Knowledge under Construction

The Importance of Play in Developing Children's Spatial and Geometric Thinking

By (author) Daniel Ness, Stephen J. Farenga

Publication date:

29 March 2007

Length of book:

282 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

239x160mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780742547889

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.
For preschool educators as well as interested developmental researchers, Knowledge under Construction offers a succinct, useful introduction to the topic, delineating various aspects of spatial, geometric, and architectural thinking and related theoretical perspectives that can be brought to bear on children's construction play. The book also contains helpful pedagogical features such as a set of topics and questions at the end of each chapter for discussion. Major contributions of the book are in situating this important developmental topic in natural settings (young children's spontaneous construction play) and in pointing to some promising directions regarding how this knowledge can shed light on preschool and elementary education, particularly in science and mathematics.