Piaget TIPR
THE QUESTION: "What evidence do you see of specific teacher behaviors that are geared toward Piaget's theories about cognitive development? Cite specific examples and make clear connection to Piaget's work. Be thorough in your coverage of the theory, addressing multiple concepts (e.g., stage(s) of development, process of adaptation/equilibration) to demonstrate your understanding. Be sure to include a reference in your response."
I observe Mr. J's CE US Government class in the afternoons. Everyday he has a journal question that the students take about 20 minutes to answer and discuss. This was a fascinating exercise to watch the first time around and make me think a great deal about metacognitive skills but looking through Piaget I realized Mr. J's journal questions can also tie to this theory of cognitive development.
Mr. J presented the following question my first week of observation: "President Trump signed an executive order for the construction of the wall. Each mile is an estimated $4-$6 million and the overall estimate is $10 billion (some say its really closer to $25 billion). Is the cost worth it?"
He then gave them 5-10 minutes to do as much research as they possibly could with their smart devices and to organize their thoughts. Afterwards, they discussed the issue.
The first thing this made me think of in regards to Piaget's theories (explained at this reference https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html from simplypsychology.org) was how Mr. J was conducting cognitive constructivism, allowing the students to create their own meaning through interaction with an environment. By allowing them to form their own opinion first, he really guided them to some critical thinking. He also probably created some disequilibrium by having the students from an opinion on a topical issue that they may have not felt related to them. He guided them through the process of assimilation and accommodation by having a discussion about it. Students were free to ask genuine questions and get a fair unbiased response helping them introduce the information they had researched into a new schema. Mr. J was working a great deal in concrete operations with a combination in the more abstract formal operations. The understanding of cause and effect was integral to answering the journal question but turned into more hypothetical thinking as they judged the logic behind the cost and used deductive reasoning to form their own opinion. Because these are seniors in high school he was working precisely at the level in Piaget that is appropriate. He could have possibly improved the lesson by having used Fischer's second tier of representations, but mainly focused on actions and abstractions.
I observe Mr. J's CE US Government class in the afternoons. Everyday he has a journal question that the students take about 20 minutes to answer and discuss. This was a fascinating exercise to watch the first time around and make me think a great deal about metacognitive skills but looking through Piaget I realized Mr. J's journal questions can also tie to this theory of cognitive development.
Mr. J presented the following question my first week of observation: "President Trump signed an executive order for the construction of the wall. Each mile is an estimated $4-$6 million and the overall estimate is $10 billion (some say its really closer to $25 billion). Is the cost worth it?"
He then gave them 5-10 minutes to do as much research as they possibly could with their smart devices and to organize their thoughts. Afterwards, they discussed the issue.
The first thing this made me think of in regards to Piaget's theories (explained at this reference https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html from simplypsychology.org) was how Mr. J was conducting cognitive constructivism, allowing the students to create their own meaning through interaction with an environment. By allowing them to form their own opinion first, he really guided them to some critical thinking. He also probably created some disequilibrium by having the students from an opinion on a topical issue that they may have not felt related to them. He guided them through the process of assimilation and accommodation by having a discussion about it. Students were free to ask genuine questions and get a fair unbiased response helping them introduce the information they had researched into a new schema. Mr. J was working a great deal in concrete operations with a combination in the more abstract formal operations. The understanding of cause and effect was integral to answering the journal question but turned into more hypothetical thinking as they judged the logic behind the cost and used deductive reasoning to form their own opinion. Because these are seniors in high school he was working precisely at the level in Piaget that is appropriate. He could have possibly improved the lesson by having used Fischer's second tier of representations, but mainly focused on actions and abstractions.
Comments
Post a Comment