Figure 4.3. A diagram of the information flow in Piaget's process of adaptation
The Cognitive Developmental Theory of Jean Piaget
It can be argued that although he was not an educator himself, Jean Piaget has had a more significant impact on educational psychology than any other psychologist in history. A detailed treatment of Piaget's theories would be very complex; the present chapter will focus on those aspects of Piaget's theories which are most applicable to education. This discussion will necessarily be an oversimplification. More complete treatments can be found in Flavell (1963), Phillips (1975), Ginsburg & Opper (1979), and Wadsworth (1989). More detailed treatments with a specific focus on education can be found in such sources as Wadsworth (1978) and in Kamii (1985).
Piaget's major insights have been (1) that children (and everyone else) actively construct knowledge for themselves as a result of their active interaction with the environment and (2) that human beings go through four major stages of cognitive development in a predictable sequence. Teachers and instructional designers who understand and apply these two major insights are often able to help learners master substantial educational goals. Teachers and instructional designers who ignore Piaget's insights, on the other hand, often present lessons or design instructional materials that have almost no impact on learners. The two major aspects of Piaget's theory are related, but they can be studied separately.
Constructivism:
The Active Construction of Knowledge
Human beings actively construct knowledge for themselves as a result of their active interaction with the environment. This focus on how we develop our knowledge gives rise to the term constructivism, which is applied to the beliefs of theorists like Piaget (Sutherland, 1992). To the extent that Piaget and other constructivists are correct, principles like the following emerge:
- It is vitally important that learners actively interact with concepts and information. It is incorrect to view learners as passive recipients of instruction.
- What learners will learn from a unit of instruction depends substantially on their previous experience and knowledge with regard to the concepts covered in that unit.
- What one learner "knows" after exposure to information may be completely different than what another person "knows" after being exposed to that same information.
- If learners do not possess the prerequisite knowledge that will enable them to construct meaning from exposure to a unit of instruction, they will learn little or nothing.
- If they possess active misconceptions, learners' problems will be even more severe than if they "know nothing."
Piaget did not invent the term constructivism, nor is he its only proponent. Nearly all contemporary theories of instruction that focus on higher order thinking skills and the importance of prior knowledge are at least partially constructivist theories. Constructivism is discussed at this point primarily because Piaget's theory offers a good example of an explanation of how learning is actively constructed.
The Courage to Be Constructivist by
Martin G. Brooks and Jacqueline Grennon Brooks.
http://www.ascd.org/frameedlead.html
These authors point out ways in which high-stakes state assessments pressure teachers to depart from instructional practices that foster meaningful learning.
Constructivism by the University of
Colorado at Denver School of Education.
http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/constructivism.html
This is an extremely comprehensive set of links related to constructivism in education.
Constructivist Project Design Guide
http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/k12/livetext-nf/webcurr.html
This is a set of guidelines from the Institute of Learning Technology of Teachers College at Columbia University for helping experienced educators design constructivist, cooperative learning projects around the World Wide Web. Examples of projects inspired by this guide include The American History Archive Inquirer and the Dalton Astronomy Internet Project, and this site supplies links to those projects.
Constructivist Teaching and Learning
Models
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/drugfree/sa3const.htm
This article from the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory's Pathways to School Improvement Series states twelve basic principles for constructivist education.
Constructivism in practice: the case for
meaning-making in the virtual world by Kimberley M. Osberg
http://www.hitl.washington.edu/publications/r-97-47/title.html
This doctoral dissertation compares the application of constructivist principles through virtual environment development and implementation to traditional, non-constructivist practices in a middle school biology classroom. The purpose of this study was to better understand the value of constructivist practices on students' meaning-making and knowledge construction process.
Constructivism in Practice: The Case for Meaning-Making in the Virtual World: Bibliography by Kimberley M. Osberg http://www.hitl.washington.edu/publications/r-97-47/bib.html
This is the bibliography to the above dissertation. If what you want is a list of publications on this topic that was comprehensive and current in 1997, this is it!
Schools for Thought
http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/ctrs/ltc/Research/schools_for_thought.html
The Learning and Technology Center at Vanderbilt University supports several programs that implement constructivist principles of education. Schools for Thought is an excellent example. Other programs offered by the Center can be found from their index at http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/ctrs/ltc/Research/research.html
According to Piaget cognitive activity consists of organization of information and the adaptation to the environment as the person perceives it. Human beings organize knowledge into cognitive structures, and they modify these structures through the process of adaptation. During the process of adaptation, we assimilate information through existing cognitive structures and sometimes accommodate these previous structures as a result of the newly assimilated information. The interacting processes of organization and adaptation are diagrammed in Figure 4.3.
Figure 4.3. A diagram of the information flow in Piaget's process of adaptation
Organization refers to the way information is organized in a person's mind with regard to a particular object, idea, or activity. The organized information is called content. Piaget approaches organization logically, not biologically. He is concerned with the products and processes of human activity, not with the neurological or biological cells and organs responsible for this activity. Information is organized into cognitive structures through the processes of assimilation and accommodation. Organization is a dynamic, not static, process; structures are constantly changing and becoming more refined.
Cognitive structures are organized sets of information, skills, or activities. Cognitive structures can also be referred to as schemata (singular, schema). Newborn babies have sucking schemata; older children have schemata for dogs and cats; and adults have schemata for population density, nuclear fission, and patriotism. What most of us call concepts, Piaget calls cognitive structures or schemata.
Assimilation occurs when a person encounters a new object, idea, or situation and is able to deal with it or classify it with existing cognitive structures. Assimilation occurs when a person successfully categorizes information or understands it in terms of existing structures. Assimilation begins between Points A and B in Figure 4.3 and is completed at Point F.
Accommodation occurs when there is an imperfect match between the assimilated information and existing cognitive structures. The result is a change (accommodation) in the cognitive structures (Point K in Figure 4.3). After successful accommodation, the person usually tries the whole process again until he/she is able to go through Points A &emdash; B &emdash; F &emdash; G - H with no need for further new learning. At this moment, the learner has reached equilibration, which will be discussed below.
Learning can be said to occur when new information is successfully incorporated into the learner's cognitive structures; that is, when a successful accommodation occurs after information has been assimilated. As Figure 4.3 shows, learning would not occur if the learner reaches Point D (having found no appropriate structures through which to assimilate the new information) or Point H (being for some reason unable to make the accommodation). Faulty (incorrect) learning would be likely to occur if the learner assimilated the information through the wrong structures, if the learner incorrectly judged the degree of match between new and old information, or if the learner accommodated incorrectly. Table 4.1 lists the major problems that arise during attempts at learning, the reasons these problems occur, and some activities in which teachers could engage to help learners overcome these problems.
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Table 4.1. Reasons for Problems with Assimilation and Accommodation. |
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and Comments |
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No new learning occurs (Point D) |
Learner has no related structures. |
|
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No new learning occurs (Point H) |
Information matches existing structures. |
|
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No new learning occurs (Point K) |
Learner has been unable to accommodate the information that was assimilated. |
|
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Incorrect information has been learned (Point L). |
Learner assimilated through the wrong structures or made an improper accommodation. |
|
|
If I answer my phone in Hammond, Indiana, and the caller asks me how to get to Chicago, it would not be reasonable for me immediately to begin giving directions. The first question I would ask would be, "Where will you be coming from?" Once I discovered that the caller was coming by car from Cincinnati, I would then ask, "Do you know how to get to Indianapolis on I-74?" If the caller answered yes, I would probably keep asking questions until I found out what really needed to be learned; and then I would start my explanation from that point. It would be utterly absurd to give the same directions to callers from Cincinnati and from Green Bay. Likewise, it would be a waste of time to explain in detail how to get to Indianapolis, if the caller already understood that part of the journey - I would simply advise the caller to activate existing knowledge about that part of the trip. I would find out where the caller was coming from and what the caller knew and use that as a basis for my instructions. The same principle holds true in education: we can often teach better if we know where the learners are coming from and what they already know. Then we can base our instruction on the learners' current understandings. Note that in the preceding example, it would not be necessary to give completely unique directions to callers from places as diverse as Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Tallahassee. We would tailor unique instructions for the Atlanta and Tallahassee callers to travel to Cincinnati, but from that point the instructions would be identical for all three travelers. Furthermore, it is unlikely that a caller from Green Bay would gain any directly useful information whatsoever from directions to Chicago from Cincinnati. However, a caller from Indianapolis would get complete information from the Cincinnati directions - even though some of the information would have been superfluous. Likewise, a traveler from Tallahassee would benefit from directions from Cincinnati to Chicago - provided she already knew the way to Cincinnati or could find out how to get there. In a similar way, a teacher does not have to give completely unique instruction to every member of a class, even if all 30 have unique initial conceptions of the topic under consideration. A good teacher would find a way to bring many (or all) of them to a common understanding and then give common instruction to all of them from that point. When we work with groups of students, several possible arrangements could occur with regard to initial knowledge and its relation to the goals of a unit of instruction. The following are some of the possibilities: Sometimes most (or all) of the students may be at the same starting point, and the instructor may know where that point is. (This is analogous to having several callers from Cincinnati asking for directions to Chicago.) Sometimes most (or all) of the students may be at the same starting point, but the instructor may be wrong about where that point is. (This is analogous to having several callers from Green Bay and inappropriately giving them the directions from Cincinnati to Chicago.) Sometimes most of the students may be at a common starting point, with only a few at other starting points. (This is analogous to having most of the callers from the Cincinnati area and a few from other regions.) Sometimes nearly all of the students may be at different starting points, but there is still a common pattern that can be followed in helping them learn. (This is analogous to having callers from diverse areas who can be directed to go to Cincinnati or Indianapolis and then follow common directions.) Sometimes the students may be at such diverse starting points that they have to be dealt with individually. (This is analogous to having callers from Green Bay, Cincinnati, Seattle, and Boston - or callers from Atlanta and Tallahassee who do not have the slightest idea how to get to Cincinnati. Sometimes it's more like having callers from Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, and Botswana asking for directions to Chicago in their native languages!) In actual practice, there are often commonalities among the learners, and one of the important characteristics of an experienced teacher is the ability to look for and build upon initial knowledge and to seek out, confront, and overcome initial misconceptions. This is analogous to a travel agent knowing where people are likely to be coming from, knowing what problems they are likely to encounter, and suggesting the most efficient route to satisfy individual circumstances. Working with individual students who have unique conceptions, misconceptions, and partial conceptions of what we are talking about is one of the most severe challenges that teachers face. Saying that it is a difficult task does not dispense us from having to deal with this problem. The fact is that the main reason why many students fail to master skills and concepts is because (as far as they were concerned) the teacher or textbook was dealing with a different topic than the one the teacher was trying to teach or the student was trying to learn. Sometimes students can adjust and
overcome initial misunderstandings or get on the right
track, just as a traveler can realize that the instructions
were given from a different perspective and make appropriate
adjustments. We should even teach students that this
is an important study skill and should encourage them to
make such adjustments. However, assuming either that all
students have the same initial understandings or that they
will make adjustments is not the best strategy. The best
strategy is to check for initial conceptions and to base the
unit of instruction on those initial conceptions. If we do
anything else, the learner will have more difficulty
learning what we are trying to teach. |
Children's Fiction by Debra
Viadero
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/tmstory.cfm?slug=04instruct.h11
This article examines in detail the pervasiveness of one common misconception &emdash; why it is hotter in the summer than in the winter. It's very illuminating.
According to Piaget, there are five factors that account for the development of cognitive structures:
Maturation. In order for cognitive development to take place, the body - especially the neurological system - must develop through the natural process called maturation. However, Piaget adamantly insists that maturation alone does not result in cognitive growth. While it is true that the brain of a one-year-old would require considerable physical maturation before it could be capable of the cognitive activities performed by a mature eighteen-year-old, just letting seventeen more years pass would not make abstract reasoning possible. Maturation must be combined with the other factors to lead to cognitive development.
Physical Experience. This factor provides the raw input for the assimilations and accommodations that lead to cognitive growth. {See Point A in Figure 4.3.} Although changes in cognitive structures can be induced by logico-mathematical experience and social transmission, it is concrete and physical interaction with the environment that forms the basis for cognitive growth. Note, however, that as people grow older their interactions with the environment become increasingly internalized and symbolic; that is, their interactions with the physical environment become symbolic as they employ language and a rich assortment of existing structures to interpret, act upon, and assimilate stimuli from their surroundings. This is because they have more relevant cognitive structures that they can employ at Point B in Figure 4.3.
Logico-Mathematical Experience. This factor refers to the person's increasing ability to construct relationships among objects and ideas. Logico-mathematical abilities enable learners to see or make connections and accommodations at Points B through K throughout Figure 4.3. Learners may use logico-mathematical reasoning in conjunction with physical experience or socially transmitted information to obtain input at Point A; but it is also possible to use this factor in a more isolated sense. For example, a mature learner may without any new physical or social input recall several cognitive structures that had previously been developed through assimilation and accommodation and arrive at new input for further cognitive development.
Social Transmission. This term refers to the communication of information from one person to another by demonstrating or describing concepts or information, resulting in new input at Point A in Figure 4.3. The likelihood that this information will result in cognitive growth depends on how actively the potential learner participates in the social transmission. While Piaget agrees that a large amount of cognitive growth does result from this factor, his research would also suggest that teachers should resist excessive reliance on the strategy of simply describing or demonstrating concepts to learners. Since learners must actively construct their own cognitive structures, their active and concrete participation in the learning process is paramount.
Equilibration. This term refers to the balance between assimilation and accommodation. The precise meaning of the term is complex. The basic idea is that human beings acquire information and develop new schemata because they naturally seek a balance (state of equilibrium) between assimilation and accommodation. A temporary state of equilibrium is reached each time the learner reaches point H in Figure 4.3; but this equilibrium is constantly upset by new input, which requires additional assimilation and accommodation to reestablish equilibrium. Although the concept of equilibration is extremely important to Piagetian theorists, practitioners can benefit from a study of the other components of Piaget's theory without a deeper understanding of the concept of equilibration.
Here are some examples of Piaget's
concept of cognitive development. As you read them, try to
understand the use of the Piagetian terms. One-year-old Annie has a cognitive
structure that defines a cat as a four-legged, furry
creature. Assume Annie has never seen a dog, and therefore
has no structure for dogs. When she sees a dog, she might
(incorrectly) assimilate this new animal into her cat
structure. She might accommodate by changing her cognitive
structure of cat to include four-legged, furry creatures
that purr. She might further accommodate by inventing a new
structure for dog (four-legged, furry creatures that bark).
With further accommodation, she might develop a new
structure for animals (four-legged creatures in general),
which would include both cats and dogs. In spite of the
imperfections in these cognitive structures, it should be
obvious that Annie has engaged in some impressive learning
(adaptations which resulted in changes in her
structures.) Annie will soon have to deal with
horses, which she will assimilate as animals, but for which
she will also have to invent a new structure, since horses
don't fit either the dog or cat structures. In this case,
she has learned nothing really new about animals (since the
organization of that cognitive structure has not changed);
but she has learned in the sense that she can now apply that
concept to a wider range of objects. She has also learned
about horses - a brand new cognitive structure. She will
also someday learn about birds, which will require a major
restructuring of her structure for animals. In fact, she may
react by starting a new, separate structure for birds, as
shown in Figure 4.4. As she would grow older and meet more
animals, she would probably accommodate more "correctly" and
arrive at the structure shown in Figure 4.5. Annie may also have a structure
that describes a mother as a cuddly person who nurses her,
hugs a lot, and removes all sorts of discomfort. She
probably has a separate, but related, structure for a father
as a less cuddly person who hugs but never nurses her, but
who does help remove most sorts of discomfort. It is
probably not clear to Annie that these are both parents
(because she has not yet made that adaptation). Right now,
Annie would probably not assimilate her father into her
structure for animal, no matter what her mother may
sometimes say about him. Annie's ten-year-old brother,
Ralph, has a structure that defines electricity as a
mysterious energy force that somehow goes through wires or
other conductors to activate light bulbs and other
appliances. He (incorrectly) is pretty sure that the lamp in
the living room lights up because a single wire runs to the
bottom of the light bulb, carrying and depositing this
mysterious force. When Ralph tells his sister about
electricity, she ignores him, because she has no structures
to assimilate what Ralph is talking about. Ralph is aware
that both his mother and father are animals, because his
cognitive structure for animals defines animals as living
creatures, and he has assimilated dogs, cats, horses,
parents, and numerous other creatures into this
structure. Mrs. Brown, Annie and Ralph's
mother, is a school teacher. In addition to having mature
structures to assimilate information about animals, she has
a structure that describes electricity in terms of the flow
of current among electrons. If she tried to explain her
concept of electricity to either of her children, they would
learn nothing from her description, because they would have
no appropriate structures for electrons through which to
assimilate the new information. Mr. Brown is also a school teacher.
He has mature structures for animals, but his structure for
electricity pretty much resembles Ralph's. However, Mr.
Brown has assimilated the notion that electricity must
travel in a circuit; and so he knows that there must be
two wires going between the source of electricity and
the living room lamp in order to make it light up. Since Mr.
Brown has the prerequisite structures to assimilate the
information, his wife could give him a more complete
description of electricity in terms of electron charges.
However, because this information is abstract, it would not
be easy for him to make the accommodation. Mrs. Brown may
have to talk real slowly, go over the information several
times, or have Mr. Brown watch a video sequence in which
Jiminy Cricket draws concrete diagrams and does clever
tricks to help Mr. Brown assimilate the information and
develop appropriate structures. The process would work
better if Mr. Brown would become actively involved in the
learning process - as by asking questions, conducting
experiments, and occasionally describing his current
cognitive structures, so that his wife could help him make
the appropriate accommodation. Note that if Mr. Brown's
problem were not merely ignorance (arising from not having
thought much about the matter) but also misconceptions
(arising from earlier, improper accommodations) the
instructional task would be much more complex. Also note
that if they thought it important to do so, either of the
parents could probably help Ralph accommodate his
electricity structure to include the notion that electrical
current moves in a circuit, since he probably possesses the
prerequisite structures to assimilate this limited
information and to make the appropriate
accommodation. The process of learning becomes
more complicated when we realize that human beings rarely
assimilate and accommodate with regard to simple matters or
with regard to one topic at a time. Although infants start
out with very simple structures (reflexes), their structures
soon become complex: new structures are based on previously
learned structures which are based on structures learned
even further back in the learner's history. In addition, a
single piece of information may be assimilated through and
result in accommodations of several separate structures. For
example, when Annie examined a horse and assimilated it into
her structure for animals, she could have been developing
structures in several areas, including these: (1) her
structure for animals (which did not change, except for the
addition of a new specific animal), (2) her structure for
horses (which just came into existence), (3) her structure
for herself (she may have accommodated to view herself as
smarter or as a future horse rider), (4) her concept of dog
(when she realized that the horse was not just a big dog),
and (5) her concept of her father (who may be regarded as
nice for taking her to see the horse or as smart for knowing
what it was or as brave for being unafraid). It is by no
means obvious that Annie did react in these ways, and it is
also possible that she could have reacted in numerous other
ways as well. The important point is that assimilations and
accommodations were possible in all these areas. Another
child of the same age who saw the same horse may experience
an entirely different set of assimilations and
accommodations.
Online Links:
Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget Society
http://www.piaget.org/
Some of the information at this site gets complicated, but these people know and post a great amount of useful information about Jean Piaget.
Biography of Jean Piaget
http://www.unige.ch/piaget/biog.html
This is the biography stored in the Jean Piaget Archives.
Click on a topic from the following list, or use your web browser to go where you want to go: