Workshop: W-C

Reasoning, Piaget and Education

Organizer:  Dewey Dykstra (ddykstra@boisestate.edu), Boise State University

Where:  OSH 233

When:  1:15 – 3:15 & 3:45 – 5:15, Thursday, August 11

Abstract: One of the pioneers in physics education research (PER) was Robert Karplus.  He learned about the Swiss Genetic Epistemologist, Jean Piaget, from specialists in early childhood education in the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS) in the 1960’s.  Karplus saw value in Piaget’s ideas in relation to learning science.  Together with Robert Fuller, John Layman and others one of the first AAPT workshops was developed:  Physics Teaching and the Development of Reasoning.  Piaget’s ideas are still relevant to understanding the learning process and we continue to use his research methods in PER.  This small workshop will offer a taste of the essence of the original one with additions that have also grown from Piaget’s work.