Research shows that Piaget’s theory of cognitive development has important educational implications. Select one stage of cognitive development (according to the theory) and discuss at least three activities that would be beneficial in teaching children who are in that developmental stage.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of human intelligence. Piaget believed that one’s childhood plays a vital and active role in a person’s development.[1] Piaget’s idea is primarily known as a developmental stage theory. The theory deals with the nature of knowledge itself and how humans gradually come to acquire, construct, and use it.[2] To Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes resulting from biological maturation and environmental experience. He believed that children construct an understanding of the world around them, experience discrepancies between what they already know and what they discover in their environment, then adjust their ideas accordingly.[3] Moreover, Piaget claimed that cognitive development is at the center of the human organism, and language is contingent on knowledge and understanding acquired through cognitive development.[4]

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Piaget’s theory of cognitive development features four main stages, which occur at different ages: sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage, and formal operational stage. These developmental stages can have significant implications on a child’s ability to learn. Some activities and strategies that can be beneficial for teaching children who are in the third stage of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development (the concrete operational stage, between seven and eleven years of age) include the following:

Children’s cognitive skills and problem-solving abilities reach a higher level at this stage. A good of way of refining these skills is to have children solve simple puzzles (such as jigsaw puzzles) that make them think of various alternatives with respect to the shapes and sizes of the pieces. Children at this age have developed a high level of object permanence, and they are able to learn while they have fun solving such puzzles.

In order to enhance children’s problem-solving skills during this stage, teachers should give them mathematical (numerical) problems to solve. For instance, simple problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, etc., can help children use and develop their cognitive skills in an optimal manner.

At this stage, teachers can enhance children’s reasoning skills through comparison activities. For example, they can ask children to compare two similar (but not identical) pictures and point out the differences between them. Similarly, children could compare two objects and list specific comparative properties, such as which is taller, broader, heavier, lighter, etc.

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