ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses developmental psychology that took place about 12 years ago while teaching science in California. Using a battery of individually administered tasks, students were classified into developmental stages and substages. The learning cycle was designed to be compatible with Piaget's equilibration model of intellectual development. Piaget states that four factors are necessary for intellectual development: maturation; concrete experience; social transmission; and self-regulation. The instructional procedures certainly contained concrete materials and all the subjects were actively engaged in physically manipulating those materials. Social transmission was a component incorporated into instruction. Lawson and Snitgen tested the hypothesis that substantial gains in advanced reasoning can be attained in the classroom setting provided that a variety of experiences occurred, the instruction capitalized on the student's intuitive understanding, and instruction allowed students to reflect upon their initially incorrect or incomplete reasoning. The general teaching strategy was to let students generate and discuss experimental designs in teams.
