Cognitive Development

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Cognitive Development

• Card question What is one thing you want to
  learn about related to cognitive development?
  (some related topics are intelligence,
  creativity, how childrens thinking develops,
  language, memory, reading, metacognition.

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NCATE question of the day What is NCATE and why
should I take class time to talk about it?

• National Council for Accreditation of Teacher
  Education
• Based on a drive to improve quality of teacher
  education
• Requires colleges of education to develop
  central standards and organize teacher
  preparation around them.
• What it the central standard for Winthrop?
• Winthrop will be reaccredited by the national
  NCATE team from Sat Oct 25 to Wed Oct 29
• They will visit classes and may stop students
  (you) in the hall to ask questions
• They will want to know if we incorporate the
  standards we say we emphasize into your learning
• You probably know the ideas, but not the
  vocabulary they might be getting atI will review
  how this class connects to those central ideas

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Announcements

• PUT YOUR NAMES ON CARDS
• Assessments include group probs, quickwrites,
  observations, daily quizzes and applied
  activities
• Applied reflective activities
• Two for the course
• Can be done at McFeat (more on this later) or
  with kids you know personally
• Require you to do things directly with kids and
  then write up what you think in a reflective way
• I will put this up on my web this weekend, also
  in-class workshop on reflective writing

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Give me feedback

• A quick list of 3 things you like about this
  course
• A quick list of 3 things you think could be
  better.
• One thing that helps you learn in this course.
• One thing not present in the course that you
  think would help you learn.

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Q 1 Piagets theory of cognitive development

• Focuses primary on the abstract reasoning of
  adolescents.
• Views cognitive development as primarily
  influenced by nature (biological factors).
• Contains 4 stages through which people progress
  in their cognitive development.
• Contains a stage of cognitive development for
  each year from ages 0 through 10.

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Q 2An important idea related to Piagets theory
of cognitive development is

• Cognitive development can only take place if
  children have their physical needs met first.
• Children mentally organize what they learn from
  their experiences.
• Children can only learn if they are taught in a
  highly structured manner.
• Children learn best when information they receive
  is comfortable and familiar.

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Important terms and concepts for today

• Important big ideas about cognitive development
• Piaget
• Stages of cognitive development (you have to
  memorize these)
• Assimilation/Accommodation
• Egocentrism
• Object permanence
• Schemas
• Operations

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Big ideas, cont.

• IQ is not fixed at birth many cognitive skills
  are plastic
• IQ does not mean intelligence
• Possible to raise IQ scores by 15 to 30 points
• There are sensitive periods for important
  cognitive skills
• Language must be learned by 10 years
• Second languages are more easily learned at early
  ages
• Learning is strongly influenced by emotion

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The Big ideas about cognitive and linguistic
development

• We think in qualitatively different ways at
  different ages
• We actively construct knowledge and meaning
• Cognitive development builds on prior learning
• The brain changes physiologically as a result of
  experience
• The environment is a strong influence on brain
  functioning

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A few little-known facts about Piaget

• Born 9 August 1896, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
• Died 16 September 1980, Geneva, Switzerland At
  age 5 he wrote a research paper on albinism in
  robins
• He had a medical background
• He helped work on the earliest intelligence tests
  with Binet
• His work was initially based largely on his
  observations of his own children
• Published more than 50 books and 500 papers
• (This guy was a real smarty-pants.)

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Piagets Basic Assumptions

• We are active and motivated learners
• We construct meaning and knowledge from our
  experiences
• We learn by interacting with our environment
• Cognitive development progresses from more simple
  to more complex thought
• Cognitive development is linked to neurological
  development

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Important terms

• Assimilation and accommodation
• Assimilation We add new information to our
  existing information to develop more complex
  understandingswe fit it to existing ideas.
• A child calls an unfamiliar animal with 4 lets a
  cat, even though it is a dog because she has an
  idea that all 4-legged animals are cats like hers
  at home.
• Accommodation We change existing ideas when new
  information differs from our current ideas.
• A child calls a new 4-legged animal a dog because
  her mother tells her that dogs bark and cats
  meow. This animal barks and so must be a dog.

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Important terms, cont.

• Schemas (or schemes) The conceptual structure
  we have about an object, person, or idea.
• Schemas become more sophisticated and complex as
  we learn
• Adaptation and organization
• Operation

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Piaget Vygotsky continued . . .

• Card question If you could throw a pie in the
  fact of anyone in history, who would it be?
• Reflective activity 1
• Reflective activity coming upattach the rubric.
  Type
• Letters of introduction for activity.
• Can be done at McFeat (next slide), maybe at
  your school, or with someone you know personally
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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Using McFeat for Reflective Activities

• Call and leave a voice-mail message
• Mary Watson (K) 323-3373
• Mary Chamberlain (34s) 323-6131
• Charlotte McGuigan (3 4s) 323-6143
• Have materials ready and show up on time
• Take notes during or right after if possible
• Dress appropriately

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Things I liked about papers

• When you remembered to have a peer read, give
  feedback, and used feedback to improve your paper
• When you supported claims you made with
  observation data
• When you addressed physical development by
  pointing out many physical characteristics you
  observed
• When you clearly linked classroom design and
  instruction to physical development
• Almost all papers were well-editedYAAAA!!!!

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To improve papers next time

• Notes should also relate to the topic
• Much more detail to support claims you make
  (example Most students were healthy.)
• In general, stick to the point (try the note on
  the computer trick)
• Tell me how what you observed about development
  implies anything about instruction or classroom
  design.

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Question 1 According to recent research on
infants, it is likely that

• Infants are smarter than Piaget thought.
• Infants are less intelligent than Piaget thought.
• Infants think very much as Piaget said.
• It is impossible to measure infant thinking.

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Question 2 According to Vygotsky, language
becomes ___ as children learn.

• Less important.
• More internalized.
• Unnecessary.
• More seperated from thought.

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3) Bonus question An example of Piagets idea of
concrete thought in children is

• A child imagines how a box will look if it is
  turned upside-down without actually moving the
  box.
• Before a child acts, she is able to hypothesize
  logical outcomes if she chooses to act in a
  certain way.
• A child is able to understand abstract concepts
  like democracy.
• A child is able to solve math problems, but
  requires the use of manipulatives.

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How does teacher as leader relate to Human
Development?

• TEACHER AS EDUCATIONAL LEADER IS THE BIG FOCUS OF
  OUR COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
• At HD level, is based on the idea that leaders
  understand the similarities and differences of
  learners.
• What similarities among learners exist with
  regard to physical development?
• What differences among learners exist with regard
  to physical development

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Piagets Stages of Development

• Sensorimotor Stage (0 to 2 years)
• Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)
• Concrete Operations Stage (7-11 years)
• Formal Operations Stage (11 years)
• TIP Make checklist to list characteristics of
  childrens cognitive devel. (see book) to take
  with you for next observation
• TIP Know chart on p. 163 for general advice from
  Piagets theory.

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Sensorimotor stage (02 years)

• Schemas are based on behaviors and perceptions
• Learning is through the sensestouching, tasting,
  etc.especially repetitive actions
• Children gradually understand that their
  behaviors have predictable results
• Object permanence is the big task at this stage
• This stage ends with the gradual appearance of
  symbolic thought
• Symbolic thought is necessary for language

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Educational Implications/Sensorimotor Stage

• Children this age need many opportunities to
  interact with their environment (environment
  includes people)
• Need stimulating environments
• Allow for movement and repeated actions
• Children explore a lot
• Safety concerns
• Freedom of movement with supervision
• Children repeat actions to learn
• Play imitation games

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Preoperational Stage (27 years)

• Early reasoning emergeschildren understand cause
  and effect, early problem-solving (2 yr old
  alone for 19 days)
• Language
• Preoperational egocentrism
• Centrationlack of conservation
• Lack of mental reversalirreversibility

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Educational Implications/Preoperational Stage

• Again, many opportunities to explore and learn
  with other children and using hands-on
  activities.
• Tell children when you dont understand their
  explanations.
• Allow for exploration in play and play in groups.
• Keep tasks simple, but provide hints to encourage
  beginning problem-solving.
• Relate problem-solving tasks to everyday objects
  and experiences.

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Concrete operations stage (711 years)

• Can take perspectives other than their own
• Conservation
• Multiple classification
• Seriation
• Inability to reason abstractly or think
  hypothetically

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Educational Implications/Concrete Operations Stage

• Use objects and examples to make abstract ideas
  more concrete.
• Ask children to explain their thinking and
  provide more accurate ways to think of they are
  wrong.
• Do not expect sophisticated understanding of
  abstract concepts.
• Teach some ideas that are slightly challenging or
  unfamiliar to childrens thinkinguse
  counter-examples.

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Formal operations stage (11)

• Abstract reasoning
• Mental representation of objects without visual
  prompts
• Can deal with hypothetical and counter-intuitive
  ideas
• Formulation and testing of hypotheses
• Construction of alternatives
• Realize many perspectives other than their own
• Realize many possible solutions to a problem
  (combinatorial reasoning)

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Educational Implications/ Formal Operations Stage

• Sometimes use verbal explanations in the absence
  of actual objects when teaching abstract
  concepts.
• Show multiple perspectives on abstract issues.
• Allow for debate and analysis in discussions.
• Increased use of experiment and hypothesizing.
• Increased use of abstract concepts in math.
• Challenge either/or thinking.

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Evaluating Piaget

• Children do not follow the sequence as precisely
  as Piaget thought
• Some important ideas, e.g. object permanence
  occur differently or at different times that
  Piaget thought
• Overall, Piagets theory is still an important
  way to think about cognitive development

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Vygotsky

• Card question Describe a time in elementary
  school or high school when you learned something
  that was difficult. What helped you learn in
  that instance?

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Field Report 2

• No due until Nov 4
• Based on 4 hours observation
• Covers cognitive and language development
• Suggested strategy
• Start with cognitive part, using ideas from
  Piaget, Vygotsky, and Information processing
• Make a list of important concepts to take with
  you to observation and look for examples of
  concepts (see chart p. 174 about observing)
• Take notes to detail what you see that relates to
  the concepts
• Take notes about classroom materials,
  instruction, and teaching strategies and how they
  relate to cognitive developmental characteristics.

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Case studies

• Due 12/4
• Will involve you getting information on all major
  developmental areas on one student.
• The detailed picture of one student helps the
  teacher plan instruction that is developmentally
  appropriate.
• You will gather information on physical,
  cognitive/language, and social/emotional
  development.
• Then you will compare the student to what is
  expected for students his or her age, noting
  discrepancies.
• Then you will hypothesize about these
  discrepancies and think of ways to support
  students development

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What you should do now for your case study

• Read the directions on the case study assignment
• Think about who you might use
• Talk to teacher to see if you can use a student
  in the classroom
• Use someone elsemaybe someone from the
  reflective activities you do

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Quizzes

• If you want to get pointers on how to read to do
  better on quizzes, come see me in my office. Let
  me know ahead of time so I can prepare some
  materials for you.
• For reading due Oct 14th
• Important concepts working memory, long-term
  memory, attention, thinking and reasoning.
• Be able to define these concepts, give examples
  of them, recognize examples, and link them to how
  we might use the idea in educational settings.

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Question 1The BEST example of the Vygotskian
concept of scaffolding is

• A teacher grades tests, letting each student know
  how many questions they had wrong.
• A teacher allows gifted students to work on
  projects in another room.
• A teacher gives prompts and clues to students as
  they work on a challenging writing assignment.
• A teacher decides to change an assignment after
  realizing students dont like the way it is
  designed.

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Q 2 Which of the following teaching practices
would Vygotsky NOT like?

• Mainly giving students work that is aimed at
  their comfort level (in other words, they can do
  it easily.)
• Presenting student challenging work with the
  necessary supports to do it.
• Encouraging students to talk themselves through
  difficult academic tasks.
• Allowing students to work in groups.

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Lev Semenovich Vygotsky 1896-1934
Born in Beyolorussia Jewish at a time Jews were
discriminated against in Russia. This prevented
his work from becoming public until relatively
recently. Trained in law, but had a background in
literature as well. Worked with Leontive and
Luria to formulate the Vygotskian theory. Died
young of tuberculosis. He know Piagets work,
but Piaget did not know his.
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Important terms/ideas

• Zone of Proximal Development
• The difference between the level at which a task
  can be performed independently and the level at
  which some assistance is required.
• Teaching should be aimed at this level (Children
  learn little from doing things that are easy.)
• Scaffolding
• The assistance or support that provides prompts
  or cues as people learn
• Can include people, written prompts, visual
  aides, etc.

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Important terms/ideas

• Co-construction of knowledge
• We often learn along with others and make meaning
  of something together
• Scaffolding by another person is an example of
  co-construction
• Learning is qualitatively different for different
  people
• Measuring just observable learning does not
  accurately measure how much people know
• People vary in the quality of their learning
• Dynamic assessment allows us to see what tasks
  related to learning a child can and cannot donot
  just whether they got something right or not (See
  chart p. 173)

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Vygotskys main assumptions

• Knowledge is constructed by the learner (but
  learning is greatly facilitated by knowledgeable
  others.) scaffolding
• Learning can lead development Zone of Proximal
  Development
• Development cannot be separated from its social
  environment or cultural context
• Language plays a central role in mental
  development and moves from externalized to
  internalized control.

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Implications of Vygostkys ideas

• Learning happens best in social situations so
  include much group work, activities, games, etc.
• Developmental stages are a limiting way to think
  about cognitive development
• Language and learning are strongly
  connectedmodel self-talk, allow for many kinds
  of language usage
• Culture influences the way we learn

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Vygotsky and language

• Language is the tool for learning
• Steps of learning through language
• The language of another person guides our
  learning
• We use external language to guide our learning
• We use internal language (thought) to guide our
  learning

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Comparing Piaget and Vygotsky

• Similarities
• People are active learners
• People construct unique meanings for what they
  learn
• Peoples thinking gets more complex over time
• Differences
• Vygotsky placed more value on language and the
  role of others in cognitive development
• Piaget saw cognitive development as more limited
  and sequenced than Vygotsky