My topic of interest is Cognitive Development. I chose this topic because I have always been amazed with Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development. I am fascinated with how children learn just as Piaget was years ago. In the Effective Programs and Practices course we observed young children at various child care facilities throughout the course. As I observed it became apparent to me that children were not less intelligent than adults, they just think differently than adults (Cherry, n.d.). This was what Piaget’s thoughts were as well.
My personal experience with cognitive development came to true form as I observed the children in various preschools and child care facilities. The knowledge that I gained from observing children learning proved that several of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development are indeed exactly what he theorized. For example the preoperational stage which involves pretend play showed in several instances during my observations. But the children still struggled with logic.
I have gained several insights from the course chapters for Week 1 and Week 2 as well as the research charts. The course book outlines how to select a topic for research and how to design the research. The research chart assignments has allowed me to become familiar with how to identify the participants involved in the research as well as how to locate the results of the research . Knowing how to choose a topic and how to design your research is very important.
I am willing to share all of my resources to assist you, my colleagues, in whatever way I can to make certain that your research efforts are successful. I am asking for your thoughts and/or opinions on my topic. Any input you have will be greatly appreciated. I am eager to hear from you.
Reference
Cherry, K. (n.d.). Piaget’s stages of cognitive development: Background and key concepts of Piaget’s Theory. Retrieved from http://www.about.compsychology.
Cognitive development is a great topic. I would recommend doing more observations of children of different age groups and genders. I would also research more of Piaget's work and other theorists with similar thoughts.
ReplyDeleteHello Sharon,
ReplyDeleteIt seems that you are very interested in gaining knowledge about how our young children learn development their cognitive skills. I know that before I start educating myself, I had no idea what cognitive skills were, however, this was back in the early 1980’s. I believe that during that time and day our educators did not want to share information with any of the parents about how each child learns and the fact that they don’t learn everything at the same time. So I am glad that today we can educate others about these important milestones. Good luck to you in your research. Charity
Sharon, I think that Cognitive Development is such a good option. However, it is also very broad. I am glad that you choose Piaget, he is a great psychologist. I actually wrote a lot of papers on him in undergraduate school. It is amazing to look at the development of a child through Piaget's development stages. There is a school that has developed Piaget through there curriculum and based their play on him. The name of the school is called the Goddard School, I am not sure if you have heard of them or not. But when you have a chance look more into the website, you will be surprised at how much they emphasize Piaget in their learning styles.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful topic choice for your research simulation! I am excited to see what you learn and please share! An interesting subtopic you may want to research as it relates to cognitive developing is how does early childhood trauma impact cognitive development. This is just a suggestion though, given that you didn't cite a specific issue you wanted to research related to your topic area.
ReplyDeleteHello Sharon,
ReplyDeleteI think you chose a very important topic for your research simulation. You are off to a good start. I think you may need to be a little more specific with your research. Maybe you could consider cognitive development in urban vs. suburban settings. Or maybe specifically saying the effects preschool has on cognitive development.
Good post Cognitive development is a great area to research. I too would like to know more about how children learn. Children develop a sense of knowing the world around them at a young age. Their interactions with others as well as use of their senses aide in this process. Interaction with others also plays a vital part in cognitive development. Updated research is being made that keeps educators aware of the different ways in which children’s mental and cognitive abilities function. Piaget is one of the theorists that has had a great impact when it comes to ideas on how children learn (Hearron & Hildebrand, 2010).
ReplyDeleteReference
Hearron, P. & Hildebrand, V. (2010). Cognitive Development.