Multiple Intelligence Project-Piagetian Tasks

According to Piaget's theory this child is in the preoperational stage of development, yet beginning to show signs of moving into the concrete operational stage. As seen in the video, when performing the first Piagetian task the child is able to conclude that she sees the picture right-side up and I see the picture upside down. This task shows signs that the child is beginning to think more logically. But there are also many more signs that show the child is still in the preoperational stage of development. For example, when the Piagetian task of comparing the glasses of water is completed, the child seems to think that both glasses have the same amount of water as they do look the same. Then the child pours one of the glasses of water into a different size glass and thinks that now the glasses have different amounts of water. This here shows that the child has a lack of conservation. A child here has the inability to understand that just because there is a change in appearance does not have to mean that there is a change in the amount.


The level of development that this child is operating in is consistent with Piaget's age range for the preoperational stage. According to Piaget, this stage has the age range of age 2 until age 6 or 7. The child in my study is 5 years-old giving a perfect age example for this stage. She also showed a few signs of moving onto the next stage of Piaget's theory of development and at the age of 5 this would be consistent with the age range of the concrete operational stage which has an age range of 6 0r 7 until age 11 or 12.


As an elementary teacher, most students that I will be teaching are going to be in the concrete operational stage of development. At this stage of development the students' reasoning patterns will include class inclusion, reversibility and conservation. The task's I would want to perform would include tasks that determine the students reasoning patterns. The first task I could perform would be to determine if they understand class inclusion. This task would involve showing a student a picture of a dolphin, shark, whale, and elephant and then asking the student which one is a mammal. The students in the beginning will choose the elephant, but as they become more knowledgeable, they will understand that they are all mammals. This task would help me understand where a students knowledge of class inclusion lies. The second task I would perform would be to find out where my students are at understanding conservation. Showing a student two balls of clay of the same weight and weighing them on a scale, take one of the balls and smash it into a pancake. Ask the student if the two balls still weigh the same. According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development a child will not achieve conservation of weight until at least 9 years of age. The third task I would want to do with my students would be to see where their understanding of reversibility lies. To do this I would write down 9+3 and 3+9 and ask the student if these have the same answers or different answers. This task would help me determine if a student is able to understand reversibility. Performing these Piagetian tasks on my individual students will help me develop insights into the reasoning abilities of the students.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxZIBiCwsj0