Piagetain And Constructivist Theory Of Cognitive Development

There are countless theories that explain the progression of our thoughts. Human intelligence and ability is commonly conceded to be very different for all different types of people. Educational theories have been proposed that explain the motivation and causes of the progression of mental development. People begin developing from the moment of birth. Since birth, babies are using their senses to explore the new brightly lit world. Information and knowledge is being created and stored in the babies mind. Eventually, that baby will become an adult and a voting citizen probably with a job.

The development from a babies first breath to death has fascinated scientist and people alike. They development of each person is different. No two people every develop the exact same way.

No two people have the exact same way of thinking or knowledge. Despite this uniqueness, researchers have found many commonalities among the development of the mind among people. Development of a person has been studied and researched extensively.

Get quality help now

Doctor Jennifer

Verified writer

Proficient in: Cognitive Development

5 (893)

“ Thank you so much for accepting my assignment the night before it was due. I look forward to working with you moving forward ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

Despite its extensive research, there are still debates on the true nature of cognitive development. There is much debate on the extent of impact the environment or the genetics on a child’s development. It is easily recognizable to see people develop physically, but a much powerful sense of development is occurring during that process. People are developing their minds. The educational development is an extremely important journey for every person. The development of a person’s intelligence has a monumental impact on the life and success of the individual.

(cite) Due to cognitive ability and success’s highly correlated data, the development of the mind has been researched extensively as a consequence. There are two common theories that have been proposed that explain the development of the mind: the Piagetain theory of cognitive development, and the constructivist learning theory.

The Piagetain theory of cognitive development was created by jean Piaget, a BLANK psychologist. Piaget beloved that children play an active role in developing cognitively. He would describe children as being little scientists as they experience different sensations. These children are developing and using he scientific method as theya re developing. Children would make observations about the natural world though their senses. Eventually, children will make conclusions abut the natural would and change how they perceive the world. This phenomena and transition of ways of thinking is what Piaget’s theory of educational development is deciphering.

Piaget’s conducted his research and concluded that educational development pf children occurred through two processes: assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is how humans perceive and adapt to new information. It is the process of fitting new information into pre-existing cognitive schemas.[14] Assimilation in which new experiences are reinterpreted to fit into, or assimilate with, old ideas.[15] It occurs when humans are faced with new or unfamiliar information and refer to previously learned information in order to make sense of it. In contrast, accommodation is the process of taking new information in one's environment and altering pre-existing schemas in order to fit in the new information. This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation.[16] Accommodation is imperative because it is how people will continue to interpret new concepts, schemas, frameworks, and more.[17] Piaget believed that the human brain has been programmed through evolution to bring equilibrium, which is what he believed ultimately influences structures by the internal and external processes through assimilation and accommodation.[14]

Beyond assimilation and accommodation, He knew that the development of intelligence was influenced by environmental and biological factors. DEFINE intelligence. Through his studies, Piaget determined that there are differing cognitive abilities among children and adults. He did not follow or support the I.Q. test, nor did he believe that intelligence is a fixed entity for each individual. Piaget was more interested in how concepts of the world, such as time, space, and quantities emerged within individuals. Prior to Piaget’s novel theory, people and psychologist believed that children were just inept thinkers. Children were simply believed to be lacking the skill that such adults have. Piagets insights showed that children and adults just merely think in different ways. He proposed that children spend most of their time thinking in fundamental ways, while adults have acquires more experiences and knowledge that have progressed the way they view, perceive, and interpret different types of experiences.

Piaget’s theory is different than many other educational theories. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is focused on children and their development, not learners. Piaget’s theory is focused on the cognitive development of thinking and experiencing, not about learning information or analyzing certain behaviors. And lastly, Piaget theory of cognitive development is in discrete stages and not a gradual or continuous progression. The purpose of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is to explain the cognitive development of a child into an adult through different thinking and learning behaviors. Piaget believed that the development of the mind occurred in four distinct stages: Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete operational, and Formal operational.

The sensorimotor stage occurs from birth to around age two. Within this time period an infant’s knowledge of the world is subjected only by their senses and their stimuli. An infant’s behavior is limited by their responses to the stimuli. During this stage, infants assimilate knowledge and an understanding of their environment from interactions they have with the environment. Some examples of these interactions can include holding, biting, and hitting. Although these interactions with the environment are usually seen as problems by parents and babysitters, these infants are behaving as littler scientists. Infants do not understand the natural world, even on a fundamental level. An infant does not know immediately know what hot or cold feel like. Only after an experience with something hot or cold does an infant learn and interpret that stimuli.

One major step in the sensorimotor stage is object permanence, which is the knowledge that an object still appears after it goes away. The classic game to explain this is peek-a-boo. Infants are fascinated with this game because they see a face appear and disappear instantly. The magical appearing and disappearing is what causes the fascination within an infant. As soon as a child understands that the face does disappear at all, and it still exist behind the person’s hands, the game becomes boring. The end of the sensorimotor stage occurs around age 2, and the preoperational stage begins.

The preoperational stage is when children begins at around age 2 and usually continues until around age 7. Piaget noticed a new developmental stage around this time. The emergence of the preoperational stage begins when children are using language. Piaget divided the preoperational stage into two subdivisions: the symbolic function subdivision, and the intuitive thought subdivision. During the preoperational stage, children in this stage start to think about things symbolically. In other words, children begin to associate objects with meaning or value. Eventually, children will associate a word with an object, thus making a connection. One example is would be a child could connecting the word “Mommy” with a person. The second subdivision, the intuitive subdivision, recognized when children are becoming curious about how or why something is the way it is. This subdivision typically occurs between the ages of four and seven. These children are developing into little scientists by asking questions and have a desire to want to know everything. During this stage children do not yet understand concrete logic, cannot utilize information, and are not able to perceive different perspectives. Thinking is still egocentric. Concluding sentence. The development of knowledge introduces the next developmental stage.

The third developmental stage is the concrete operational stage. This stage is typically from seven years old to eleven years old. During his stage children acquire and and use logic to solve problems. These problems can only be solved using concrete objects. One concept children begin to learn is called conservation. Conservation is similar to the law of the conservation of mass, except there is not chemical reaction. Conservation is the notion that matter can change its shape and still have the same quantity. The classic example is when pouring liquids into different containers. Depending on the container, the shape or appearance of the liquid will change, but the amount of liquid does not change. This notion of conservation is understood for children in the concrete operational stage. Another major aspect of the concrete operational stage is that children begin to understand other people have unique and different perspectives. The child becomes less egocentric, and understand that not every person will share the same belief or opinion as they do. The logical and problem solving in this developmental stage are only with concrete objects. Children in this stage are not able to think abstractly. When children begin to think abstractly and solve hypothetical problems, they are stepping int the final stage of development according to Piaget.

The final stage of development is the formal operational stage. This stage typically begins around age 11 and continues developing until age 18. This final stage is critical because it marks the beginning of a child’s ability to maintain and utilize abstract thought. Children in this stage have the ability to manipulate hypothetical thoughts and situations. It is not longer about the reality of what is going on right now. Children in this final stage are able to visualize and play out “what if” scenarios in their head. This is a higher order of thinking that is commonly use by professionals in their careers. There is an increase in the use logic to solve problems and an influx of deductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning uses pieces of information to create a conclusion. The formal operational stage is paramount to a child’s development because higher level thinking is required to overcome challenges of college and many careers.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is complex, but there are sone overarching themes. Piaget believed that all children attempt to achieve an equilibrium between assimilation and accommodation. Piaget's theory of cognitive development helped add to our understanding of children's intellectual growth. It also stressed that children were not merely passive recipients of knowledge. Instead, kids are constantly investigating and experimenting as they build their understanding of how the world works. The four stages of Piaget’s theory describe the development of the mind. But there are other educational theories that explain how the mind transforms and develops. Another important educational theory is the constructionist learning theory.

The constructivist learning theory was introduced and developed by BLANK . The constructivist theory puts the development of learning on the learners themselves. The learners are constructing their own interpretations of reality and thought. The constructivists learning theory is similar to Piaget’s theory described in several ways. The constructivists learning theory also puts an emphasis on the active learner. In addition, the constructivists learning theory concurs with Piaget’s assimilation and accommodation notion. New information or experiences need to reconcile with previous knowledge, change what we already believe, or discard of it entirely.

but the constructivist theory takes it to new levels. The constructivist theory explains that there is no such thing as pure “knowledge” or “truth” in the world. The constructivist theory explains that nothing independent of human perception or conscious. Everything in this world is viewed and interpreted in respect to the learner.

The active learner in the constructivists learning theory is accumulating and giving meaning to experiences. The meaning will always bee in reference to the learner.

Learning is more impactful when students can create meaning from experience. Students can be motivated int he classroom by taking.

Lessons should be interactive with their environment and with peers. Constructivism is occurs many times without us knowing. Debating controversial issues. Cooperating learning groups, and engage in real world learning.

As teacher, I need to actively engage students in learning. I can ask big and essential questions. I can use real world examples that students can relate to. Students can research in groups and use resources to explore and answer the questions. Students should present their projects to the class and share it with others outside of the classroom. Bring the classroom outside of the classroom.

Example. Pose a question or problem. Have mixture of iron filings, dissolved salt, and water. How could you separate all the mixtures. Work in groups.

In the classroom, the constructivist view of learning can point towards a number of different teaching practices. In the most general sense, it usually means encouraging students to use active techniques (experiments, real-world problem solving) to create more knowledge and then to reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their understanding is changing. The teacher makes sure she understands the students' preexisting conceptions, and guides the activity to address them and then build on them.

Constructivist teachers encourage students to constantly assess how the activity is helping them gain understanding. By questioning themselves and their strategies, students in the constructivist classroom ideally become 'expert learners.' This gives them ever-broadening tools to keep learning. With a well-planned classroom environment, the students learn HOW TO LEARN.

Constructivism modifies that role, so that teachers help students to construct knowledge rather than to reproduce a series of facts. The constructivist teacher provides tools such as problem-solving and inquiry-based learning activities with which students formulate and test their ideas, draw conclusions and inferences, and pool and convey their knowledge in a collaborative learning environment. Constructivism transforms the student from a passive recipient of information to an active participant in the learning process. Always guided by the teacher, students construct their knowledge actively rather than just mechanically ingesting knowledge from the teacher or the textbook.

They become engaged by applying their existing knowledge and real-world experience, learning to hypothesize, testing their theories, and ultimately drawing conclusions from their findings.

The best way for you to really understand what constructivism is and what it means in your classroom is by seeing examples of it at work, speaking with others about it, and trying it yourself. As you progress through each segment of this workshop, keep in mind questions or ideas to share with your colleague.

One imperative task of the educator is to ask REALLY good questions. Informations isn’t stagnant or segregated. Information is dynamic and connected to experiences and other bots of informations. It is the collection and connection of all the knowledge that develops the constructivist learner. Each new bit of information is molded into the dynamic web of information in the mind. Information is connected and built upon previous knowledge.

One controversial issue is how is this emphasis of problem solving tested. The art of problem solving is not being tested directly, the art of problem solving is the tool students can use to apply to each problem and each class. The emphasis of the test is not to regurgitate information.

Through my research I have discovered that the Piagetain theory of cognitive development and the constructivist learning theory work hand in hand. The Piagetain theory of cognitive breaks down how experiences of the active learner directly affect the development of the mind. The infant begins with foundational senses of information, and by the time of adolescence students are able to process and utilize higher level thinking problems. The constructs theory comes in and continually pushes the higher level thinking go the final stage of the Piagetain there by emphasizing problem solving and discovery. The best tool a student can leave school with is the ability to think. the mind is the greatest tool every