Developmental
Learning Theory
One theory
under cognitive learning is Piaget’s developmental learning theory (DLT). Piaget
developmental stages include sensorimotor, pre operational, concrete operational
and formal operational. The DLT suggests that students in the earlier
developmental stages are developmentally younger and have lower maturity levels
along with fewer experiences. As children move through the developmental stages
they are gaining maturity and more experiences. The DLT suggests that a
student’s ability to move from concrete operational to formal operational
(abstract) learning depends greatly on where they are on the developmental
stages. For example, a kindergartner may be able to see through examples how water can change from
a solid form by melting a bowl full of ice and then watching that water disappearing by
heating it. Because of their young age, they may have a difficult time understanding and connecting that to snow, rain and fog. As that student gets older and gains more experiences, they would be
able to make those connects as well as be able to apply the concepts of solid, gas and liquid matters to other chemicals. This is an example of how students as they get older
move from concrete operational to formal operational thinking.
As a student
moves through the developmental stages, by maturing in age and acquiring
personal experiences, a student becomes able to move from using deductive reasoning,
which allows a student to start with a general concept and then break it down
into a specific idea, to inductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning allows a
student to begin with a specific concept and apply it to more general ideas.
When a student has reached the ability to abstractly think about a concept,
they will be able to apply deductive reasoning (Learning Theories, 2012).
According to
the DLT, as a student develops the ability to think abstractly about a concept,
accommodation begins to apply. The student is not only taking in new
information, but is also better able to apply this information to other
situations or concepts. The student is using formal operational thinking to fit
new information into their schema.
When creating
lesson plans it will be helpful for teachers to know where their students are
in the developmental stages and assess where their students are in their
ZPD. On the ZPD continuum, the top tier indicates
“difficult understanding” when reached without a MKO or before a student is
ready. This can also be seen when a teacher uses abstract examples prior to a
student being ready. The opposite can apply when a teacher is using concrete representations,
which may be “too easy,” when they could be using abstract examples to explain
the concept.
With a
teacher is introducing a new concept to students; it will be helpful for them
to use the learning cycle model. The teacher can gain a good understanding of
where their students are in understanding a concept by first introducing a
concrete example and move students towards abstract thinking by scaffolding. For
example, when a teacher is teaching the elements of a story, the teacher may
give each of their students a copy of the story he/she is reading out loud and
have them follow along. The teacher would then ask questions and have
discussions about specific concepts in the story such as, “Who are the main characters?”
“What is the plot?” or “Where does the story take place?”. The teacher would
then ask the students to write down who their characters would be, where would
the story take place and what would the story be about if they were to write a
story. Once these concepts are written down, the students would then be able to
use these concrete examples to create their own story. Once students are able
to understand the elements of a story, they are then able to apply it to
writing stories of their own, and also to other stories they are reading for
understanding, reaching formal operational thinking.
Ultimately,
abstract learning is the goal as it challenges students to think on a deeper
level. Once a student is able to think about a concept abstractly, the
better they are able to apply more information to that concept and connect it
with other concepts. Additionally, students will be able to engage in a cycle
of thinking — concrete to abstract and back to concrete concepts again.
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