infant in this stage should be orientated on its **sensorimotor system**.
+  * learner's stage of cognitive development needs to be taken into account or it all be just a waste of time,
-  * **Preoperational stage** - children can now **actively** engage in **learning and exploring**.
+  * no forced steps forward should be made,
-  * **Preoperational stage** - learning in this stage is facilitated through an opportunity to ask **questions** and get **explanations** which allow learner to mentally manipulate information.
+  * learning should occur in natural everyday conditions through active experimentation.
-  * **Formal operations** - teaching the adolescent expands in its dimensions as he is able to consider many possibilities from **several perspectives**.
-Piaget's theory also suggests that teachers should
+Aside from that, Piaget was mostly orientated on learning in
-  * value child's cognitive processes which led him to a conclusion as well as the conclusion,
+  * preoperational period - when children should and can **actively** engage in **learning and exploring**, and
-  * encourage him to learn with his peers
+  * concrete-operational period - when learning is facilitated through an opportunity to ask **questions** and get **explanations** which allow learner to mentally manipulate information.
-  * encourage him to learn for himself, but always
-  * respect his current stage in cognitive development and not make forced steps forward.
 What should also be taken into consideration is that although all children go through the same steps during their development, that do it at different rates. Educational process should therefore be more **focused on individuals and small groups** within a class than to the class as a whole unit.
 ===== Criticism =====
-A common criticism of Piaget's theory lies on the fact that nor him or coworkers didn't leave an instrument for diagnosing child's current stage of cognitive development. Still, as a border between preoperational period and operational period Piaget suggested **conservation experiments**. For example, two equal glasses filled with liquid are presented to a child, after which liquid out of one glass is poured into a third, more narrow glass. The child is then asked which glass holds more liquid. Only a child in the concrete- or formal-operational  period should realize both glasses hold equal amount of liquid. According to Piaget's theory, these stage differences cannot be overcome using any kind of training.
+{{  :images:conservation.jpg?400x320|Number conservation and quantity conservation experiments.}}
-But a number of experiments((For details see: [[http://www.scribd.com/doc/41760294/Educational-Psychology-a-Century-of-Contributions|Zimmerman, Barry J., and Dale H. Schunk. Educational psychology: a century of contributions. Routledge, 2003.]])) have proved the opposite. The child's **ability to learn** (at least for conservation concepts) **is not so strictly defined by his current stage of cognitive development** in accordance with Piaget's theory.
+One of the suggested ways of measuring the border between preoperational and concrete-operational period Piaget suggested were **conservation experiments**. For example, two equal glasses filled with liquid are presented to a child, after which liquid out of one glass is poured into a third, more narrow glass. The child is then asked which glass holds more liquid. Only a child in the concrete- or formal-operational  period should realize both glasses hold equal amount of liquid.
+But although according to Piaget's theory, these stage differences cannot be overcome using any kind of training, a number of experiments((For details see: [[http://www.scribd.com/doc/41760294/Educational-Psychology-a-Century-of-Contributions|Zimmerman, Barry J., and Dale H. Schunk. Educational psychology: a century of contributions. Routledge, 2003.]])) have proved the opposite. The child's **ability to learn** (at least for conservation concepts) **is not so strictly defined by his current stage of cognitive development** in accordance with Piaget's theory.
+Experiments have also shown that other methods of teaching including tutoring or social learning through observation were at least as successful as learning by self-discovery.
 As the result criticisms of Piaget usually emphasized that,
-  * his development stages were often considered to be **oversimplified** or **underestimating abilities of children**
+  * his development stages are **oversimplified** or **underestimating abilities of children**
-  * his **experiments** are considered **not to be designed carefully enough** to exclude other explanations,
+  * nor him or his coworkers didn't leave an instrument for diagnosing child's current stage of cognitive development,
+  * his **experiments** were **not designed carefully enough** to exclude other explanations,
   * he offered to **little evidence** for his theory, and that
   * he didn't address important questions like **social and motivational influences** on cognitive development.

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