This article describes some aspects of Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development. It highlights the importance of giving young children specific access to explore conservation in measurement, which will give students invaluable experiences in measurement that in years to come will be regarded as their prior knowledge of the concept. This is…

Describes instructional techniques derived from the Piagetian tests for determining the stage of cognitive development of a child. Examines the principle of reflection and conservation of quantity. (AL)

This document describes experimental attempts to teach young children the concepts of conservation of number. Subjects were 48 nursery school children who were divided into experimental and control groups. All children were individually pretested for conservation, after which the experimental group alone received two training sessions. The…

The Piagetian operations of multiple classification, multiple attributes, seriation and reversibility were used to develop an "equilibrated methodology" to help preschool children conserve quantity. Randomly assigned experimental and control groups within morning and afternoon classes at a nursery school were used to evaluate the…

In this fourth part of a study of the relevance of existing knowledge about child development to social science curriculum development, some tentative suggestions are made for incorporating some of the fundamental ideas of Piaget into a teaching strategy. The ability of children to deal with classifications on the basis of single discrete…

To investigate the efficacy of a training procedure designed to facilitate the attainment of the mathematical concept of number conservation, 43 children from grades 1 and 2 were tested for their ability to conserve. Some of the pupils were found to be nonconservers; some, transitional conservers; and some, conservers. Pupils of the first two…

Two studies dealing with length conservation and measurement indicate that caution needs to be used when one looks at and makes claims about children's cognitive ability and development with regard to conservation. (MP)

Studied classroom behaviors and conservation ability of elementary school science students taught by either Student-Structured Learning in Science (SSLS) or Teacher-Structured Learning in Science (TSLS). Reports on how behavior of conservers and nonconservers differs in SSLS and TSLS with respect to observing, following directions, and inventing…

PIAGET HAS PROPOSED THAT THE CONCEPT OF NUMBER IS PREDICATED ON THE CONCEPT OF CONSERVATION OF SUBSTANCE--THAT IS, THE CONCEPT THAT THE AMOUNT OR NUMBER REMAINS THE SAME DESPITE SPATIAL REARRANGEMENTS. BECAUSE OF THE CURRENT EMPHASIS ON REVISION OF MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM AND OF THE APPARENT VALUE OF NUMBER TRAINING TO PRESCHOOL DISADVANTAGED…

Summarizes results of studies indicating that play training led to significant increases in young children's problem-solving ability, use of language, creative thinking ability, verbal ability, and conservation. (Author/MP)

The effects of live and symbolic modeling on the conservation of equalities and inequalities were studied with items spanning three stimulus dimensions (length, number, and two dimensional space). A total of 48 kindergarten children, who had failed to conserve on any equality items in baseline measures, were randomly assigned, in equal groups, to…

The efficacy of small group instructional activities dealing with transitive inference, conservation, and class inclusion of length was investigated in a sample of kindergarten (N=44) and first grade (N=45) boys and girls. (Author/MP)

Relationships which exist between self-perception in science and cognitive development were explored under two quantitatively different teaching strategies: the use or nonuse of directions, praise, and rejection. A less directive teaching strategy appears to provide a more positive environment for developing an independent self-perception in…

A general model of conceptual change which is largely derived from current philosophy of science, but which can illuminate learning as well, is described. Some features of this model are illustrated by interviews with students studying special relativity in physics. Finally, some pedagogical implications are presented. (Author/PB)