Unit3 Peer Discussion Responses
Response Guidelines
Read as many of your peers’ posts as time allows, and respond to at least two of them. Try to choose posts that have had the fewest responses.
The clarity and completeness of your peer’s post.
The demonstrated ability to apply theory to practice.
The credibility of the references.
The structure and style of the written post.
Peer Discussion 1 (H. Simonds)
Milestones
There are a couple of methods to test Cognitive milestones. What are cognitive milestones? Cherry (2017) mentions cognitive milestones are based on a child’s ability to think, learn and solve problems. Cherry (2017) also mentions that an example of this is an infant learning how to respond to facial expressions and a preschooler learning the alphabet (Cherry 2017). There are many different cognitive skills for each age. Accoring to Broderick (2014) “Newborn-1 month facial expressions, 1-3 months is coos and grunts, 3-5 months is smiles and shows interest in favorite people, 6-7 months is babbling, 9-12 months is reaches or points to indicate desired object and responds to simple requests, 13-18 months 50 words for familiar actions, 18-24 months increases vocabulary rapidly 3 words a day, 2-3 years speaks clearly enough to be understood by family members”(Broderick 2014 p.101). These are just a few examples of cognitive skills.
Testing
A couple of tests for cognitive milestones are scaffolding and object permanence. Berk (2015) mentions that the potential development refers to a range of tasks that the child cannot handle doing alone just yet but can do with the help of someone who is skilled enough to do it. Think about how a sensitive you are anoter adult introduces a child to a new activity. You or another adult pick a task that the child can master but that is challenging enough that the child cannot do it by his/herself. You or another adult guides and supports, adjusting the level of support offered to fit the child’s current level of performance. As the child joins in the interaction and picks up mental strategies, her competence increases, and the adult steps back, permitting the child to take more responsibility for the task. This is a form of teaching known as scaffolding (Berk 2015 p. 222).
According to Gross (2012) “One of the best-known examples of the development of sensorimotor intelligence is object permanence, Piaget’s term for infants’ gradually developing understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are not in sensory or motor contact with them. Piaget tested object permanence by placing an ordinary object (his pocketwatch) under a blanket. He noted that, unless some part of the watch remained visible, Stage 3 infants typically failed to lift up the blanket and retrieve the hidden object”(Gross 2012 p. 204).
References
Berk, L. E., Meyers, A. B. (2015-03-01). Infants, Children, and Adolescents, 8th Edition. [Bookshelf Online]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781323243565/
Broderick, P. C., Blewitt, P. (01/2014). Life Span, The: Human Development for Helping Professionals, 4th Edition. [Bookshelf Online]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781269907422/
Gross, D. (07/2012). Infancy: Development From Birth to Age 3, 2/e Vitalsource ebook for Capella University. [Bookshelf Online]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781256807070/
Cherry, K. (n.d.). (12/2017) What Are the Developmental Milestones that Children Experience? Retrieved January 24, 2018, from https://www.verywell.com/what-is-a-developmental-milestone-2795123
Peer Discussion 2 (Kenwyn)
In a sociocultural view human cognition and learning are social and cultural rather than individual (Bahador et al., 2017). A part of Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory (SCT) believes that learning scientific concepts presented the learner with an internal organization system for ideas and allowed the learner to utilize those ideas more efficiently by using more advanced thinkers. This provides novice learners with scaffolding, which enables novice learners to reach higher levels of thinking (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015). Bahador (et al. 2017) defines scaffolding as a dialogic process by which an open speaker aids another in doing a function that he or she cannot carry out without help.
In relating this method to education, scaffolding is a guidance provided by a teacher or peer, with supports that reach a point where the learner can manifest in actuality what previously only has been seen as potential. This can be through questioning, using cues, or prompts that encourage thinking through a situation instead of only providing the answer (Broderick & Blewitt). The teacher or peer would be able to confirm the success in completing the milestone. To know if scaffolding is successful the task must be mastered (2015), thus making the role of the adult crucial to scaffolding (2017).
