Knowledge under Construction

Knowledge under Construction is the first to examine young children's spatial and scientific thinking through their architectural constructions with Legos_ and blocks. The authors' coding system allows teachers and parents to observe and record children's cognitive behaviors related to spatial thinking. In challenging Piaget's thesis, the authors illuminate our conceptions of children's emergent knowledge of space and scientific inquiry, and provide new insight into alternative ways to measure cognitive abilities in children based through block play.

Knowledge under Construction investigates how young children develop spatial, geometric, and scientific thinking skills-particularly those associated with architecture. Based on original research and analysis of videotapes of children's play with blocks, the authors' findings suggest that such play is anything but pointless. Their conclusions fill in gaps in our current understanding of how children learn to think spatially and scientifically even while challenging portions of that understanding, including some of Piaget's thesis about the primacy of topological space in children's learning. A system of measurement developed to identify and categorize children's spontaneous behavior at play allows adults to observe patterns of behavior as children play and record the development of process skills and cognitive abilities, enhancing our understanding of how children begin to learn about space and architectural relationships. The book also examines the educational implications of our enhanced understanding. One possible development is a new, alternative way to measure cognitive abilities and development in children based on their work with blocks.

Chapter 1 Spatial, Geometric, and Architectural Thinking: The Big Picture
Chapter 2 Developmental Perspectives on Spatial and Geometric Thinking
Chapter 3 Children as Architects: The Identification of Architectural Principles Underlying Young Children's Geometric Constructions
Chapter 4 Contextual Observation: The Assessment for Measuring Spatial, Geometric, and Architectural Thinking of Young Children (SPAGAR)
Chapter 5 Age, Gender, Socioeconomic Status Factors in Spatial, Geometric, and Architectural Thinking
Chapter 6 Constructing Alone: Cases 1 and 2
Chapter 7 Constructing Interactively: Cases 3 and 4
Chapter 8 Beyond the Blocks: Implementing Praxis