25th Annual Symposium

Piaget and the Logic of Psychopathology

Organizers: GERALD H. ZUK & CARMEN VEIGA ZUK

While Piaget's theory has been applied in a restricted form to cognitive dysfunction in children and adolescents (e.g., mental retardation and autism), his work was directed essentially to the understanding of normal mental or logical development in children or adolescence. The discussion leaders believe it would be important to discover a role for Piagetian thinking in human mental dysfunction, in particular in the severe psychiatric disorders, and the purpose of the discussion group is to concentrate the attention of participants on this possibility.

What is the Role of Student Interest in "Developmentally Appropriate" Education?: A Discussion

Organizers: K. ANN RENNINGER, Swarthmore College, ROSALIE P. FINK, Lesley College

Research findings have begun to demonstrate that it is not always the case that interest enhances learning. Thus, it is important that the specifics of when interest really does make a difference are detailed. It is also important that serious consideration be given to the ways in research findings do map onto practice, as well as the nature of the questions that practitioners need to have researchers address. The Discussion leaders in this session will overview findings from their own research briefly to provide a basis for thinking together with "the audience" about the following questions: (a) When and what type of interest makes a difference for students in the process of learning? (b) What is the relation between the effects of interest on learning and individual variation (i.e. gender, race, ethnicity, typicality due to dyslexia, giftedness, etc.)? (c) What is the relation between interest and cognition in learning? (d) What is the relation between interest and motivation in learning? Central to discussion of each question will be concerns emerging from classroom practice.

The Teaching of Reading: Viewpoints from Current Writing and Research

Organizer: JEANNETTE McCARTHY GALLAGHER, Lehigh University

The focus of the discussion session is on the teaching of reading related to contemporary scholarship in the field. Four issues and questions are highlighted: (1) The misunderstanding of reading "disorders" when they are defined as an unexpected discrepancy between aptitude and reading ability; (2) The problem of children who enter school without an understanding of print and its uses; (3) The reductionist approach to reading which persists in isolating the mechanisms and thereby fails to grasp the whole; (4) The application of new findings in the genetic basis for reading disabilities. Ample time is planned for audience participation. Links to theoretical aspects of Piaget and Vygotsky are anticipated.

JEANNETTE McCARTHY GALLAGHER, Lehigh University
D. KIM REID, University of Northern Colorado
JEAN FENTIMAN, Educational Consulting Services, La Canada Flintridge
WILLIAM WANSART, University of New Hampshire

Thinking Science: A Program For the Long-Term Promotion of Formal Operations in Middle and High Schools

Organizer: PHILIP S. ADEY, King's College London

The Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education program has been producing some remarkable effects on the development of formal reasoning in high school students, and it seems that the promotion of cognitive development in early secondary years leads to long-term gains in academic achievement across a range of subject areas. in this workshop we will introduce the theoretical underpinning of cognitive acceleration, give participants hands-on experience of some of the methods, show some of the results that have been achieved, discuss the implications for the professional development of teachers, and provide plenty of opportunity for you to consider possible applications in your own situation.

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