Jean Piaget: Changing Education and Psychology by Exploring Children’s Cognitive Development Sacia Gilbertson Junior Division Historical Paper Paper Length: 2292 words The principal goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done. ­Jean Piaget, 19521 In 1923, Jean Piaget published his first book on child psychology: ​
The Language and Thoughts of the Child. ​
During his lifetime, he published over fifty books and was credited with numerous theories.2 The most famous of these theories is widely considered to be his four stages of cognitive development, which, along with his other theories, all came together to change education as the world knew it. At the time of his death in 1980, educators understood children’s brains better than ever before. When Jean Piaget explored the mental development of children, he opened educators’ eyes to their students’ abilities and limits, promoted reform in schools internationally, and inspired innumerable psychologists to research children rather than just adults, which led to more effective education methods and student success, changing education and psychology altogether. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, children were often seen as miniature adults, expected to function the same way their elders did. When faced with children’s failure to do so, adults assumed the children to be stupid and incapable. This notion was prevalent even in education.3 Adults were the focus of all psychological study, Jervis, Kathe, and Arthur Tobier. ​
Education for Democracy: Proceedings from the Cambridge School Conference on Progressive Education, October,1987.​
Weston, MA: Cambridge School, 1988. Print. 2
​
Boeree, C. George. "Piaget." ​
Personality Theories.​
N.p., 2006. Web. 20 Jan. 2016. <http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/piaget.html>. 3
​
"Pioneers in Our Field: Jean Piaget ­ Champion of Children's Ideas."​
Scholastic​
. Scholastic, Inc., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2016. <http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/pioneers­our­field­jean­piaget­champion­childrens­ideas>. 1
2 simply because people did not fathom that children were any different. According to author Irving King in 1903, “Psychology… is intimately related to the work of the teacher… but in main, the psychology (studied by educators) is constructed from adult life. The assumption has been made that whatever is true of the adult mind is true also of the child­mind.” 4 Suppositions were made about children and how their intellectual capabilities related to that of adults, and no one had ever really thought to challenge them. People thought that children’s brains functioned the same way as adults’, so the fact that teaching methods were devised to meet adults’ needs rather than children’s did not seem inadequate at the time. Later, Piaget’s observations made it clear that those approaches were inaccurate. Psychology itself was a new concept when Piaget began his work. Although psychological thought is believed to have dated back to ancient Greek times, with philosophers such as Aristotle and Socrates, it was not until the late nineteenth century that psychology was recognized as a branch of science rather than a branch of philosophy.5 In 1879, the first experimental psychology lab was established in Germany, which helped reinforce the distinction between the two branches.6 ​
King, Irving. "Child Psychology, Its Validity and Aims." ​
The Psychology of the Child​
. Chicago, Illinois: U of Chicago, 1903. 1­15. ​
Google Scholar.​
Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=KMUZAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=irving+king+the+ps
ychology+of+the+child&ots=_OeomY_yfP&sig=vTcGQrgm_AQ0xd­­OuaxFLjTWeQ#v=onepage&q=irving%2
0king%20the%20psychology%20of%20the%20child&f=false>. 5
"History of Psychology." ​
History of Psychology.​
N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015. <http://www.mindfocus.net/nc00300.html>. 6
"History of Psychology." ​
History of Psychology.​
N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015. <http://www.mindfocus.net/nc00300.html>. 4
3 Child psychology was even newer. In the early twentieth century, psychoanalyst Melanie Klein developed various behavioral therapy methods specifically for children.7 This showed the clear distinction between the child’s mind and the adult’s, which helped to bring awareness to the differences between the two life phases. Sigmund Freud, also a psychoanalyst, was even more helpful to child psychology.8 He theorized about children just as Piaget did. The biggest difference between the two was that while Freud concentrated on why children thought about what they did, Piaget was engrossed in exploring ​
how​
children thought.9 Born in 1896, Piaget entered life when ideas about children's capabilities or lack thereof were widespread. At the age of ten he began publishing papers of varying subject matter, and his profound knowledge concerning mollusks earned him an internship at the Museum of Natural History in Neuchatel, Switzerland.10 During his teen years, he found a book on philosophy in his father’s home library. As he read it, he made a realization that sparked his interest in psychology, saying that he “became convinced very quickly that most of the problems in philosophy were problems of knowledge, and that most problems of knowledge were problems of biology.”11 With some help, he learned more about philosophy and its connection to human thought (the study of which is called “epistemology”). From that moment on, Piaget dedicated his life to the exploring ​
PSYCHOTHERAPY­ Melanie Klein​
. Prod. Mad Adam. The School of Life, 2015. ​
YouTube​
. Google Inc., 16 Jan. 2015. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU3iSW6WTo8>. 8
Thornton, Stephen F. "Sigmund Freud." ​
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.​
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <http://www.iep.utm.edu/freud/>. 9
​
Pound, Linda. ​
How Children Learn: From Montessori to Vygotsky ­ Educational Theories and Approaches Made Easy​
. Vol. 1. Leamington Spa: Step Forward Pub., 2005. 39. Print. 10
​
Boeree, C. George. "Piaget." ​
Personality Theories.​
N.p., 2006. Web. 20 Jan. 2016. <http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/piaget.html>. 11
Hall, Elizabeth. A Conversation with Jean Piaget and Bärbel Inhelder. Psychology Today, New York, v. 3, N. 12, P. 25­32. May, 1970 7
4 psychology and epistemology, specializing in children during different phases of their youth. After graduating college, Piaget worked for Alfred Binet, a French psychologist responsible for creating one of the first measures of intelligence in a test format.12 He was tasked with standardizing Binet’s tests for the children of Paris. He admitted, though, that he did not actually do the work he was supposed to do, saying “I preferred to study the errors on the test. I became interested in the reasoning behind the children’s wrong answers.”13 Essentially, Piaget tried to figure out what children struggled with in the questions they got incorrect. In his exploration, he noticed that children of similar ages tended to make similar mistakes; this led him to conclude that children went through different stages of development during their childhoods. The result of this conclusion and multiple of the other studies which he carried out was his famous theory regarding cognitive development. This theory, in short, says that throughout ages 0­11, children go through four developmental stages: sensorimotor (ages 0­2), preoperational (2­7), concrete operational (7­11), and formal operations (11+).14 Piaget’s developmental stages described outline how people’s abilities change throughout their youngest years. Children in the sensorimotor stage, infants to young toddlers, work on coordination of their senses and motor skills. Preoperational­aged children, toddlers to school­aged, start to develop the ability to think symbolically and are "Alfred Binet." ​
Human Intelligence​
. N.p., 7 Nov. 2013. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. <http://www.intelltheory.com/binet.shtml>. 13
​
Hall, Elizabeth. A Conversation with Jean Piaget and Bärbel Inhelder. Psychology Today, New York, v. 3, N. 12, P. 25­32. May, 1970 14
​
Dean, Jeremy. "Jean Piaget's Four­Stage Theory: How Children Acquire Knowledge ­ PsyBlog." ​
PsyBlog RSS​
. N.p., 22 July 2008. Web. 06 Jan. 2016. <http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/07/jean­piagets­four­stage­theory­how.php>. 12
5 able to use proper grammar in order to express full concepts. Children between the ages of seven and eleven are considered concrete operational and can understand concepts regarding concrete situations. The final stage, formal operations, applies to children ages eleven and older. They are capable of more complex and abstract thought, and strategy is more possible.15 Piaget points out multiple times that while most children do get through all of the developmental stages, the age ranges are simply a generalization and that some children may move through them more or less quickly than others. 16 Jean Piaget also focused heavily on exploring how children’s interaction with physical objects impact the child’s learning. He mentioned continuously throughout his works that humans’ actions are nothing without the objects they perform them on. He said in an interview, “Some think I am an empiricist because I talk about objects. But they forget that objects in themselves mean nothing until we do something with them. My position is that human knowledge comes from what we do to objects. Others think I am an innatist because I give importance to our actions. But they forget that our actions are carried out on objects. There is always an interaction between ourselves and objects. So, I am neither an empiricist nor an innatist. I am a constructivist. Knowledge is not ready­made. Each of us is continually creating our own knowledge. We are continually organizing what we know, structuring and restructuring our knowledge.”17 He not only believed that objects are key in obtaining information, but he also believed that "Jean Piaget." ​
Simply Psychology​
. N.p., 17 Sept. 2009. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html>. 16
Sandwell, J. "Piaget's Stage Theory of Development." ​
Piaget's Stage Theory of Development​
. N.p., 17 Nov. 1995. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <http://penta.ufrgs.br/edu/telelab/3/piaget's.htm>. 17
​
Piaget on Piaget​
. Dir. Jean William Fritz Piaget. Perf. Jean Piaget. Yale University Media Design Studio, 1977. ​
YouTube​
. Google, 1 May 2013. Web. 17 Jan. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XwjIruMI94>. 15
6 knowledge constantly grows. There is really no stopping point in a person’s capability because it is always possible to keep learning through new encounters. Piaget encountered praise from psychologists internationally for this concept. “His stress on the interaction of biological functions and the structure of the environment, elaborated in more than 60 years of research, was, in the opinion of many psychologists and education specialists, as liberating and revolutionizing as Sigmund Freud’s earlier insights into the stage development of human emotional life. Many hailed him as one of the century’s most creative scientific thinkers.”18 Piaget’s exploration of the human brain impacted psychology in a way that only few people have ever been able to. His significance to the science earned him much respect, and he undoubtedly earned every bit of it. By exchanging these theories with the worlds of psychology and epistemology, Piaget opened professionals in these fields’ eyes to children’s minds. Although the extent of his influence is difficult to track, Piaget’s discoveries notably shaped the work of psychologists including Bärbel Inhelder, whom Piaget himself had worked with on occasion,19 and Lawrence Kohlberg, a specialist in children’s ethical motives and development.20 Both of these psychologists also contributed heavily to psychology on their own, and Piaget’s influence was crucial to their discoveries. Piaget affected countless others in child­related sciences and will continue to do so for years to come. "Professor Jean Piaget." ​
The Times [London] ​
18 Sept. 1980: 16. ​
The Times Digital Archive​
. Web. 8 Jan. 2016. <http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/wr7x1>. 19
"Bärbel Inhelder." ​
Psychology.​
Net Industries, 2016. Web. 26 Jan. 2016. <http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/335/B­Rbel­Inhelder.html>. 20
Beauchamp, Anne. "Kohlberg, Lawrence 1927­1987." ​
Education.com​
. Education.com, Inc., 2009. Web. 26 Jan. 2016. <http://www.education.com/reference/article/kohlberg­lawrence­1927­1987/>. 18
7 While he gained lots of positive recognition for his work, Piaget also encountered criticism, especially for his developmental stages theories. Dr. Tesia Marshik, a professor at University of Wisconsin­ La Crosse who specializes in developmental and educational psychology, says that one common criticism was that “a lot of people questioned how useful the stages were. They tell us in general how people go through these stages, but they don’t tell us what any one student is capable of because it’s just looking at averages.”21 Piaget’s stage theory is helpful if you want to explore how a typical child develops, but it does not account for every individual. Piaget exchanged his ideas with the world by writing books. In the years after each of his books were published, the theories they proposed were introduced into the education world. As a result of the conclusions drawn within these works, educators began contemplating changes in their teaching methods. People who interacted with children the most now knew more about how children's brains worked, which in turn led to education reform.22 “More importantly, really revolutionary changes in the whole field of education and human relations seems to be a direct consequence of a deeper understanding of Piaget’s theory. Who dares to guess how our primary education would change if teachers really took seriously Piaget’s proposition that knowledge is an operation that constructs its objects?”23 That quote was from a book written in 1969, and since then, teachers ​
have​
taken Piaget’s propositions seriously. His theories explored an ​
Marshik, Tesia. "How Piaget Influenced Education." Telephone interview. 10 Mar. 2016. ​
Chhin, Christina. "Program Announcement: Mathematics and Science Education CFDA 84.305A." ​
Program Announcement: Mathematics and Science Education CFDA 84.305A.​
Institution of Education Sciences, 2016. Web. 30 Jan. 2016. <https://ies.ed.gov/funding/ncer_rfas/mathsci.asp>. 23
Furth, Hans G. "On Asking the Right Question." ​
Piaget and Knowledge; Theoretical Foundations.​
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice­Hall, 1969. 3­11. Print. 21
22
8 area of the human brain that had never before been studied, and the results were pivotal in education for children and even teenagers. All disciplines and age groups have benefitted from a more kinesthetic­based education, especially math and science. Math departments have reformed their curriculums starting in primary schools and going all the way to postsecondary levels. Ed Dubinsky, a math professor at Kent State University said, “Mathematical training should be prepared, starting at nursery school, by a series of exercises related to logic and numbers, lengths and surfaces, etc. and this type of concrete activity must be developed and enriched constantly in a very systematic way during the entire elementary education into physical and elementary mechanical experiments. On these terms, strictly mathematical education is grounded in its natural surroundings of equivalency to objects, and will give full scope to the education which would have remained purely verbal or graphic.”24 He asserts that his school could benefit from a more Piagetian approach to mathematics. Because math can have such abstract elements, it can be very difficult for students to grasp. By exchanging traditional teaching methods with more visual and hands­on styles, Dubinsky thinks that students will be better able to comprehend new information. This is a concept that was recognized constantly by Jean Piaget. Professions in sciences other than psychology and education were also enthralled by the theories and concepts in Piaget’s books. Odvard Egril Dyrli, a University of Pennsylvania professor, wrote, “As a doctoral student, I had been captivated by Piaget’s theories that children pass through four major intellectual development stages, which Dubinsky, Ed. ​
Applying a Piagetian Perspective to Post­Secondary Mathematics Education.​
N.p., 18 Nov. 2000. Web. 19 Jan. 2016. <http://www.math.kent.edu/~edd/EducMatArt.pdf>. 24
9 influenced federally funded “lab­centered” curriculum programs of the era­­ particularly in science and math.” 25 The impact of Piaget’s theories in various sciences has clearly been tremendous. Also, Dyrli is correct in saying that the government has funded discovery based education; there have been various federal funds for mathematical and science­related education reforms.26 When teachers are trained, they are now required to learn about Piaget’s theories.27 Today, students encounter kinesthetic demonstrations in all classes, although primarily math and sciences. Students, when exposed to hands­on education, have proven to learn more effectively, just like Piaget had expected. In 1971, a study conducted on eight to ten­year­old students found that those who were taught mathematics using concrete materials performed significantly better than those strictly taught verbally.28 The students retain information more effectively, and as a result become more erudite adults. In fact, Northern Arizona University directly credits hands­on learning in elementary through secondary education as a contributing factor towards success in STEM based fields.29 Research has indicated that students benefit academically from Piagetian education approaches. Additionally, students are encountering a more enjoyable learning 25
Dyrli, Odvard Egril. "Teaching/learning Legacy of Piaget: Active Learning Is Essential to Education Success." ​
District Administration ​
May 2013: 10. ​
Research in Context​
. Web. 18 Jan. 2016. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A329899184&v=2.1&u=hol40923&it=r&p=MSIC&sw=w&asid=5b0
16f34586a5c21069d301e40158510>. 26
Chhin, Christina. "Program Announcement: Mathematics and Science Education CFDA 84.305A." ​
Program Announcement: Mathematics and Science Education CFDA 84.305A.​
Institution of Education Sciences, 2016. Web. 30 Jan. 2016. <https://ies.ed.gov/funding/ncer_rfas/mathsci.asp>. 27
Pound, Linda. ​
How Children Learn: From Montessori to Vygotsky ­ Educational Theories and Approaches Made Easy​
. Vol. 1. Leamington Spa: Step Forward Pub., 2005. 39. Print. 28
​
Curry, R. D. ​
Arithmetic Achievement as a Factor of Concrete, Semi Concrete, and Abstract Teaching Methods​
. Rep. N.p.: n.p., 1971. George Peabody College for Teachers. Web. 2 Apr. 2016. 29
Benford, Russell, and Julie Gess­Newsome. ​
Factors Affecting Student Academic Success in Gateway Courses at Northern Arizona University​
. ​
Northern Arizona University​
. Arizona Board of Regents, 24 May 2006. Web. 2 Apr. 2016. <http://www2.nau.edu/~facdev­p/TR/Factors.pdf>. 10 experience as a result of these approaches. The National Foundation for Educational Research says that “there is general agreement that practicals and experiments make science more enjoyable and more fun. Particular value is to be gained when students are actively involved in these activities rather than watching demonstrations by the teacher.“
30
Teaching approaches that involve experiments are much more interesting to students, as opposed to approaches involving rote memorization or passive learning. Jean Piaget’s goal had always been for schools to teach students to think for themselves and form their own ideas based upon how ​
they ​
see things.31 Now, in this world that is constantly evolving in technology, medicine, mathematics, and other fields, it appears as though they have done just that. Piaget has left a lasting legacy in the fields of psychology and education. In his exploration of children’s mental development, Jean Piaget advocated for much needed change in schools internationally by making teachers aware of what students were capable of, as well as inspiring psychologists to broaden their studies to include children. As a result, educational success is much more attainable than it ever was before and students are encountering more engaging classes. By exploring children’s brains and intellectual ability, Piaget was able to devise his revolutionary theories about youth cognitive development. When he exchanged his ideas with others in his fields, the world was changed. ​
Exploring Young People's Views on Science Education.​
Rep. National Foundation for Educational Research, Sept. 2011. Web. 2 Apr. 2016. <http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/stellent/groups/corporatesite/@msh_peda/documents/web_document/wtvm0527
32.pdf>. 31
Jervis, Kathe, and Arthur Tobier. ​
Education for Democracy: Proceedings from the Cambridge School Conference on Progressive Education, October,1987.​
Weston, MA: Cambridge School, 1988. Print. 30
11 Bibliography Primary Sources Benford, Russell, and Julie Gess­Newsome. ​
Factors Affecting Student Academic Success in Gateway Courses at Northern Arizona University​
. ​
Northern Arizona University​
. Arizona Board of Regents, 24 May 2006. Web. 2 Apr. 2016. <​
http://www2.nau.edu/~facdev­p/TR/Factors.pdf​
>. This PDF was written by two Northern Arizona University professors about what they felt adequately prepared students for STEM based fields in college. They said that hands­on education was one of the biggest contributors towards success, which is exactly what Piaget advocated for. This is helpful to my project because it shows that Piaget’s theories were correct and that students do benefit from exploration based education. Chhin, Christina. "Program Announcement: Mathematics and Science Education CFDA 84.305A." ​
Program Announcement: Mathematics and Science Education CFDA 84.305A​
. Institution of Education Sciences, 2016. Web. 30 Jan. 2016. <​
https://ies.ed.gov/funding/ncer_rfas/mathsci.asp​
>. This web page is about a government funded program regarding math and sciences in schools. Much of the current views on math and science teaching comes from what Piaget once suggested, so it helps me see how influential Piaget is, even still, forty years later. 12 Dubinsky, Ed. ​
Applying a Piagetian Perspective to Post­Secondary Mathematics Education​
. N.p., 18 Nov. 2000. Web. 19 Jan. 2016. <http://www.math.kent.edu/~edd/EducMatArt.pdf>. This paper, written by a math professor at Georgia State University, talked about how the theories of Jean Piaget remain applicable throughout even college level math. As it was written in 2000, it shows how Piaget's work is still used by very high level people even decades after his death, which certainly helps me to show the long­term importance of my topic, as well as providing an extensive list of the sources the author used, which I can use to further my own research. Einstein, Albert. ​
Albert Einstein on Jean Piaget​
. N.d. Quote. This Albert Einstein quote about Jean Piaget's work discussed how Einstein felt about Piaget's theories. He quite obviously loved what Piaget had come up with, saying that he was a "genius." Coming from THE genius himself, it helped me see how well­received his theories were. Hall, Elizabeth. A Conversation with Jean Piaget and Bärbel Inhelder. Psychology Today, New York, v. 3, N. 12, P. 25­32. May, 1970. This interview with Jean Piaget discussed Piaget's start as a psychologist, and his views on the work he had done at the time. He spent a lot of time further explaining what he meant in his books, which gave me lots of insight into his mind and theories. I obtained a lot of great quotes from this interview and it will be very helpful in my project. 13 Jervis, Kathe, and Arthur Tobier. ​
Education for Democracy: Proceedings from the Cambridge School Conference on Progressive Education, October,1987​
. Weston, MA: Cambridge School, 1988. Print. This book is about a conference at Cambridge college about education. This book includes quotes by Jean Piaget that basically summarize his goals in researching child psychology. These quotes helped me see how passionate Piaget was about his work. King, Irving. "Child Psychology, Its Validity and Aims." ​
The Psychology of the Child​
. Chicago, Illinois: U of Chicago, 1903. 1­15. ​
Google Scholar​
. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=KMUZAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=P
R1&dq=irving+king+the+psychology+of+the+child&ots=_OeomY_yfP&sig=vTcGQ
rgm_AQ0xd­­OuaxFLjTWeQ#v=onepage&q=irving%20king%20the%20psycholog
y%20of%20the%20child&f=false>. This book, published in 1903, discussed the author's feelings towards primary education and how people looked at child psychology as compared to adult psychology. It was incredibly helpful in that it gave me an abundance of insight into the education and view of children's abilities during the time it was written. The book is great to use for comparison to more recent psychological views, which helps me to see just how drastically psychology has changed in the last century or so. Marshik, Tesia. "How Piaget Influenced Education." Telephone interview. 10 Mar. 2016. 14 This interview was extremely helpful to my project. Dr. Marshik is an expert on Piaget's work and impact on education and psychology, and getting to speak with her gave me the chance to ask specific questions that I could not find answers to in books or online. I learned a great deal about Piaget, which helped me make my project more informational. Piaget, Jean. ​
The Origins of Intelligence in Children​
. New York: International Universities, 1952. ​
University of Pittsburgh​
. University of Pittsburgh. Web. 20 Jan. 2016. <http://www.pitt.edu/~strauss/origins_r.pdf>. This book written by Piaget himself talks about intelligence in children and how it changes throughout different developmental stages and ages. I obtained lots of great quotes and information from this book that will most definitely help my project. Piaget, Jean. ​
To Understand Is To Invent: The Future of Education​
. New York, New York: Viking, 1972. ​
UNESDOC​
. Web. 18 Jan. 2016. <http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0000/000061/006133eo.pdf>. This book, written by Jean Piaget himself, talks a lot about the educational implications of his theories, particularly in mathematics. It helped me to see more clearly his view on the education at the time that he was alive and how his publications could change that, at least in his opinion. Piaget on Piaget​
. Dir. Jean William Fritz Piaget. Perf. Jean Piaget. Yale University Media Design Studio, 1977. ​
YouTube​
. Google, 1 May 2013. Web. 17 Jan. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XwjIruMI94>. 15 This is a film created by Piaget on his thoughts regarding his works. It helped me better understand what he meant in his theories, and I obtained some really good quotes to use in my project. "Professor Jean Piaget." ​
The Times [London]​
18 Sept. 1980: 16. ​
The Times Digital Archive​
. Web. 8 Jan. 2016. <http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/wr7x1>. This was an obituary for Jean Piaget. Since it, as obituaries tend to, highlighted Piaget's life and his finest moments and accomplishments, it helped me see what the common people thought of Piaget's work. I obtained some good quotes from this obituary that I will hopefully be able to use in my project. Secondary Sources "Alfred Binet." ​
Human Intelligence​
. N.p., 7 Nov. 2013. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. <http://www.intelltheory.com/binet.shtml>. This web page discussed Alfred Binet, one of the people responsible for creating a test to measure human intellect (the IQ test). Piaget was employed by Binet, which helped Piaget to find resources to further his own research as a psychologist. This helped me understand Binet's work, which then helped me see how Piaget obtained his start with psychology. Atherton, J S. " Assimilation and Accommodation." ​
Learning, Teaching​
. N.p., 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/assimacc.htm>. This web page talked about accommodation and assimilation, two of the areas of psychology that Jean Piaget focused most seriously on. Understanding what 16 Piaget meant when he talked about those two concepts helps me to make more sense of what Piaget said in his works. "Average SAT Math Scores in the Period of 1986­2013." ​
Breaking News Blast​
. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2016. <http://www.breakingnewsblast.com/category/race­and­intelligence/>. This chart shows the average SAT math scores every year since 1986. There has been improvement overall, which shows that lab based education reforms have helped students. I will use it in my project to show how much Piaget has positively influenced education. Beauchamp, Anne. "Kohlberg, Lawrence 1927­1987." ​
Education.com​
. Education.com, Inc., 2009. Web. 26 Jan. 2016. <​
http://www.education.com/reference/article/kohlberg­lawrence­1927­1987/​
>. This web page talked about Lawrence Kohlberg, a child psychologist who was influenced by Jean Piaget. Kohlberg was very successful on his own, and much of his work was dependent upon the work that Piaget did. It helped me to see how much of an influence Piaget had on psychology. Boeree, C. George. "Piaget." ​
Personality Theories​
. N.p., 2006. Web. 20 Jan. 2016. <http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/piaget.html>. This web page explains the different stages of Piaget's four stages of cognitive development, as well as Piaget himself and his lifetime accomplishments. It helped me to understand what his theories really meant and how successful he 17 was throughout his life. I will be using this information in my project to explain and introduce Piaget's accomplishments more. "BäRbel Inhelder." ​
Psychology​
. Net Industries, 2016. Web. 26 Jan. 2016. <http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/335/B­Rbel­Inhelder.html>. This website talked about Barbel Inhelder, a successful child psychologist. Her work was influenced tremendously by Jean Piaget. This helped me see just how much Piaget was responsible for in the psychology world. Curry, R. D. ​
Arithmetic Achievement as a Factor of Concrete, Semi Concrete, and Abstract Teaching Methods​
. Rep. N.p.: n.p., 1971. George Peabody College for Teachers. Web. 2 Apr. 2016. This study was conducted on eight to ten year old students to determine whether concrete objects used to assist teaching students math had any effect on their performance. Piaget’s theories suggested that they would, and the study found that they did cause students to perform better. This is helpful because it shows just how accurate and helpful Piaget’s work was in education. ​
Dean, Jeremy. "Jean Piaget's Four­Stage Theory: How Children Acquire Knowledge ­ PsyBlog." ​
PsyBlog RSS​
. N.p., 22 July 2008. Web. 06 Jan. 2016. <http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/07/jean­piagets­four­stage­theory­how.php>. This online article was a summary of Piaget's theories and the immediate reaction of the people. It helped me to see the short term impact, and I found many good quotes that will be helpful in my project. 18 Dubinsky, Ed. ​
Applying a Piagetian Perspective to Post­Secondary Mathematics Education​
. N.p., 18 Nov. 2000. Web. 19 Jan. 2016. <http://www.math.kent.edu/~edd/EducMatArt.pdf>. This paper, written by a math professor at Georgia State University, talked about how the theories of Jean Piaget remain applicable throughout even college level math. As it was written in 2000, it shows how Piaget's work is still used by very high level people even decades after his death, which certainly helps me to show the long­term importance of my topic, as well as providing an extensive list of the sources the author used, which I can use to further my own research. Dyrli, Odvard Egril. "Teaching/learning Legacy of Piaget: Active Learning Is Essential to Education Success." ​
District Administration​
May 2013: 10. ​
Research in Context​
. Web. 18 Jan. 2016. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A329899184&v=2.1&u=hol40923&it=r
&p=MSIC&sw=w&asid=5b016f34586a5c21069d301e40158510>. This magazine article talks about the author’s admiration for Piaget and his theories and how they influenced education. It helped me see how highly esteemed Piaget really is in the education world, and I obtained some good quotes and references to other articles and papers that I will be able to use in my project. Exploring Young People's Views on Science Education​
. Rep. National Foundation for Educational Research, Sept. 2011. Web. 2 Apr. 2016. 19 <​
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/stellent/groups/corporatesite/@msh_peda/documents/
web_document/wtvm052732.pdf​
>. This report is on how students feel about labs in science classes. It shows how much more students enjoy learning when they explore things themselves. This is helpful for my project because it demonstrates students’ willingness to learn when schools apply Piagetian concepts to their curriculum. Flavell, John H. "Other Studies." ​
The Developmental Psychology of Jean Piaget​
. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand, 1963. 366. Print. This book gives an in­depth explanation of Piaget's theories, and features a foreword written by Jean Piaget himself. It really helped me understand all of the implications and deeper meanings that were in the admittedly hard to understand theories of Piaget's. Furth, Hans G. "On Asking the Right Question." ​
Piaget and Knowledge; Theoretical Foundations​
. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice­Hall, 1969. 3­11. Print. This book was a very in­depth review of Piaget's theories and their implications, both in psychology in general and education. The pages I used talked a lot about what good would happen if people in leadership roles in educations were to put into consideration the theories of Jean Piaget. This was written many years ago, before his theories may have been really put to use, so it helped me to see how obscure primary education really was before people paid attention to the theories. Gordon, Kimberly A. "Early Childhood Education Constructivists." ​
Early Childhood Education: Becoming a Professional​
. N.p.: Sage Publications, 2014. 41. ​
Google 20 Books​
. Google, Incorporated. Web. 26 Jan. 2016. <https://books.google.com/books?id=fcEgAQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=e
arly+childhood+education&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjIxaqIjcjKAhUnmYMKHXo
oB4wQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=early%20childhood%20education&f=false>. This recently published book is aimed towards educators, specifically educators specializing in young children. The section of the book that I used talked about Jean Piaget and his theories, and how they relate to primary education. This helps me see how Piaget has influenced things, even all the way to nowadays. Harré, Rom. "The Developmentalists: Jean Piaget." Key Thinkers in Psychology​
. London: SAGE, 2006. 34­44. Print. This book gave an overview of many of the most influential psychologists of all time, which included Piaget. It helped me in that it gave me a compressed but to the point summary of all that Piaget accomplished, as well as the effects of and public reactions to his work. "History of Psychology." ​
History of Psychology​
. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015. <http://www.mindfocus.net/nc00300.html>. This online article gave a brief summary of psychology through the decades. It helped me find a lot of historical context, and it also talked a bit about Piaget and his impact as well. Hopkins, J. Roy. "The Enduring Influence of Jean Piaget." ​
Association for Psychological Science RSS​
. N.p., Dec. 2011. Web. 10 Jan. 2016. 21 <http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2011/dece
mber­11/jean­piaget.html>. This website is about the influence that Jean Piaget had on psychology. It helped me to see more concretely how much Piaget helped his science through statistics and quotations. Hynes, Mary Ellen, Michael Hynes, Marcella L. Kysilka, and Douglas Brumbaugh. "Mathematics Laboratories: What Does Research Say?" ​
Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development​
(1973): n. pag. ​
ASCD​
. ASCD, 1973. Web. 2 Apr. 2016. <​
http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_197312_hynes.pdf​
>. This article talks about how exploration­based education affects student performance. I learned just how much Piaget’s concepts benefit students and how much better students respond to those teaching styles. It helped me see how Piaget has positively influenced education long­term and how his theories are still used today. Jax, Christine. "How Piaget's Theory Influenced Child Development Research." ​
Everyday Life​
. Demand Media, 2016. Web. 26 Jan. 2016. <http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/piagets­theory­influenced­child­development­r
esearch­15902.html>. This web page was about Piaget's influence on psychology and education. It talked a lot about how other people reacted to his work, whether by reforming their 22 areas of expertise or by lending criticism. It helped me see how Piaget's theories influenced all areas of social sciences, which helps me a lot in my project. "Jean Piaget." ​
New World Encyclopedia​
. MediaWiki, 16 Feb. 2015. Web. 22 Jan. 2016. <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jean_Piaget>. This web page talks about Jean Piaget's influence on different areas of science. It helped me see just how much Piaget changed the world, even outside of psychology and epistemology. "Jean Piaget." ​
Simply Psychology​
. N.p., 17 Sept. 2009. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html>. This website gave an in­depth summary of Jean Piaget's most famous theories and their effects on psychology, including how the public reacted and what differentiated his work from what was previously thought about children's minds. It really helped me to pin down a topic for my NHD project and find a strong background so I knew what to look for in the future. Klein, David. "A Brief History of American K­12 Mathematics Education in the 20th Century." ​
A Brief History of American K­12 Mathematics Education in the 20th Century​
. Information Age Publishing, 2003. Web. 06 Jan. 2016. <http://www.csun.edu/~vcmth00m/AHistory.html>. This online article was written by a school, and it talked about the changes it was making to its curriculum. It cited Piaget as a reason for some of those changes, which was huge for me in establishing a long term impact of Piaget's theories. 23 Lepton, Kevin. "Jean Piaget and His Contributions to Early Childhood Cognitive Development." ​
Sciography​
. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2016. <http://www.sciography.com/jean­piaget.htm>. This web page gave a brief overview of Piaget's accomplishments and contributions to psychology. It helped me find a better understanding of how much Piaget was able to impact what people knew about children’s brains, which will help me know a lot more general information about my topic to help me in my project. Piaget's Developmental Theory: An Overview​
. Perf. David Elkind. Davidson Films Inc., 1989. Online Video. This video, as the title may suggest, gave a summary of Piaget's works, specifically his cognitive development theory. It helped me to better understand exactly what Piaget did, which helps explain to me why his theories were so influential in education. "Pioneers in Our Field: Jean Piaget ­ Champion of Children's Ideas." ​
Scholastic​
. Scholastic, Inc., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2016. <http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/pioneers­our­field­jean­piaget­champi
on­childrens­ideas>. This online article talked about how Piaget's studies influenced education and how teachers taught young children. It was very helpful to me in that it was very specific about how education itself was affected, because Scholastic is an education company. 24 Posner, George J., Kenneth A. Strike, Peter W. Hewson, and William Gertzog. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University, 21 Sept. 1981. PDF. This PDF of a college essay talks about the significance of various psychologists and each of their effects on education. It was incredibly helpful in establishing the long term impact of my topic, Jean Piaget, and I was also able to find a few good quotes. Pound, Linda. ​
How Children Learn: From Montessori to Vygotsky ­ Educational Theories and Approaches Made Easy​
. Vol. 1. Leamington Spa: Step Forward Pub., 2005. 39. Print. This book was about various influences in child psychology and epistemology. I learned about exactly why Piaget was influential to his field, which helps me to see the long­term impact of Piaget's studies. PSYCHOTHERAPY­ Melanie Klein​
. Prod. Mad Adam. The School of Life, 2015. YouTube​
. Google Inc., 16 Jan. 2015. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU3iSW6WTo8>. This video was about Melanie Klein, a renowned psychoanalyst. She is famous for creating many behavioral therapy methods that were effective for children, and in doing that she helped people start to see the differences between adults and children. This all helps me to see the history of child psychology, before Piaget had anything to do with it. 25 Sandwell, J. "Piaget's Stage Theory of Development." ​
Piaget's Stage Theory of Development​
. N.p., 17 Nov. 1995. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <http://penta.ufrgs.br/edu/telelab/3/piaget's.htm>. This web page talked about what is perhaps Piaget's most famous work, his theory of stage development for children's brains. I learned about how Piaget thought children's brains developed, which helps my project because I understand Piaget's thoughts better. Thornton, Stephen F. "Sigmund Freud." ​
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy​
. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <http://www.iep.utm.edu/freud/>. This web page talked about Sigmund Freud, a famous twentieth century child psychoanalyst. He is often recognized as the most influential child psychologist/psychoanalyst from the twentieth century. By reading this, I learned more about the history of psychology and what people thought about children's brains. Whitman, Alden. "Jean Piaget Dies in Geneva at 84." ​
New York Times​
. New York Times Company, 17 Sept. 1980. Web. 17 Jan. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0809.html>. This was an obituary for Jean Piaget on the New York Times' website. It was a great overview of Piaget's biggest successes and influence on psychology, and it helped me to see exactly what Piaget did in his time. 26