1. Theoretical perspectives on adolescent cognitive development Constructivism Information processing

2. Constructivist theories of cognitive development in adolescence
Human learning is constructed
Constructivist-oriented teaching builds upon what students already know
Learning is active rather than passive
Piaget
Vygotksy

3. Constructivist theories: implications for teaching
teaching is not simply the transmission of information
create learning environments that exploit inconsistencies between learners’ current knowledge and new learning tasks
students have to apply what they know in order to build new knowledge
if new knowledge is to be constructed, then time is needed to construct it

4. Information processing
Information processing theories describe changes in learners’
attentional capacities
learning strategies
knowledge base, and
metacognitive skills

5. Attention Children become less distractable as they grow older
Children’s and adolescents’ learning becomes increasingly a function of what they actually intend to learn

6. Learning strategies Rehearsal skills increase over the early grades
Organizational skills improve throughout elementary and secondary grades
Elaboration skills emerge around puberty and increase throughout adolescence
Learning strategies become increasingly efficient and effective

7. Knowledge base
The amount of knowledge children and adolescents have increases over time
Knowledge becomes increasingly integrated

8. Metacognition
Children and adolescents become increasingly aware of the limits of their memories
Children and adolescents become more knowledgeable about effective learning strategies
Children and adolescents become better able to identify what they know and do not know

9. Instructional implications
Model effective learning and study strategies and encourage students to use these strategies
Base instruction on what students already know
Provide opportunities for students to find out what they know and do not know

11. Piaget’s Theory
Organismic theory: rooted in biological concepts about the development of organisms
The organism is affected by and affects its environment
The cognitive “organism” strives toward equilibrium: a balance between the dual processes of assimilation and accommodation
Development proceeds through a fixed sequence of qualitatively distinct stages
Adolescent thinking is fundamentally different from the thinking abilities of children--not simply more or better

12. Stages of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor
(birth - 2 years)
Preoperational (2-7 years)
Concrete (7-11 years)
Formal (>11 years)
Sensation --> motor behavior
Use symbols to represent objects
Master logic, develop rational thinking
Develop abstract and hypothetical thinking

13. Piagetian concepts Adaptation to the environment Biological readiness
Cognitive disequilibrium
Propositional logic
Not all adolescents (or adults) use formal operational thinking all the time and across all situations

14. General qualitative changes in cognitive abilities during adolescence
Better able to think about what is possible, instead of limiting their thinking to what is real
Better able to think about abstract concepts
Begin thinking more often about the process of thinking itself
Thinking tends to become multidimensional, rather than limited to a single issue
More likely than children to see things as relative, rather than as absolute

15. Egocentrism in adolescence
Imaginary audience ideation
adolescent belief that there is an audience “out there” observing his/her actions
Personal fable
adolescent belief that s/he is a unique person, invulnerable to harm
D. Elkind

16. Vygotsky’s theory action creates thinking
Cognitive development: the process of children internalizing the results of their transactions with their environment
Knowledge is co-constructed between 2 or more people

17. Cultural tools Technical tools
used to change objects or gain mastery over the environment

18. Cultural tools Psychological tools
are used to organize behavior and thinking
LANGUAGE

19. Language is the most important psychological tool for influencing thinking
PIAGET:
Thinking influences language
VYGOTSKY
Language influences thinking

20. Zone of proximal development
Zoped:
the difference between what a child can do on their own and with the assistance of a more competent peer or teacher

21. Applications of Vygotsky’s theory
Use guided participation in which students are apprentices in learning
Model “thinking aloud” when problem-solving; encourage students to talk through problems
Provide opportunities for collaborative learning
Direct learning and assessment toward students’ zopeds

22. Cognitive development: Implications for teaching
Challenge students’ thinking by helping them to see things that might not fit with their prior schema
Challenge students to modify old schemas by presenting them with information to form new schemas
Concrete operational thinkers need lots of hands-on activities to grasp concepts
Be aware of students’ maturity level in dealing with the physical, emotional, and social changes in their lives

23. Implications for Teaching
Student-centered is more effective than authoritarian,
teacher-centered approaches to instruction
Adolescent students need multiple opportunities to
observe, analyze possibilities, and draw inferences about
perceived relationships
Use of discussions, problem-solving activities, and scientific
experiments will encourage development of formal thinking
and problem-solving skills
Give explicit feedback and encouragement; allow time for their reasoning capacities to develop

24. Implications…
Remain flexible in expectations for middle-schoolers; students may be at different stages of cognitive development
Allow students to progress at own rates of growth
Plan learning activities that are appropriate for developing effective, concrete thinkers before moving on to formal operational tasks
Provide a variety of approaches and examples to students because there are different cognitive levels among students

25. “The principal goal of education is to create [persons] who are capable of doing new things--[people] who are creative, inventive, and discoverers. The second goal of education is to form minds which can be critical, can verify, and not accept everything they are offered…We need pupils who are active, who learn early to find out by themselves, partly by their own
spontaneous activity and partly through material we set up for them; who learn early to tell what is verifiable and what is simply the first idea to come to them.”
-Piaget (1972)