Mathematical and Scientific Development in Early Childhood A Workshop Summary (2005) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 Mathematical and Scientific Cognitive Development
2 Mathematical and Scientific Cognitive Development
Pages 5-12
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 5... ...
Presentations by Rochel Gelman and Nora Newcombe addressed the questions in different ways; their presentations were followed by general discussion of the issues raised by the current state of the research. LEARNING FROM CHILDREN- RESEARCH IN PRESCHOOL SETTINGS Gelman began by describing research that she has conducted over many years with teachers and children at early childhood centers run by the University 5
|
From page 6... ...
Through a prekindergarten program called Preschool Pathways to Science (PrePS) , Gelman and her colleagues have found ways to engage young children in complex scientific thinking using a coherent program that is sustained over extended periods of time.
|
From page 7... ...
Research remains an integral component of the program: discoveries about children give rise to new research questions and paradigms, while collaboration between researchers and practitioners expands the thinking of both. THEORETICAL EVOLUTION- NEW MODES OF EXPERIMENTATION Nora Newcombe focused her remarks on the relationship between spatial and mathematical development.
|
From page 8... ...
The work of Jean Piaget, whose work spanned the period from the 1930s to the 1950s, was considered revolutionary when first published and is still very influential in the education of early childhood teachers. Piaget believed that children are born with innate cognitive structures that are programmed to emerge in sequence as the child develops and that cognitive skills require relatively little environmental input in order to emerge (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2000)
|
From page 9... ...
Newcombe noted that her claim about the common starting point for spatial and quantitative thinking remains controversial in the field and used that point to highlight the need for caution in presenting research findings of this kind to the public. As in the public health arena, she explained, new findings can be exciting and seem newsworthy.
|
From page 10... ...
are essentially limitless. One participant challenged the notion of a preschool science curriculum by raising the question of whether children might actually be able to learn many science skills in nonscientific contexts, for example, by identifying the characteristics of different literary genres, taking notes, and presenting the results graphically.
|
From page 11... ...
As Newcombe had noted earlier, any oversimplification of research findings only fuels mistrust of future claims. Noting that the discussion had ranged over a number of issues that call for further investigation, Sharon Lynn Kagan closed the morning discussion by asking the panelists to consider which of the many issues about which more research is needed are the most pressing and important.
|
From page 12... ...
12 MATHEMATICAL AND SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD As both of these responses to the question about research priorities make evident, the role of practice frequently found its way into the morning's discussion of research. While Gelman's research is conducted in a practice setting, Newcombe was also focused on the implications of her findings for the education of young children.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.