Constructivism Piaget Slides 1 - 17

EDSA700
Unit 3: Cognitive Constructivism (Jean Piaget): First wave

constructivism: Stages of development: From concrete
operational to formal operational thinking
In this lecture:
Think:
About an occasion when you, as a learner, or a learner in your class, has not seemed to grasp a
concept or process that you have taught. Keep the details in mind so that when you are listening
and reading about cognitive development, you can critique aspects of Piaget's theory of cognitive
development.
Overview of psychological views
Psychologists rest their theory on their beliefs about how humans function
Force 1: behaviourism (determined by outside forces)

(theorist belief / position in theory)
Force 2: psychodynamic (determined by inside forces)
Force 3: humanism (self-determined)

Behaviourism (behaviourists support behaviourism)
• behaviour acquired through conditioning

• conditioning occurs through interaction with the environment
• study of behaviour can be studied without thought for a person’s internal mental state
• pays attention to only that which is visible, observable behaviour
• emotions and moods cannot be considered as they are unreliable / changeable
• anyone, from any background can be trained to perform any task (within physical capability
limits)
• correct conditioning is used to achieve the above
Many approaches to learning – focus on one learning theory
See the Additional Reading for this week: (There is a page which maps theorists and there
areas of specialisation)
In this lecture we focus on:
constructivism
cognitive constructivism social constructivism

Jean Piaget Lev Vygotsky
Cognitive constructivism - Piaget
constructivism
cognitive constructivism - Jean Piaget
Think:
Which psychological views does Piaget’s theory indicate?

Primary
pillars of
constructivist
learning
Constructivism (constructivists support constructivism)
The concept of constructivism dates to the Greek philosopher, Socrates (b. 470 B.C.E. – died 399
B.C.E. in Athens, Greece) who held dialogues with his followers. He used directed questions that
led his students to realise for themselves the weaknesses in their thinking. These techniques are
still an important tool in the way constructivist educators assess their students' learning and plan
new learning experiences.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, John Dewey (b.1859 d. 1952) (USA) and Jean Piaget (b.1896 -
d. 1980) (Switzerland), developed theories of childhood development and education that led to the
evolution of constructivism.
Key positions of constructivists
Active learners develop their own knowledge.
Social interactions are important in collaboration with others.
Cognitive development
Cognitive development concerns itself with the development of thinking processes

• perceiving
• understanding phenomena
• reasoning
• problem-solving
• use of language
Language is the means to talk about thoughts. Concrete and abstract thinking is combined with
language. The combination assists in the development of knowledge and the application thereof.
Piaget sought largely, to understand from the inside – out.

Assumptions (pillars) of the theory
• children are not empty vessels (tabula rasa)
• active learners develop their own knowledge
• social interactions are important in collaboration with others (to some extent)
• intelligence changes as children grow
• cognitive development is not just about acquiring knowledge
• child has to develop or construct a mental model of the world

Piaget’s research – methods, research subjects, time period, focus
• qualitative
• naturalistic inquiry
• observation
• research subjects - children of all ages (including his own 3 children)
• focus was on concepts of number, quantity, time, causality and justice (not a measurement of
intelligence in children!)
• linear study
• use of simple ingenious tests to demonstrate cognitive development
(criticised for his methodology by various other theorists)
Principles of the theory
1) schema - cognitive map
2) process
• equilibration / equilibrium
• assimilation
• accommodation
• disequilibrium
3) stages of development
Stages of development
Age range Stage
birth to 2 years sensorimotor
2 – 7 years preoperational
7 – 11 years concrete operational
12 years and upwards formal operational

Stages of development
Sensorimotor stage – birth – 2 years
See separate Video: Sensorimotor - 6 substages of development

Example of a test used by Piaget
Preoperational stage – 2 – 7 years
The three mountains task *

Example of a test used by a subsequent researcher – Hughes (1975)
Preoperational stage – 2 – 7 years
Policeman doll study * (Ungar, 2004)

Constructivism Piaget Slides 1 - 17

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Constructivism Piaget Slides 1 - 17

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Constructivism Piaget Slides 1 - 17

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

EDSA700

Unit 3: Cognitive Constructivism (Jean Piaget): First wave

Force 1: behaviourism (determined by outside forces)

Force 3: humanism (self-determined)

• behaviour acquired through conditioning

In this lecture we focus on:

cognitive constructivism social constructivism

Which psychological views does Piaget’s theory indicate?

Cognitive development concerns itself with the development of thinking processes

Piaget sought largely, to understand from the inside – out.

• children are not empty vessels (tabula rasa)

• active learners develop their own knowledge

• intelligence changes as children grow

• cognitive development is not just about acquiring knowledge

• child has to develop or construct a mental model of the world

1) schema - cognitive map

Age range Stage

birth to 2 years sensorimotor

7 – 11 years concrete operational

12 years and upwards formal operational

Sensorimotor stage – birth – 2 years

See separate Video: Sensorimotor - 6 substages of development

Preoperational stage – 2 – 7 years

The three mountains task *

Policeman doll study * (Ungar, 2004)

You might also like