HED4813
ASSIGNMENT 2
ANSWERS 2025
HED4813 ASSIGNMENT 2 ANSWERS
2025
,HED4813 ASSESSMENT 02/ 2025
Unique Number: 147511
Closing date: Tuesday, 2 September 2025, 11:00 PM
QUESTION 1
Jean Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development and Their Impact on Mathematics
Education: A South African Perspective
Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development offers a comprehensive framework for
understanding how children construct knowledge and develop their thinking
processes. This theory posits that children progress through four distinct stages:
sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Each
stage is characterized by specific cognitive abilities and limitations, profoundly
influencing a child's learning experience, particularly in mathematics education. This
essay will explore each stage of Piaget's theory, analyze its influence on a child's
mathematical understanding, provide practical teaching strategies aligned with each
stage, and reflect on the implications of the theory for curriculum design and
differentiated instruction in the South African educational context.
1. Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development: An Overview
Piaget's theory proposes that cognitive development is a dynamic process
characterized by adaptation through assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation
refers to the process of integrating new information into existing cognitive schemas
(mental frameworks), while accommodation involves modifying existing schemas to
, incorporate new information. These processes drive cognitive growth and propel
children through the four developmental stages:
* **Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2 years):** This stage is characterized by the
infant's understanding of the world primarily through sensory experiences and motor
actions. Infants learn through touching, tasting, seeing, and hearing, developing
schemes related to their physical interactions with the environment. Key
achievements include:
* **Object Permanence:** Understanding that objects continue to exist even
when they are out of sight.
* **Development of Reflexes:** Transforming innate reflexes into intentional
actions.
* **Circular Reactions:** Repeating actions that produce interesting outcomes,
gradually leading to more complex and intentional behaviours.
* **Preoperational Stage (2 to 7 years):** Children in this stage begin to use
symbols, words, and images to represent objects and ideas. However, their thinking
is often characterized by:
* **Egocentrism:** Difficulty taking another person's perspective.
* **Centration:** Focusing on only one aspect of a situation and neglecting
others.
* **Irreversibility:** Difficulty understanding that actions can be reversed.
* **Animism:** Attributing lifelike qualities to inanimate objects.
* **Lack of Conservation:** Inability to understand that the quantity of an object
remains the same despite changes in its appearance.
ASSIGNMENT 2
ANSWERS 2025
HED4813 ASSIGNMENT 2 ANSWERS
2025
,HED4813 ASSESSMENT 02/ 2025
Unique Number: 147511
Closing date: Tuesday, 2 September 2025, 11:00 PM
QUESTION 1
Jean Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development and Their Impact on Mathematics
Education: A South African Perspective
Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development offers a comprehensive framework for
understanding how children construct knowledge and develop their thinking
processes. This theory posits that children progress through four distinct stages:
sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Each
stage is characterized by specific cognitive abilities and limitations, profoundly
influencing a child's learning experience, particularly in mathematics education. This
essay will explore each stage of Piaget's theory, analyze its influence on a child's
mathematical understanding, provide practical teaching strategies aligned with each
stage, and reflect on the implications of the theory for curriculum design and
differentiated instruction in the South African educational context.
1. Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development: An Overview
Piaget's theory proposes that cognitive development is a dynamic process
characterized by adaptation through assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation
refers to the process of integrating new information into existing cognitive schemas
(mental frameworks), while accommodation involves modifying existing schemas to
, incorporate new information. These processes drive cognitive growth and propel
children through the four developmental stages:
* **Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2 years):** This stage is characterized by the
infant's understanding of the world primarily through sensory experiences and motor
actions. Infants learn through touching, tasting, seeing, and hearing, developing
schemes related to their physical interactions with the environment. Key
achievements include:
* **Object Permanence:** Understanding that objects continue to exist even
when they are out of sight.
* **Development of Reflexes:** Transforming innate reflexes into intentional
actions.
* **Circular Reactions:** Repeating actions that produce interesting outcomes,
gradually leading to more complex and intentional behaviours.
* **Preoperational Stage (2 to 7 years):** Children in this stage begin to use
symbols, words, and images to represent objects and ideas. However, their thinking
is often characterized by:
* **Egocentrism:** Difficulty taking another person's perspective.
* **Centration:** Focusing on only one aspect of a situation and neglecting
others.
* **Irreversibility:** Difficulty understanding that actions can be reversed.
* **Animism:** Attributing lifelike qualities to inanimate objects.
* **Lack of Conservation:** Inability to understand that the quantity of an object
remains the same despite changes in its appearance.
