Motivating students to learn by creating cognitive crisis!
By Christopher Barone
EDI 17 Psychology & Development of Adolescent Students
School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
February 5, 2009
I was really impressed with today’s class discussion. I wholeheartedly agree with Piaget; children are not just three-foot tall adults. They are like their own species with different abilities and cognitive processes than adults. They literally perceive the world differently than we do. Certain skills, like driving or decision-making abilities, can only come with age, when the brain has physically grown and matured enough. This greatly changes how teachers should approach their students. Rather than talk to them as if they are tiny adults, we should cater our lesson plans to their developmental stages.
Another point I felt strongly about is Piaget’s theory of disequilibrium. We should never settle with equilibrium, where our current views or schemes are able to provide all the answers to life’s questions. We must always strive to create a sense of disequilibrium. Only then will we be truly motivated to keep reaching, keep wondering, keep thinking about the world around us. An effective way to do this is creating constructive competition.
Speaking from experience, I love it when I find a classmate with whom I can form a friendly contest to see who can do better on tests. In the past, I have formed study groups with classmates to ensure we are all as prepared as possible for an exam, and so the competition is even better and more exciting. The students ended up creating miniature cognitive crises for themselves, and it drove them to succeed even further. That trait has stayed with me, even until today. I hope to teach it to my students and instill in them an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.
Long Island University, C. W. Post
February 5, 2009
I was really impressed with today’s class discussion. I wholeheartedly agree with Piaget; children are not just three-foot tall adults. They are like their own species with different abilities and cognitive processes than adults. They literally perceive the world differently than we do. Certain skills, like driving or decision-making abilities, can only come with age, when the brain has physically grown and matured enough. This greatly changes how teachers should approach their students. Rather than talk to them as if they are tiny adults, we should cater our lesson plans to their developmental stages.
Another point I felt strongly about is Piaget’s theory of disequilibrium. We should never settle with equilibrium, where our current views or schemes are able to provide all the answers to life’s questions. We must always strive to create a sense of disequilibrium. Only then will we be truly motivated to keep reaching, keep wondering, keep thinking about the world around us. An effective way to do this is creating constructive competition.
Speaking from experience, I love it when I find a classmate with whom I can form a friendly contest to see who can do better on tests. In the past, I have formed study groups with classmates to ensure we are all as prepared as possible for an exam, and so the competition is even better and more exciting. The students ended up creating miniature cognitive crises for themselves, and it drove them to succeed even further. That trait has stayed with me, even until today. I hope to teach it to my students and instill in them an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.
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