1 Assignment 2 Research Report (40%) Due Friday 15th April 2011

The purpose of this assignment is to introduce you to gathering, analysing and reporting research data. The focus is on examining Piaget’s concepts in a practical way. It links to your achievement of the Unit Outcomes 3 and 4:

3 Collect, analyse and interpret data with respect to the domains of development.
4 Develop academic essay and report writing skills

The assignment consists of clear steps which are outlined below:

Gathering the data (revisit Chapter 2 for information on ethics, observation and note taking)
Collect about 20 small items that can be sorted or categorised in multiple ways e.g. shells, screws / nails, buttons, pictures from a shopping catalogue or magazine etc.
Select two people of different ages. A larger discrepancy (a primary school aged child and an adult; or a preschooler and an adolescent for example) will be easier for you but you may need just to work with people you have easy access to.
Explain that you need to ask people of different ages to do a short activity for a university assignment. It should take a maximum of about 20 minutes.
Gain their consent to participate in your study. Make sure you submit signed consent forms (see link under “Assessments”) from the participants.
It is important that you learn normal research protocol, and this demands that, irrespective of whether or not the person is a family member, you would need to have them sign the consent form.
A parent or guardian should sign on behalf of any persons younger than 18, and a schoolteacher does not have the authority to do this. In addition to the parent/guardian's signature you should also obtain the child's verbal consent and if able to write, his/her signature. If you only obtain verbal consent, this should be clearly stated in the essay.
Please note: You must include these consent forms with your assignment.
Arrange a time to see your participants individually in a comfortable place free from distractions. You might work at a table or on the floor. Parents of a very young child may wish to be present but ask them not to help in any way as you need to find out what children of this age can do on their own.
Give the following instructions (you may adapt them slightly for the age of the person but do not give ideas of how to sort the objects)
“I have here some different sorts of shells (pictures, buttons etc). I want you to put them into groups of ones that are alike. Put similar ones (ones that are the same) into the same group. You can have as many different groups as you want”
Allow your participant time to do this. Make notes of what they say and do.
Ask: “Can you tell me…. why you have put them in these groups? OR ..how you grouped/sorted them? OR why you grouped them like this? OR for a very young child …how the things you’ve put here are all the same?”
Put the objects back into one group and ask the person to see if they can sort them a different way – into different groups but still ones that go together.
The person may group according to visual characteristics (big ones, red ones etc) or preference (I like these best) or function (these pictures are of things that go in a kitchen, or these are things you play with). It doesn’t matter what categories they use. You don’t suggest any and just say “I see” or “thank you” or repeat what they have said or use some other neutral expression when they tell you what they have done. If they can’t think of another way to group them note this and say “that’s fine”.
Continue pushing the objects back into one pile and asking the participant to regroup the objects until the participant is unable to think of any new types of groupings. (This helps you to see clearly which of Piaget’s stages the participant is in).
Thank the person very much for helping with your assignment. A young child might like a sticker and you can make your friend a cup of coffee!
Write any additional (private) comments for yourself about how the person accomplished the task.

Analysing the data

Look at how your participants grouped the objects and how they explained their grouping.
Drawing up a table of your results may be helpful.
How were their groupings similar / different?
What were their explanations? Were groupings made on physical or other characteristics?
How many different ways could they group the objects?
Did they have difficulty understanding the task? Did they seek your approval of their responses? Did they make connections to other experiences, similar objects etc?

Interpreting the data

Based on your evidence, what can you say about the conceptual development / schemes and so on (look at Piaget’s concepts) of your participants?
Is this typical of the age group / stage according to your understandings?

Reporting the data

Write a short report 1,500 - 2,000 words (1.5 line spacing) summarising data and analysing it in terms of what you know about typical cognitive development of the participants’ age groups. Use the standard report headings given below. Be clear, succinct and objective. Try and avoid saying “I did this…” “I asked….” Use “third person” or passive tense: “the objects to be sorted were….” “the questions asked are listed….”

Assignment 2 Cover Sheet + Assignment 2 marking rubric + as an appendix, completed consent from (from the Blackboard site)

Introduction. (about 1 page) Explain the purpose of your research (which is about Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, and whether your participants fit into the stages according to their ages), and include some information about cognitive development – remember to correctly acknowledge where you get your information i.e. APA in-text referencing.

Method. (1 page) Provide the age and gender of your participants. Keep them anonymous but you can give them a pseudonym. It’s nicer to read about “Jack” rather than “participant A” or “the five year old”. Give a brief explanation of the task you developed and the questions you asked.

Results. (about 1 page) Give your table summarizing your results and a write one or two sentences about what you have included. E.g. “Table 1 shows the number of groups….”

Discussion. (about 2 or 3 pages)
Links to cognitive development. For example, what stages would Piaget expect your participants to be in and were their responses what you would expect? Did you see different complexity or sophistication of schemes in the different age groups? Did you notice anything unexpected?

Limitations of the study. Look back at Chapter 2 (pp.40-41) for ideas of one or two ways your study was limited and maybe how you could improve it another time.

Implications. What implications could your findings have for teaching and learning?

References. List all references used in your report in APA format.

Appendices. Include copies of your consent forms.