Vygotsky's
Developmental Theory: An Introduction
This program
introduces the life, vocabulary and concepts of Lev Vygotsky.
The video illustrates four basic concepts integral to his work:
Children construct knowledge, learning can lead development,
development cannot be separated from its social context, and
language plays a central role in cognitive development. Includes
classroom examples relevant to preservice and classroom teachers.
You might choose to begin about 7 minutes into the video to
concentrate on developmental concepts rather than on the life
of Vygotsky.
(1994)
28 minutes. |
Piaget's
Developmental Theory: An Overview
This program
provides an overview of the life, vocabulary and concepts of
Jean Piaget. It provides examples of his developmental stages
using infants, preschool and elementary-aged children.
(1994)
27 minutes. |
Using What We Know: Applying Piaget's Developmental Theories
Narrated
by David Elkind (The Hurried Child), this video provides examples
of classrooms in which the theories of Piaget are intuitively
applied. This tape deals primarily with application and does
not review Piaget's theories of development in depth, but it
provides positive examples of developmentally appropriate practice.
(1994)
28 minutes. |
Piaget's
Developmental Theory: Concrete Operations
This program
concentrates on the componant parts of Piaget's concept of Concrete
Operations. Narrator David Elkind demonstrates the concepts
of transitivity and reversibility with children of various ages.
(1994)
28 minutes. |
Out
of the Mouths of Babes
A humorous
look at misconceptions of Latter-day Saint children. An enjoyable
way to introduce the concept of developmental readiness.
(1996)
15 minutes. This tape is available in the BYU Bookstore
|
Education
Video Clips—Stand & Deliver
Use
the "fill the hole" clip in which Jaime Escalante
teaches the concept of negative numbers using the concrete idea
of digging and filling a hole. This clip reminds us of the need
for concrete representation and for providing a link to prior
experience any time the learner is unfamiliar with a concept.
Even adults benefit from familiar, concrete examples. You might
want to discuss the idea that the concrete-operational phase
is more a matter of development than of age. |
| Carl
Harris Ethnography—The Julene Kendell Case
Kendall uses real wheat and flour as she tells the story of
the Little Red Hen to ESL students. Click the Hands-On Activity
button on the left, then use the Multiple Intelligences and
Total Physical Response clips. Useful for illustrating application
of Concrete Operational phase. |
| Carl
Harris Ethnography—The Brenda Beyal Case
Good teaching often involves the marriage of Piagetian and
Vygotskian ideas. In this case, the instructor uses concrete
illustrations of the concepts she is teaching and, at the same
time, encourages her students to interact socially, share their
ideas, clarify their thinking with the instructor, etc. Several
clips could be useful.
Click the Sense Making button, then choose Rachel's Sense Making
to see Beyal's interaction with a student who has a difficult
time explaining her solution to a problem. Beyal allows Rachel
to talk through her idea, rather than cut her off in the interest
of time. Question: Why would Vygotsky think a verbal exchange
such as this one is important for Rachel? What might Beyal have
done with Rachel to make this interaction even more valuable?
(She could have invited Rachel to the front of the room to illustrate
and explain her idea and could possibly have helped her find
the words to explain her configuration).
Beyal uses colored tiles to let the students construct a variety
of rectangles. Several clips can be used to illustrate Beyal's
concrete approach to teaching a concept that will eventually
make multiplication, geometry and other math functions easier
for students to grasp.
This video is available online. |
| Carl
Harris Ethnography—The Peggy Hunt Case
Peggy Hunt uses the concrete idea of a silo to introduce the
concept of capacity. She has the students make two different
silos with the same surface area and invites them to guess which
will store more grain.
If you use the Peggy Hunt Case, you might also want to turn
to use the Educational Psychology Case, click the Management
Study 2 button on the left and choose the Katie Crowder clip.
Crowder discusses the dilemna of teaching the "hard"
way (hands-on) vs the "easy" way (lecture). The Peggy
Hunt case is used to illustrate some of the benefits of teaching
the "hard" way, and the various tabs offer additional
support for her methods.
This video is available online. |
| Carl
Harris Ethnography—The Derek Rentz Case
If you discuss Erikson's theories of development, this case
study has a section that deals exclusively with Erikson's stages
of adolescent development. Click the Adolescent Development
button on the left and choose any of the clips. You will need
to watch more of the ethnography to see the behaviors of the
students who are being discussed. |
| Education
Video Clips 2—Piaget's Law of Conservation
Demonstration of Piaget's law of conservation with children
of different ages. (4 minutes) This clip is taken from Piaget's
Developmental Theory: An Overview |
| Educational
Psychology—Slavin—Chapter 2: The Kohlburg Dilemna.
This clip is only useful if you have chosen to study Kohlburg.
In this clip, children of various ages have been presented with
a moral dilemna they are asked to solve. |
| Reader
for Life—Building Vocabulary
This video was designed as a tool for parents to use in preparing
their young children to read. The "vocabulary" section
might be a good way to introduce Vygotsky's emphasis on the
importance of language in development. |
Teaching and Learning 
