Prospective Teachers’ Knowledge of Evaluating Student Errors on Area Conservation Task

The data of conjecturing student errors were analyzed by focusing on possible errors of triangle area on a conservation task, while PSTs’ responses of student errors were scrutinized using four strands: mathematical focus, pedagogical action, form of address, and degree of student error use. Results revealed that while PSTs tend to identify as well as interpret the existence of mathematical errors from the conceptual aspect on triangles with the same sizes of height and base, few PSTs could evaluate student errors employing the formal structure of area conservation concept on triangles with the different sizes of height and base. Regarding PST’s responses, PSTs tend to agree with facilitating students to investigate the congruence of base and height of triangles in constructing the concept of triangle area measurement. However, they preferred to choose pedagogical action by reexplaining the main feature of the task solution instead of using student errors as a tool to probe student thinking or provide cognitive conflicts. Furthermore, most of the PST also don’t use student errors as a tool to reconstruct a whole lesson indicating learning trajectory on area conservation concepts, but as a steppingstone to correct subsequent errors.

Attachment Play Related to Piaget's Conservation Task with Parent

Piaget's conservation concept still influences many disciplines such as pedagogy and psychology. It is said that this idea is difficult for children to acquire before they are 6 years old if Piaget’s task methods are adhered to. This study aims to verify whether the acquisition of the conservation concept (substance, weight, and volume) can be accelerated through an intentional environmental change (the setting of play related to conservation accompanied by the development of affection with parent). To this end, a single case study was conducted on a 3-year-old child. Specifically, monthly retention tasks (and related content) were executed in the form of a quiz game. The results of the experiment suggested that the conservation concept may be obtained by 3-year-old children. Hence, it may be asserted that play related to conservation accompanied by the formation of attachment with a parent influences the early acquisition of the conservation concepts of substance, weight, and volume.

The Smart Nonconserver: Preschoolers Detect Their Number Conservation Errors

Classic developmental studies have established that children’s number conservation is often biased by misleading intuitions. However, the precise nature of these conservation errors is not clear. A key question is whether children detect that their erroneous conservation judgment is unwarranted. The present study focuses on this critical error sensitivity issue. Preschool children were given a classic version of a number conservation task in which an intuitively cued response conflicted with the correct conservation response and a control version in which this conflict was not present. After solving each version children were asked to indicate their response confidence. Results showed that in contrast with children who gave a correct conservation response, preschoolers who erred showed a sharp confidence decrease after solving the classic conflict problem. This suggests that nonconserving preschoolers detect that their response is questionable and are less ignorant about conservation than their well-documented errors might have previously suggested.

WATER CONSERVATION PLANNING IN AUSTIN, TEXAS

Despite a long-standing, aggressive water conservation program, the City of Austin needed to develop additional conservation strategies to meet a City Council goal of reducing water use by 1 percent a year for ten years. This paper details the strategies discussed and ultimately recommended by staff and a Council-formed Water Conservation Task Force over a hectic 120-day period.

Conservation or conversation: A test of the repeated question hypothesis

The main goal of the paper is to reanalyze the results of previous studies on the repeated question effect in the conservation task, and to create a more direct test of the repeated question (RQ) hypothesis (repeating of question in the conservation task may mislead concrete-operational children to give the wrong answer since they interpret the repeating as an implicit sign that their first answer is wrong). Reanalysis of previous studies shows that some original conclusions need to be modified, and that a more direct test of the RQ hypothesis is needed. Each participant (N=58, mean age 7;10) was tested by two tasks (conservation of liquid), a standard and modified version. In the modified task, liquid was poured into the same glass, so that the child?s answer was not under influence of his or her level of cognitive development, but only by the repeated question (child who was misled by the RQ would give a wrong answer). According to the RQ hypothesis, children who change their answer on the modified task also need to change their answer on the standard task. Moreover, children who resist the RQ on the standard task do not need to change their answer on the modified task. Results show a different pattern than expected by the RQ hypothesis.

Piagetian Conservation in College Students: A Classroom Demonstration

College students are often surprised to learn that a preoperational child can be misled by a Piagetian conservation task. A simple demonstration can show how the students themselves can be misled into assuming that deforming a circle into an ellipse with the same circumference does not change its area.