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 ECE 353 Week 1 DQ 1 Important Questions in Children's Thinking  ECE 353 Week 1 DQ 2 Addressing Bias in Intelligence Testing  ECE 353 Week 1 The Piagetian Model  ECE 353 Week 2 DQ 1 Cultural Tools  ECE 353 Week 2 DQ 2 Educational Innovations  ECE 353 Week 3 DQ 1 Phonological Acquisition  ECE 353 Week 3 DQ 2 Memory Facilitation  ECE 353 Week 3 Journal Connecting to Classroom Practices

 Important Questions in Children’s Thinking. Chapter One of your text identifies the six most important questions in the study of children’s thinking:  § Are some capabilities innate?  § Does development progress through stages?  § How does change occur?  § How do individuals differ?  § How do changes in the brain contribute to cognitive development?

 Addressing Bias in Intelligence Testing. Daniel, an eight- year-old child from a poor, inner-city neighborhood, is given a traditional IQ test. One section of the IQ test involves defining various words. “Yacht” is one of the words that Daniel is asked to define. Briefly discuss why the test administrator should be cautious when interpreting Daniel’s performance on this test. How does the triarchic theory potentially counter this bias? Develop and share three questions, one for each component of the triarchic theory (analytic, creative, and practical), that would provide a more accurate representation of Daniel’s intelligence

 The Piagetian Model. There is little argument that while not perfect, Piaget’s theories have had a profound impact on the field of cognitive development. Provide an analysis of his model as well as the challenges to it.  In a two- to three-page paper, please include the following components:  § Define the four main stages of Piaget’s theory, along with their age ranges  § Discuss the three crucial processes by which children move from one stage to another

 Cultural Tools. Cultural tools shape cognitive development and can include both technical tools, which act on the environment, and psychological tools, which are tools for thinking. Discuss Vygotsky’s belief that language is the most significant of the cultural tools. Do you agree or disagree? Examine the given images of other psychological tools. Choose one of the given tools and discuss how that tool may influence cognitive development from the perspective of the sociocultural theories. What do you feel are the ramifications of your tool on student learning? Is your chosen tool an example of the “ratchet effect”? Defend your answer.

 Educational Innovations. Many educational innovations, such as dynamic assessment and FCL (Fostering Communities of Learners) classrooms, have incorporated insights about learning and development from the sociocultural theories. Choose either dynamic assessment or FCL. Define your choice, and discuss how it incorporates insights about learning and development from the sociocultural theories. Develop one activity that effectively illustrates your chosen educational innovation in practice.

 Phonological Acquisition. Watch the talk by Patricia Kuhl, entitled The Linguistic Genius of Babies.  How do her findings support language acquisition in regard to phonology as it is described in Chapter Six of your text? Include a discussion of the need for a social context when developing phonological awareness and why. How did your own social context impact your phonological awareness?

 Memory Facilitation. Older children typically remember more than younger children. Identify and describe two strategies that older children use to facilitate their memories. Reflecting on your own personal experiences, what strategies do you employ to improve your memory? Discuss the relevance of strategies that facilitate memory within the context of classroom instruction. Share one instructional strategy that you feel is highly effective for most students.

 Connecting to Classroom Practices. In a one- to two-page journal entry, write a self-reflection. What is the relevance of this course to best practices in the classroom? In other words, how can an understanding of how children think improve your teaching skills, particularly in terms of differentiating student needs and abilities? Do you feel that you currently utilize an understanding of cognitive development in your own teaching?

 Theories of Concept Representation. Identify and describe one of the three major theories of concept representation: defining-features, probabilistic, or theory-based. What is the mechanism of conceptual development in your chosen theory? Provide an example (not given in the text) that illustrates the mechanisms of your chosen theory. How would a child likely respond to a given scenario from the perspective of your chosen theory?

 False Belief Tasks. According to your text, “the ‘gold standard’ that researchers use to demonstrate understanding of belief is success on tasks that require understanding of one’s own or another person’s false belief” (Siegler, 2005, pg. 318). Young children often fail false belief tasks. This finding has been interpreted in a number of different ways. Give an original example of a false belief task that could be given to a three-year-old (do not use an example from the text). Describe an interpretation of children’s poor performance on false belief tasks. c on false belief tasks. How can preschool teachers utilize their knowledge of student performance on these tasks as well as their knowledge of performance enhancers when planning for instruction?

 Planning in Problem Solving. Young children often fail to plan, even when doing so would facilitate their problem- solving performance. Select and describe one of the five reasons that children may fail to plan given on pages of your text. Construct a classroom-based scenario that illustrates your chosen reason. What is the implication of your reason when considering the differing needs of students while planning for classroom instruction? What is one strategy that teachers can use to mediate the effects of these failures and support the problem-solving skills of their young students?

 Learning in Context. Context influences children’s performance in mathematics. This was illustrated in Carraher and colleagues’ (1985) classic study of Brazilian street vendors. Describe the method and results of Carraher and colleagues’ study, and discuss how the results support the claim that children’s mathematical problem- solving performance depends on context. Do you feel that these findings can also be applied to other academic areas? Provide a specific example of how a classroom teacher might use this research to facilitate learning in the classroom.

  Chapter Twelve of your text identifies seven areas of cognitive development that have been addressed in this book: perception, language, memory, conceptual understanding, social cognition, problem solving, and academic skills. Table 12.1 of the chapter also identifies the eight themes of children’s thinking, in general, that have filtered throughout the course of this text.

 Course Reflection. In a one- to two-page journal entry, reflect on your experience in ECE353. Which components of the course have influenced your thinking the most in regard to cognitive development? Identify one theory that had the most profound impact on your thinking (either positively or negatively) and describe why. What effect will this have on your classroom instruction?   Your journal is an informal, reflective piece that does not require citations or APA format; however, if you choose to use resources, please cite them appropriately.

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