The Pendulum Problem: Patterns of Performance Defining Developmental Stages

Somerville, Susan C.

doi:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1974.tb00780.x

Cited by 27 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…This is in full agreement with the observations of Sommerville (1974) and Shayer et al (1976). Also each student's success depends on the task set.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Study of Formal Reasoning Patterns by Means of Three Piagetian Tasks: Implications for Science Education

Aiello‐Nicosia

Giacomo

Machí

et al. 1980

European Journal of Science Education

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SummariesEnglish This is the first report of our research into the correlation between intellectual development and students' understanding of scientific concepts and operational science processes. The main aim of the research is the reorganization of the physics contents of high-school courses. We refer to Piaget's cognitive theory because of its relevance to the learning of the formal structure of science.Problems connected with measures of formal level are discussed. Results are reported concerning the reliability and validity of a Piagetian or Piagetian-like task as a measure of students' level of formal reasoning.Correlations between performance on tasks and chronological age, socioeconomic status, students' sex and type of school, are reported and compared with similar known results, obtained in different social and cultural environments. Implications for curricular planning and evaluation are discussed. Conclusions are drawn concerning the necessity of planning science courses in terms of concepts and conceptual schemes rather than in terms of topics. DeutschDies ist unser erster Forschungsbericht über die Wechselbeziehungen zwischen intellektueller Entwicklung und dem Verständnis wissenschaftlicher Begriffe und operativer wissenschaftlicher Prozesse. Das Hauptziel der Untersuchung ist die Reorganisation physikalischer Inhalte für den Unterricht an höheren Schulen. Wir beziehen uns dabei auf Piagets Erkenntnistheorie in Anbetracht deren Wichtigkeit für das Erlernen des formalen wissenschaftlichen Struktur. Es werden Probleme diskutiert, die im Zusammenhang stehen mit der Bewertung des, formalen Niveaus. Es werden Ergebnisse wiedergegeben, die die Verlässlichkeit und Gültigkeit einer Piaget-Aufgabe oder einer piagetähnlichen Aufgabe betreffen als Maß für das Niveau des formalen Denkens des Schülers. Es werden die Wechselbeziehungen zwischen den Ergebnissen der Aufgaben, dem Alter, der sozioökonomischen Lage, dem Geschlecht des Schülers und der Schulart wiedergegeben und mit ähnlichen, schon bekannten Ergebnissen verglichen, die in einer anderen gesellschaftlichen und kulturellen Umgebung erzielt wurden. Diskutiert werden die Folgerungen für die Planung und Bewertung von Lehrplänen. Die daraus gezogenen Schlüsse betreffen die Notwendigkeit, den naturwissenschaftlichen Unterricht vielmehr nach Begriffen und begrifflichen Schemata als nach Themen zu planen. ‡Present address: Centro Scolastico J. J. Rousseau, Palermo, Italy. Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 06:53 04 February 2015 68 RESEARCH REPORTS FrançaisC'est le premier rapport concernant notre recherche sur les corrélations entre le développement intellectuel et la compréhension des concepts scientifiques et des procédés opérationnels de la Science.Le but principal de cette recherche est la réorganisation des contenus de la Physique pour les cours de l'école secondaire. On se réfère à la théorie cognitive de Piaget à cause de son importance pour l'étude de la structure formelle de la Science.On a discuté des problèmes connexes aux mesures du ni...

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“…This is in full agreement with the observations of Sommerville (1974) and Shayer et al (1976). Also each student's success depends on the task set.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Study of Formal Reasoning Patterns by Means of Three Piagetian Tasks: Implications for Science Education

Aiello‐Nicosia

Giacomo

Machí

et al. 1980

European Journal of Science Education

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“…As the original Genevan method, the méthode clinique remains the conventional means of investigating operational ability (Dale 1970;Lovell 1961;Somerville 1974). However, during the course of testing in the present study, three procedural aspects in the administration of the pendulum problem were identified which provide potential for misinterpretation of performances in the individual méthode clinique situation.…”

Section: Evaluation Of Méthode Cliniquementioning

confidence: 85%

“…While replications of Piaget's work (Lovell 1961;Pauli et al 1974;Somerville 1974) have shown the accuracy of the méthode clinique in eliciting cognitive competence and differentiating between operational levels, they also describe its limitations in that the method is time-consuming and requires considerable expertise for administration and interpretation. Researchers interested in empirical studies have also argued "that results obtained by such a flexible procedure as the méthode clinique do not lend themselves to statistical treatment" (Wallace 1965, p. 58).…”

Section: Measuring Formal Operationsmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…A second issue regards the influence of expectations on observations, as was noted in the early replication studies of the pendulum problem by Lovell (1961) and Somerville (1974). For many subjects, even those who otherwise demonstrated mature use of the control of variables scheme, observations of effects on the pendulum seemed to be heavily influenced by their expectations of the results.…”

Section: Evaluation Of Méthode Cliniquementioning

confidence: 95%

“…In Shayer's (1978) review of Somerville's (1974) replication of the pendulum task, he takes issue with the range of the sample used in that study. Somerville's results indicated that up to 97 percent of her 236 subjects (aged 10-14 years) had reached a late formal level of operational ability, and that none of her subjects were at the early concrete (IIA) stage.…”

Section: Relative Test Difficultiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What the Pendulum Can Tell Educators about Children’s Scientific Reasoning

Stafford¹

2004

Sci Educ

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Inhelder and Piaget (1958) studied schoolchildren's understanding of a simple pendulum as a means of investigating the development of the control of variables scheme and the ceteris paribus principle central to scientific experimentation. The time-consuming nature of the individual interview technique used by Inhelder has led to the development of a whole range of group test techniques aimed at testing the empirical validity and increasing the practical utility of Piaget's work. The Rasch measurement techniques utilized in this study reveal that the Piagetian Reasoning Task III -Pendulum and the méthode clinique interview reveal the same underlying ability. Of particular interest to classroom teachers is the evidence that some individuals produced rather disparate performances across the two testing situations. The implications of the commonalities and individual differences in performance for interpreting children's scientific understanding are discussed.

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An alternative to piagetian psychology for science and mathematics education

Novak

1977

Science Education

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In 1964, conferences were held at Cornell University and the University of California that resulted in a report entitled "Piaget Rediscovered" [ I]. This was apropos for the times, for American educators did "rediscover" Piaget's work in the 1960s and his popularity rose in part as "inquiry" and "discovery" oriented science and math curriculum innovations were promoted with large federal grants. Piaget's work, with its emphasis on the need for children to manipulate materials and thus spontaneously to advance in "cognitive operations," served as a theoretical justification for the curriculum reform movements of the 1960s.One of the reasons for the public support for curriculum improvement was the orbiting of a satellite by the U.S.S.R. in 1957 and the attendant concern with the adequacy of American education. Another reason was that textbooks and teachers were often outof-date in subject matter presented and much of what was presented was a catalog of factual information to be learned by rote. Knowledge acquired by rote learning is soon lost, and even before it is forgotten, this knowledge cannot be used effectively in problem solving. In an effort to reduce teaching practices that encouraged rote learning, new curriculum efforts, and supporting federal agencies, adopted a dogmatic adherence to "discovery approaches" [2].What was overlooked was the fact that discovery teaching approaches do not guarantee meaningful learning and that didactic or reception teaching methods can be effective in developing highly functional conceptual frameworks in our students. In short, educators had confused the rote-meaningful continuum for learning with the reception-discovery continuum for presentation. Figure 1 shows these two distinct continua and representative experiences that can be rote or meaningful in nature for both reception or discovery learning. I t was not until 1963 that Ausubel's The Psychology ofMeaningfuf Verbal Learning[ 31 appeared, and with discovery learning approaches then firmly entrenched in educational dogma, his book attracted relatively little attention in the United States. Today there is a move "back to the basics" and we are in danger of returning also to rote learning approaches. While discovery learning strategies have some important and unique educational values, it is obvious that our cultural heritage, created by geniuses over the past three or four centuries, cannot be rediscovered by our pupils in 10 or 15 years. It follows, therefore, that the central task of schools is to make expository teaching and reception learning meaningful, and I wil! argue in this paper that Ausubel's theory of

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The Pendulum Problem: Patterns of Performance Defining Developmental Stages

Cited by 27 publications

References 4 publications

Study of Formal Reasoning Patterns by Means of Three Piagetian Tasks: Implications for Science Education

Study of Formal Reasoning Patterns by Means of Three Piagetian Tasks: Implications for Science Education

What the Pendulum Can Tell Educators about Children’s Scientific Reasoning

An alternative to piagetian psychology for science and mathematics education

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