Γνωστική ανάπτυξη μαθητών Λυκείου: Θεωρητικές και εκπαιδευτικές επιπτώσεις

Περίληψη

The study investigated the structure and development of formal thought among tenth-, eleventh-, and twelfth-grade students. The subjects of the study (708 boys and 844 girls) were the total number of students from 60 intact classes attending the science, the economic, and the other sections of the upper cycle of two secondary schools in a town of Cyprus. Students' performance on a standardized Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT) was used as a measure of their cognitive abilities related to control of variables, proportional, probabilistic, correlation and combinatorial reasoning and as a means of categorizing them into stages of cognitive development based on Piagetian theory. The observed statistical differences in students' performance on TOLT items related to gender, section of study, or grade (chronological age) did not correspond tο observed differences concerning students' academic achievement in school subjects. Regression analysis showed, however, that section of study, achievement in mathematics, gender, achievement in English language, and grade (chronological age), but not achievement in Greek language and grade point average, contributed significantly to the prediction of students' performance on TOLT explaining more than 41% of the total variance. Factor analysis of performance on the ten TOLT items {two items from each reasoning mode) produced a three-factor solution for the sample of girls and a two-factor solution for the sample of boys explaining 51.7% and 58.2% of the total variance, respectively. There were also significant differences of students' performance between items related to the same or different reasoning modes. The results of the study do not corroborate with basic aspects of the Piagetian paradigm of cognitive development and indicate that different theoretical perspectives should be considered when evaluating cognitive development. The results of the study indicate, furthermore, that the existing curricula and the traditional teaching practices are incompatible with students' capacity in terms of cognitive development. Research related to the nature and the process of cognitive development should be intensified and new curricula, "interventionary" in nature, based on research evidence need to be designed and implemented to facilitate optimal cognitive growth.