Developing Scientists of Tomorrow
Saturday, September 18th, 2010
Children are naturally inquisitive, eager to learn all the intricacies of what they see. However, unless nurtured, this inquisitiveness is not developed. In fact, inquisitiveness might even be discouraged and the child taught to accept “authority” without question. Are such children obedient to authority likely to become scientists who are supposed to question even “obvious” statements?
Recent K-12 U.S. education standards mention competence in scientific investigation as a key curriculum goal. From early grades on, children should learn to:
* Formulate a question
* Design an investigation
* Analyze data
* Draw conclusions
Even the National Council of Teachers of English (a non-scientific subject) mention their goal as: “Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources … to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.”
To be effective, it is necessary how the cognitive skills involved in such activities actually develop, and how these can be supported through education. The natural curiosity of children need to be developed into full “scientific thinking” habits. And this needs a clear definition of what scientific thinking involves.
All of us, from childhood, tend to construct “theories” that help us make sense of what we see. And these theories tend to be revised in the light of new experience. Scientific thinking can, for example, probably be defined as the conversion of the above “unconscious” process into a formal thinking process.
Read the article Science Learning by pearlfreeman elaborating on this topic.
Tags: cognitive science, education, scientific thinking, thinking skills
Posted in cognitive science, education, thinking skills | No Comments »
Origins of Human Uniqueness and Behavioral Modernity
Monday, March 1st, 2010
The title above is the theme of a recent workshop at Arizona University where representatives from varied disciplines such as anthropology, primatology, cognitive science, psychology, paleontology, archaeology, evolutionary biology and genetics participated.
The workshop sessions explored the question of how an overwhelmingly weak species of humans could come to dominate other species that outdid it in speed, agility, jaws and claws. The participants agreed that an “underlying capacity to produce complexity” defined human uniqueness and that behavioral modernity consisted of expressing this uniqueness.
The three C’s of Cognition, Culture and Cooperation were the key characteristics whose expression the participants focused upon. They sought to pinpoint markers for each of these expressions, using these to identify the emergence of humans.
Development of larger brains led to human cognition that enabled the species to create stone tools and weapons, and to other demonstrations of a capacity for thinking and innovation. Curiously, fire helped sustain the larger brain that required more metabolic energy. Fire freed up energy needs by softening foods, denaturing proteins and breaking down toxins.
Read more details of the fascinating story including how Culture and Cooperation appeared and their impact, at Scientific American.
Tags: cognition, cooperation, culture, evolution, human uniqueness
Posted in behavior, cognitive science, culture, thinking skills | No Comments »
Video Games for Improving Memory and Thinking Skills in the Elderly
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
National Science Foundation of USA has made a $1.2 million grant to Carolina State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology for a research study. The study will examine whether video games can improve memory and thinking skills in elderly people, and if they do, how it occurs.
The grant will also cover using the findings of the study to develop a prototype video game that will improve the cognitive functioning of this group. With an improved memory, for example, the elderly will better be able to go about their daily routines.
The study will focus on identifying the specific qualities of a video game that help improve cognitive functions.
A set of guidelines will then be formulated for developing a new class of video games for use by older adults. A prototype game will be developed following the guidelines. ccording to the spokesperson of the research group, previous studies have indicated that the three qualities of attention demand, novelty and social interaction of video games can help improve cognitive functions.
Video games demand focused attention for successful play and developing the attention habit can lead to successful completion of other tasks. The novelty of encountering tasks one has not faced before can act as a catalyst for learning. Social interaction can also make the players devote more attention and effort to the game.
The study will start with a test of the cognitive functioning of the participants, who will be persons aged 65 and above. The participants will then play one of the two video games, BOOM BLOX or BOOM BLOX Bash Party. The cognitive functioning of the participants will then be tested again.
BOOM BLOX is a Wii console based video game developed collaboratively by Electronic Arts and Steven Spielberg. According to researchers, it was chosen because its “novelty, attentional demand and social interaction may be manipulated by the researchers.” It would thus be possible to identify the particular factors that improve cognitive functioning.
If, say, the novelty and attentional demand qualities are found to improve cognitive functioning, a new game focusing on these two qualities will be developed. Testing the new game on the participants will help researchers see whether the greater benefits in cognitive functioning can be useful in the real world.
Read more at: Cam Video Games Improve Thinking Skills in Elderly?
Tags: cognitive functioning, cognitive skills, elderly, memory, thinking, video game
Posted in cognitive science, thinking skills | No Comments »
