Stages of Cognitive Development proposed by Piaget
Learning is a continuous process of acquiring new information from the moment we are born until the time we take exit from the world. Factors like places, people, opportunities and incidences shaped our learning. The more we gain experience from the outside world, the more it helps us in our endeavour to survive and thrive.
In order to identify the best teaching methods for engaging and motivating learners, it is important to have an idea of the stages of cognitive development proposed by Piaget. According to Piaget, a learner goes through different stages of cognitive development that follows a sequence. These include the Sensorimotor stage, Pre-operational stage, Concrete operational stage and Formal operational stage. The first stage that is the Sensorimotor stage is characterized by a child’s ability to use his senses to observe and feel everything around him (Siegler 2016). The child experiences cognitive development when he discovers his abilities to move and speak. At the Pre-operational stage, the chid develops the ability to compare and imagine. This stage is also characterized by the enhancement of the child’s ability to use language properly. In the third stage, which is the Concrete operational stage, the child is able to provide logical reasoning, have a coherent thinking and the ability to categorize understanding into multiple facets. The final stage of Formal operational stage witnesses the child developing abstract thinking ability and demonstrates mature interpretation.
Another important theory that enables teachers to identify the learning capabilities of learners is Kolb’s Learning Cycle Theory. According to Kolb, learning involves the process in which “knowledge is created through the transformation of experience”. The learning cycle involves four stages that show how learners learn and relearn: Concrete experience, Reflective observation, Abstract conceptualization and
Active experimentation. Kolb stated that learning develops with every new experience people gain and work at and expands with the knowledge that we attain (Barker, Lencucha and Anderson 2016).
Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, on the other hand, is a motivational theory that attempts to understand the basic human needs in order to motivate them. Abraham Maslow believed that motivation plays a key role in achieving the needs of people. His hierarchical model consisted of five tiers – Self-actualization, Esteem, Love or belonging, Safety and Physiological. In the field of teaching, we could utilize this model by motivating the learners through their different needs (Gawel 1997). The needs of students vary and as teachers, we have limited access to their lives in order to understand their needs. However, once at school and under our guidance, we could assess students’ needs and then adapt our instruction based on their needs.
Kolb’s Learning Cycle Theory
As teachers we must first try to understand whether each student has met his or her physiological need that is whether each of them are physically fit and healthy. Then, we must check if they live and study in a safe environment. After that, we must see whether they are loved and have a sense of belonging. Finally, we must assess whether they feel good about themselves or not that is what they feel about their self-esteem.
Role Play is a useful activity for students of 7 to 8 years age to gain experience through learning. Children acquire the role of any specific character and play the role.
Jigsaw method is another efficient learning method. The child is given an individual task and then works with other children to combine the various pieces of the task and complete it.
Think? Pair? Share develops child’s ability to work in a team. The child is given a topic to build upon, find a solution and develop an idea along with the team. This results in an efficient solving of the problem.
Flipped classroom assists children in getting the background of the study that could be applied in the classroom. In this activity, teachers take on the role of facilitators who allow children to learn on their own.
Formative assessment is an activity that provides learners with feedbacks that assesses their progress during the process of learning and notifies the method of their upcoming steps in learning. They are examined through collaborative work, research, displays, feedbacks and presentations.
Summative assessments allow us to measure the degree to which the child has learned after the completion of the program. Summative assessments are conducted at the end of the study program.
Assessments are effective means for learning because:
- Assessments enable teachers to measure the things a learner has achieved at every stage and provide them motivation(Fidalgo-Blanco et al. 2016).
- Reflective remarks and set targets give feedback to students to assist them in advancing to their next stage of development.
- Assessments replicate the teacher’s success in teaching and enable them to sharpen their teaching skills and dwell upon techniques that are better than the previous.
- These act as milestones within a community of learning or within a school and even to check the progress throughout different schools.
- Assessments provide students with the added knowledge about the abilities and skills they have acquired or are yet to acquire through the learning program(Nilson 2016).
References:
Barker, D.J., Lencucha, J. and Anderson, R., 2016. Kolb’s learning cycle as a framework for early fieldwork learning. World Federation of Occupational Therapists Bulletin, 72(1), pp.28-34.
Fidalgo-Blanco, Á., Sein-Echaluce, M.L., García-Peñalvo, F.J. and Conde, M.Á., 2015. Using Learning Analytics to improve teamwork assessment. Computers in Human Behavior, 47, pp.149-156.
Gawel, J.E., 1997. Herzberg’s theory of motivation and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 5(11), p.3.
Nilson, L.B., 2016. Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors. John Wiley & Sons.
Siegler, R.S., 2016. Continuity and change in the field of cognitive development and in the perspectives
Planning and sharing of the lesson objective – The experienced colleague was very calm and confident and knew the things she wanted the students to learn. The colleague managed to bring about the objective of the lesson from the students.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
Development of each learner – I remember when I taught a lesson on instructional texts in my class; I found that few of my learners had not made a good progress. When I received an opportunity to observe my experienced colleague, I felt happy because it helped me understand my areas of weakness and the things I need to improve. I observed that she asked a higher ability student to lead the starter activity, which was a presentation on the topic done in class. I realised how I could too use my higher ability children to lead a part of the lesson (Dunlosky et al. 2013). The students explained the entire lesson. Then, he asked question regarding the lesson, which had to be answered by the students on the white board. Every correct response from the students got thumbs up from the teacher. I observed that he made great use of the AFL strategy (Strayer 2012).
Independent learning – The teacher allowed the children to engage in practical learning thus making them feel independent and confident (Clark and Mayer 2008). He gave them whiteboards and magnets of fractions with which the children did additions and subtractions. An active learning atmosphere was clearly visible and the children seemed confident enough to use their own reasoning to find solutions (Van den Bergh, Ros and Beijaard 2013).
Modelling – The teacher made good use of active learning. I observed that the students were asked to stop the task by the use of a red card and start a task by the use of a green card. The teacher also made great use of ICT by organizing an online quiz game (O’Neill and McMahon 2005). It attracted students’ attention as they were engaged in knowing the answers and whether those were right or wrong. I also observed that the students were helping each other in understanding the given tasks, which showed a healthy collaborative atmosphere within the classroom. In addition, the teacher was seen helping the student group with low ability. He guided them throughout the task.
Reflections – I received immense help from observing the experienced colleague’s class as it helped me reflect upon my strategies in preparing lessons for my class. The teacher also made use of the mind map to let students delve upon the learning achieved at the beginning of the unit. The use of mind map by the teacher helped the learners connect to what they had learnt throughout the unit.
Although I have prepared a good lesson plan to involve every learner, it still is a very challenging task for me. Reviewing the experienced colleague’s lesson, I was able to realize that modelling tasks helps students with low ability to understand the lesson thoroughly.
I plan to develop a lesson through which all learners could be able to learn easily. I would add an anticipatory set in my lesson plan to engage the students in the lesson to let them have a prior understanding of the topic.
References:
Clark, R.C. and Mayer, R.E., 2008. Learning by viewing versus learning by doing: Evidence?based guidelines for principled learning environments. Performance Improvement, 47(9), pp.5-13.
Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K.A., Marsh, E.J., Nathan, M.J. and Willingham, D.T., 2013. Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), pp.4-58.
O’Neill, G. and McMahon, T., 2005. Student-centred learning: What does it mean for students and lecturers.
Strayer, J.F., 2012. How learning in an inverted classroom influences cooperation, innovation and task orientation. Learning environments research, 15(2), pp.171-193.
Van den Bergh, L., Ros, A. and Beijaard, D., 2013. Teacher feedback during active learning: Current practices in primary schools. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 83(2), pp.341-362.
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