Chapter 3 Reflection

At first, it almost seemed like the authors had misplaced this chapter when writing about “true understanding” and the way children develop and learn. Shouldn’t the discussion in Chapter 3 be at the very beginning of the text? No. The topic is wisely covered here using the methods that the authors mention. Building upon our prior knowledge learned in the preceding chapters, the information in Chapter 3 more fully fleshes out what constructivism really means and how important scaffolding is. I think the authors drive home the point that to effectively teach science, you have to use rehearsal, transfer, and “knowledge structures.” All of this wouldn’t have been as clear if we had read it two weeks ago without the advantage of the examples of the activities in the book or prior to our experience in class with electricity.

It is important to remember that children and adults often bring misconceptions to the table. As we saw in the video, even Harvard grads firmly believed that the moon’s phases are caused by the earth’s shadow. Some of these notions can be so ingrained that even though the bright high school girl in the video was correctly demonstrating the moon’s phases, she still couldn’t get the incorrect idea out of her head. It is worth noting that some people may never let go of their belief systems even if science proves otherwise.

Even though I have read and studied Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development, I can more deeply understand how important it is in teaching science. In a foundations class, I saw a video of “preoperational thinkers” watching as a researcher poured liquid from one glass into another taller glass. Time after time, the children without hesitation said there was more liquid in the taller glass. It would be hard for me hard to believe if I hadn’t seen it. It is helpful that the authors reiterate the point that children’s cognitive development must be taken into account when teaching science.