The cognitive developmental level of elementary school students in Trinidad and Tobago
Abstract
A sample of 6,686 pupils, ranging in age from 5 to 15 years, was randomly selected from the various school types, localities, and cultural, social, and racial backgrounds. The investigation involved only a post-test. Operational Task No. 1 of the Science Reasoning Tasks developed at the Chelsea College Centre for Science Education was selected to assess level of cognitive performance. Results indicated a steadily decreasing proportion of pupils from age 5 to 11 years at the pre-operational stage; a steady increase to age 10 followed by some fluctuation and ending with a high proportion at age 15 at the transitional stage; an increase to age 11 followed by a decrease to age 15 at the concrete operational stage. It was concluded that it is possible to classify the cognitive developmental levels of Trinidadian pupils according to Piagetian stages
Description
Annual Conference of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, 54th, New York, USA, 5-8 Apr., 1981