Effects of a Cognitive Acceleration Programme on Year 1 pupils (Updated)

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What is cognitive intervention all about?

Like its precursors, the Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE) and Cognitive Acceleration through Mathematics (CAME) projects, the intervention in this study was based on the assumptions that:

there is some general intellectual function in children which is context-independent;
this function develops through the interaction of maturation and environmental conditions; and
children’s intelligence is sufficiently flexible to be amenable to change by a well-designed intervention programme.

Whilst the first two assumptions were supported by the work of other educationalists and psychologists, and the results of the first CASE programme itself, the third assumption has been continuously strengthened by results from further CASE programmes.

To find out more about CASE, see Where can I find out more?. You can also visit www.gtce.org.uk/researchofthemonth ‘Improving learning through cognitive intervention’ where you will find a summary of the CASE project.

The first part of the intervention involves ‘concrete preparation’. This is the stage in which the scene is set and the situation is explained to the children. They are shown the apparatus and how it is used and unfamiliar words and phrases are introduced to them.

This preliminary step is followed by the four main elements of the cognitive intervention strategy:

‘Cognitive’ conflict (Cognitive Challenge)
The teacher presents the pupils with a situation which they cannot tackle with their existing cognitive structure. This is the first stage of the intervention activities. It is described as cognitive conflict, which is usually taken to mean cognitive challenge.

Social construction
This is a social activity in which the children are encouraged to discuss the problem with one another, to try to solve it together. The teacher’s role is to mediate while the pupils construct the knowledge and understanding.

Metacognition
In their work the authors define metacognition as the conscious reflection by a child on his or her own thinking processes, often (but not always) after he or she has worked through a given problem. In this way the pupils become aware of their own reasoning, and the thinking process becomes explicit.

Schema theory
In order to develop cognitive development processes, the researchers use a set of ‘schema’ on which to build the classroom activities. This concept comes from the ideas of Piaget and co-workers in Geneva, see Where can I find out more? who defined schema as general ways of thinking which underpin all rational thought. The schema used by the authors for their work with 5 and 6 year olds included:

putting things in order according to specific variables;
classifying things; and
spatial perception.

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction What did the research show? What is cognitive intervention all about? How was the research designed? What were the main components of the programme? What were the characteristic features of the activities used in the project? What happened in a classroom activity? How did the pupils benefit? How were the teachers prepared for the intervention? Which tests were used on the pupils? Implications Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To find out more about collated digests click here Get Word Reader Effects of a Cognitive Acceleration Programme on Year 1 pupils (Updated) This digest found in Thinking skills Send to a friend Word doc 100KB Printer friendly Collate for later What is cognitive intervention all about? Like its precursors, the Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE) and Cognitive Acceleration through Mathematics (CAME) projects, the intervention in this study was based on the assumptions that: there is some general intellectual function in children which is context-independent; this function develops through the interaction of maturation and environmental conditions; and children’s intelligence is sufficiently flexible to be amenable to change by a well-designed intervention programme. Whilst the first two assumptions were supported by the work of other educationalists and psychologists, and the results of the first CASE programme itself, the third assumption has been continuously strengthened by results from further CASE programmes. To find out more about CASE, see Where can I find out more?. You can also visit www.gtce.org.uk/researchofthemonth ‘Improving learning through cognitive intervention’ where you will find a summary of the CASE project. The first part of the intervention involves ‘concrete preparation’. This is the stage in which the scene is set and the situation is explained to the children. They are shown the apparatus and how it is used and unfamiliar words and phrases are introduced to them. This preliminary step is followed by the four main elements of the cognitive intervention strategy: ‘Cognitive’ conflict (Cognitive Challenge) The teacher presents the pupils with a situation which they cannot tackle with their existing cognitive structure. This is the first stage of the intervention activities. It is described as cognitive conflict, which is usually taken to mean cognitive challenge. Social construction This is a social activity in which the children are encouraged to discuss the problem with one another, to try to solve it together. The teacher’s role is to mediate while the pupils construct the knowledge and understanding. Metacognition In their work the authors define metacognition as the conscious reflection by a child on his or her own thinking processes, often (but not always) after he or she has worked through a given problem. In this way the pupils become aware of their own reasoning, and the thinking process becomes explicit. Schema theory In order to develop cognitive development processes, the researchers use a set of ‘schema’ on which to build the classroom activities. This concept comes from the ideas of Piaget and co-workers in Geneva, see Where can I find out more? who defined schema as general ways of thinking which underpin all rational thought. The schema used by the authors for their work with 5 and 6 year olds included: putting things in order according to specific variables; classifying things; and spatial perception.