TABLE OF CONTENTS

Number 1. 2. 3. 4.

Content Table of content Acknowledgement Introduction Concept and Principles of Child Development

Page 1 2 3 4-5

Characteristics of Child Development 6 Factors Influencing Children's Development PHYSICAL & COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT STAGE IN CHILDREN IMPLICATIONS OF PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT PIAGETS CONSERVATION TASK 5. 6. Individual Reflection References

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11-15

16-17

18-21

22-28

29-31 32

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, we would like to say Alhamdulillah, for giving us the strength and health to do this course work until it done. Not forgotten to our family for providing everything, such as money, to buy anything that are related to this course work and their advise, which is the most needed for this project. Internet, books, computers and all that as our source to complete this course work. They also supported us and encouraged us to complete this task so that we will not procrastinate in doing it.

Then we would like to thank our lecturer, Puan NorHaizan Binti Abdul Hamid for guiding us throughout this course work. We had some difficulties in doing this task, but she taught us patiently until we knew what to do. She tried and tried to teach us until we understand what we supposed to do with the project work.

Last but not least, my friends who were doing this course work with me and sharing our ideas. They were helpful that when we combined and discussed together, we had this task done. Thank you.

INTRODUCTION Child development refers to the biological and psychological changes that occur in human beings between birth and the end of adolescence, as the individual progresses from dependence to increasing self-sufficiency. Santrock (2008) defines development as changes in the biological pattern, the cognitive and social emotion of an individual from birth to the end of life. There are many ways on seeing through ones development. Development is qualitative and happens in the physical, cognitive, social, emotional and moral aspects. These changes are stable and it takes place gradually and systematically, takes place continuously through different stages of life. The early years of a child's life are crucial for cognitive, social and emotional development. Therefore, it is important that we take every step necessary to ensure that children grow up in environments where their social, emotional and educational needs are met. In this coursework, we are able to observe and do some research on child development. We are focusing on children physical development and cognitive development. In order to see their cognitive development, we have decided on few conservation task on mass, number and length on each subject. Our subject for this observation is school pupil ranging on from 6 years old until 12 years old. From our collection of data, we will try to conclude our observation regarding child development thoroughly.

1.0 Concept and Principles of Child Development 1.1 Concept

The development of a quantitative change can not be measured quantitatively, but can be seen from the new properties that are different from the earlier properties.This change is influenced by age and evolution. It is difficult to differentiate precisely because humans evolved in a very unique situation. In addition, development can also be defined as the achievement of maturity is an ongoing and starting from the birth till the end of life. According to research psychologists, child development in terms of changes in physical, cognitive, emotional, social and spiritual factors are influenced by genes and environmental factors. Overall, human development is the result of the interaction of heredity and environment.

1.2 Principles of Child Development Although children develop at different rates and, therefore, the notion of interindividual differences exists, a single child can show more rapid change in some developmental areas than in others; thus, intraindividual differences also exist. Regardless of the perspective, there are certain principles of development that apply to all children. These include the following: Development progresses in a step-by-step fashion. It is orderly, sequential, and proceeds from the simple to the complex. Each achieved behavior forms the foundation for more advanced behaviors.Rates of development vary among children as well as among developmental areas in a single child. Development is also characterized by increasing specificity of function (differentiation) as well as integration of these specific functions into a larger response pattern. A good example of this principle is the infant startle reflex. When an infant is startled, his entire body tenses and his arms move out to the side. With age, this reflex becomes integrated into more specific behavioral patterns such that a startled preschooler will tense only the shoulder and neck muscles. Neurological development contributes significantly to the acquisition of physical skills in young children. Physical development proceeds in cephalocaudal and proximodistal directions. Cephalocaudal development describes the progression
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of body control from the head to the lower parts of the body. For example, an infant will achieve head, upper trunk, and arm control before lower trunk and leg control. Proximodistal development describes progress from the central portions of the body (i.e., the spinal cord) to the distal or peripheral parts. In this developmental progression, gross motor skills and competencies precede fine motor skills. This developmental progression continues throughout early childhood, with upper trunk control being achieved first, then arm control, and finally finger control. According to this principle, each change in the childs development should result in an increasingly refined level of skill development.

Development of any structure follows a sequential pattern; however, there appear to be specific times during development in which a developing structure is most sensitive to external conditions. These sensitive periods, or critical periods, are the times during which a specific condition or stimulus is necessary for the normal development of a specific structure. Conversely, these periods also represent times when a structure may be most vulnerable to disruption (Rice & Barone, 2000). The concept of critical periods has created much debate in theoretical circles, particularly with respect to parentinfant bonding (Anisfeld et al., 1983) and language development (Lenneberg, 1967).

All development is interrelated. Although it is convenient for the student or early interventionist to discuss development in terms of discrete developmental areas, such as motor skills, development in other areas such as social-emotional or communication functions does not cease, nor is it necessarily separate from other areas. The student or child practitioner must recognize how different areas of development are interrelated to understand how a particular child develops.

Development is influenced by heredity and environment. Although there has been much discussion by experts in the field about which is more important, there is no doubt that they both play a role in a childs development. A childs genetic inheritance provides the basic foundation for many physical and personality attributes, but the influences of social, cultural, and familial variables also contribute to developm
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2.0

Characteristics of Child Development

The development of children has some features that can be seen. Among the features is an important development as the first, it is a process of change that occurred due to the inter twining of action between the physical development of the study.Secondly, children's development and qualitative character of these changes are physical, cognitive, emotional, moral and social. In short, it is a qualitative change.

Thirdly, the changes are stable in terms of function. The process of development brings changes to the properties of the universal and the order of nature. For example, a child is able to recognize words,relates the case of objects,and relates the familiar words with objects.Next, the process of development over the life of an individual. Behavior change can occurs in a continuous and through certain stages of maturity. The stages ofdevelopment lead to changes in a certain direction and expectations. Lastly, the development is influenced by heredity and environment. Genetic determine development limits will help the environment while achieving the maximum development in every aspects.

2.1 Factors Influencing Children's Development

The development of a child is influenced by genes or heredity and environmental factors. Breed or lineage is a succession of features brought by parents to their children. Characteristics such as skin color, physical size, color and other points comes from the genes develop before birth.Heredity genes handed down by parents to their children.This lineage can master the physical and mental enrichment. Breed also set limitations, our mental ability whether good or not good.

As it has been described in the theory of human development, that each individual shows characteristics and similar developments in the levels of certain growth. However,the rate of growth of each individual, even in the same stage of growth, remain distinct from physical, cognitive, emotional and social. Study of psychologists has shown that no two individuals have the same growth rate. They believe genes and environment are the crucial factors that lead to the development of individual human beings and existence of differences between each other

2.1.1 Factors of breed (Genetic) Breed refes to biological characteristics, or the genes that may be noted from parents to their children. Traits that we inherited from the parents is contained in the genes. It controls human development and is unique for each individual. It is undeniable that the growth and development of individuals affected by genetic factors, such as size and shape, height, hair and eye color.

The study of genetic influences on human growth and development is spearheaded by Gregor Johann Mendel (1822-1889) in Australia. Factor genes are now known as genes composed of nukleoprotein characteristics that determine the
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breed or lineage. It is located at a particular locus on the chromosome. According to the study, the chromosome consists of DNA and RNA, and each carry the genes that contain the properties of genes. During the process of fertilization, the zygote formed began to get 23 chromosomes from each parent. Next, the process of exchange between the chromosomes of the mother and father's place and become its own breed characteristics, and then inherited by the baby to be born in the future. This clearly shows that the gene is a key determinant in the inheritance of characteristics of individual development, and some parents' illnesses.

Effect of breed on growth and development is clearly visible from some properties.Among them are physical, physiological feature, a feature character, and intelligence features. Influence of heredity on physical characteristics can be seen in terms of an individual's skin color is inherited from parents or grandparents.Similarly, the color and eye shape, hair color, blood type and whether a positive A, O, AB or B also depends on genes. The size of the body of a child are also influenced by genes. Influence of genes can also be seen clearly through physiological characteristics.Some children who have the disease since childhood is inherited by their parents.Some diseases such as diabetes, hemophilia and stunt is caused by genes. In addition, the effect of genes can also be seen through personality characteristics.Although individuals' personality is greatly influenced by environment, heredity also plays a crucial role. For example, temperament and introvert or extrovert character is influenced by genes. A person who is always quick to anger or worry much influenced by genes. Property intelligence is also one feature that can be seen through the influence of heredity. Heredity factors played a role in determining an individual's intelligence. Study psychologists Galton (1865), Goddard (1890), Newman (1937) and Sheldon (1962) has shown that individuals have different intelligences and intellectually.Study psychologists often associated with differences in individual intelligence quotient of their parents. This means that parents have a higher intelligence that will most likely produce children who are also high in mental capacity.
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2.2.2 Factors of Environment

Environment refers to all experiences of an individual who would face at home, with neighbors, schools and communities in which it is located. It also includes experiences before and after birth. Experience before birth include maternal health and nutrition, lifestyle, mother, for example, whether the mother and the age and emotional state. Nutrition, socio-economic status, education level of family, friends, schools, communities and places of worship and the media and the global environment to contribute to the experience after the birth of an individual.

The family is a major influence on human development. Institutional elements that influence the development of individual families is a home, food, care and socioeconomic status families. It is well known, differences in home environment, food, upbringing and socio-economic families according to differences in produce individual differences in growth rates. For example, a child born in a house filled with warmth and love to experience the healthy emotional development. Nutritionally balanced meals will help children develop proper physical. Children brought up and educated with a good way to experience the potential development, behavior and emotions perfectly. Socio-economic status of families is good or higher will help the physical and intellectual development of children to the optimum level for a family is able to provide enough food nutritionally balanced and complete educational facilities to their children.

Peer influence is important in child development, especially of intellectual development, personality, emotional and social. For example, the children interact with peers who diligently study will encourage intellectual development and its potential to the optimum level. Children who socialize with peers who will be polite to absorb the values of their positive response.Society is a natural human life. Culture and beliefs of different communities influence children's development in the socioemotional, personality and mental health. For example, differences in the philosophy of life form differences among individuals.Differences in culture and religion create differences in the way of life and human behavior. A healthy society will influence its
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members to form a healthy attitude as responsible, diligent, moral, ethical and deeply religious man with a perfect spiritual values. A society that emphasizes material will influence the attitude of selfish people, and be materialistic, and ignoring spiritual values and spiritual values. Culture focuses on the religious community that will produce individuals who believe.

Individual development is influenced by exposure to technology resources available in the natural life. Source technology refers to the information derived from reading materials such as newspapers, magazines, advertising, film, radio, television and computers. As we know that children's exposure to technology resources that will enhance the healthy development of cognitive, emotional and social. Conversely, children who are exposed to the elements of technology resources of terrorism, yellow or wrong, will form negative attitudes and undesirable personality.

Teachers and schools are the most important influence in the development of students' physical, intellectual, emotional and social. The teacher who is caring and efficient management of teaching and learning in the classroom will produce students who are knowledgeable, competent, moral, responsible and capable of achieving well-being and contribute to the harmony and prosperity. School climate that is conducive and equipped with facilities for teaching and learning will help the development of cognitive, affective and psychomotor students.

Urie Bronfenbrenner,an American psychologist explains the development of children as a result of the interaction of environment with the child. According to his theory of Ecological Systems (1979, 1989) children's environment consists of sati sisitem set of complex social and start interacting with their parents nearby, such as getting to those who teribat directly or indirectly in the lives of children.The theory of Bronfenbrenner has focused on the development of children's relationships with persekiaran. This can help them especially educators and parents to better understand their child's progress and continue to recommend and help teachers to analyze the problems faced by the absence of their family.

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3.0

PHYSICAL & COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT STAGE IN CHILDREN Child development that occurs from birth to adulthood was largely ignored throughout much of history. Children were often viewed simply as small versions of adults and little attention was paid to the many advances in cognitive abilities, language usage, and physical growth. Interest in the field of child development began early in the 20th-century and tended to focus on abnormal behavior. The following are just a few of the many child development theories that have been proposed by theorists and researchers. More recent theories outline the developmental stages of children and identify the typical ages at which these growth milestones occur.

3.1

CHILD PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT Definitions of stages of growth in childhood come from many sources. Theorists such as Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Lawrence Kohlberg, and Erik Erikson have provided ways to understand development, and recent research has provided important information regarding the nature of development. In addition, stages of childhood are defined culturally by the social institutions, customs, and laws that make up a society. For example, while researchers and professionals usually define the period of early childhood as birth to eight years of age, others in the United States might consider age five a better end point because it coincides with entry into the cultural practice of formal schooling. There are three broad stages of development: early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence. The definitions of these stages are organized around the primary tasks of development in each stage, though the boundaries of these stages are malleable. Society's ideas about childhood shift over time, and research has led to new understandings of the development that takes place in each stage.

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Early childhood is a time of tremendous growth across all areas of development. The dependent newborn grows into a young person who can take care of his or her own body and interact effectively with others. For these reasons, the primary developmental task of this stage is skill development. Physically, between birth and age three a child typically doubles in height and quadruples in weight. Bodily proportions also shift, so that the infant, whose head accounts for almost one-fourth of total body length, becomes a toddler with a more balanced, adult-like appearance. Despite these rapid physical changes, the typical three-year-old has mastered many skills, including sitting, walking, toilet training, using a spoon, scribbling, and sufficient hand-eye coordination to catch and throw a ball. Between three and five years of age, children continue to grow rapidly and begin to develop fine-motor skills. By age five most children demonstrate fairly good control of pencils, crayons, and scissors. Gross motor accomplishments may include the ability to skip and balance on one foot. Physical growth slows down between five and eight years of age, while body proportions and motor skills become more refined.

Next, we move on to middle childhood. Historically, middle childhood has not been considered an important stage in human development. Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory labeled this period of life the latency stage, a time when sexual and aggressive urges are repressed. Freud suggested that no significant contributions to personality development were made during this period. However, more recent theorists have recognized the importance of middle childhood for the development of cognitive skills, personality, motivation, and inter-personal relationships. During middle childhood children learn the values of their societies. Thus, the primary developmental task of middle childhood could be called integration, both in terms of development within the individual and of the individual within the social context. Perhaps supporting the image of middle childhood as a latency stage, physical development during middle childhood is less dramatic than in early childhood or adolescence. Growth is slow and steady until the onset of puberty, when individuals
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begin to develop at a much quicker pace. The age at which individuals enter puberty varies, but there is evidence of a secular trendthe age at which puberty begins has been decreasing over time. In some individuals, puberty may start as early as age eight or nine. Onset of puberty differs across gender and begins earlier in females. Last but not least is adolescence. Adolescence can be defined in a variety of ways: physiologically, culturally, cognitively; each way suggests a slightly different definition. For the purpose of this discussion adolescence is defined as a culturally constructed period that generally begins as individuals reach sexual maturity and ends when the individual has established an identity as an adult within his or her social context. In many cultures adolescence may not exist, or may be very short, because the attainment of sexual maturity coincides with entry into the adult world. In the current culture of the United States, however, adolescence may last well into the early twenties. The primary developmental task of adolescence is identity formation. The adolescent years are another period of accelerated growth. Individuals can grow up to four inches and gain eight to ten pounds per year. This growth spurt is most often characterized by two years of fast growth, followed by three or more years of slow, steady growth. By the end of adolescence, individuals may gain a total of seven to nine inches in height and as much as forty or fifty pounds in weight. The timing of this growth spurt is not highly predictable; it varies across both individuals and gender. In general, females begin to develop earlier than do males. Sexual maturation is one of the most significant developments during this time. Like physical development, there is significant variability in the age at which individuals attain sexual maturity. Females tend to mature at about age thirteen, and males at about fifteen. Development during this period is governed by the pituitary gland through the release of the hormones testosterone (males) and estrogen (females). There has been increasing evidence of a trend toward earlier sexual development in developed countriesthe average age at which females reach menarche dropped three to four months every ten years between 1900 and 2000.

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3.2

Cognitive Development in Children

Probably the most cited theory in the cognitive development in children is Jean Piaget (1896-1980). As with all stage theories, Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development maintains that children go through specific stages as their intellect and ability to see relationships matures. These stages are completed in a fixed order with all children, even those in other countries. The age range, however can vary from child to child. Sensorimotor Stage. This stage occurs between the ages of birth and two years of age, as infants begin to understand the information entering their sense and their ability to interact with the world. During this stage, the child learns to manipulate objects although they fail to understand the permanency of these objects if they are not within their current sensory perception. In other words, once an object is removed from the childs view, he or she is unable to understand that the object still exists. The major achievement during this stage is that of Object Permanency, or the ability to understand that these objects do in fact continue to exist. This includes his ability to understand that when mom leaves the room, she will eventually return, resulting in an increased sense of safety and security. Object Permanency occurs during the end of this stage and represents the childs ability to maintain a mental image of the object (or person) without the actual perception. Preoperational Stage. The second stage begins after Object Permanency is achieved and occurs between the ages of two to seven years of age. During this stage, the development of language occurs at a rapid pace. Children learn how to interact with their environment in a more complex manner through the use of words and images. This stage is marked by Egocentrism, or the childs belief that everyone sees the world the same way that she does. The fail to understand the differences in perception and believe that inanimate objects have the same perceptions they do, such as seeing things, feeling, hearing and their sense of touch. A second important factor in this stage is that of Conservation, which is the ability to understand that quantity does not change if the shape changes. In other words, if a
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short and wide glass of water is poured into a tall and thin glass. Children in this stage will perceive the taller glass as having more water due only because of its height. This is due to the childrens inability to understand reversibility and to focus on only one aspect of a stimulus (called centration), such as height, as opposed to understanding other aspects, such as glass width. Concrete Operations Stage. Occurring between ages 7 and about 12, the third stage of cognitive development is marked by a gradual decrease in centristic thought and the increased ability to focus on more than one aspect of a stimulus. They can understand the concept of grouping, knowing that a small dog and a large dog are still both dogs, or that pennies, quarters, and dollar bills are part of the bigger concept of money. They can only apply this new understanding to concrete objects ( those they have actually experienced). In other words, imagined objects or those they have not seen, heard, or touched, continue to remain somewhat mystical to these children, and abstract thinking has yet to develop. Formal Operations Stage. In the final stage of cognitive development (from age 12 and beyond), children begin to develop a more abstract view of the world. They are able to apply reversibility and conservation to both real and imagined situations. They also develop an increased understanding of the world and the idea of cause and effect. By the teenage years, they are able to develop their own theories about the world. This stage is achieved by most children, although failure to do so has been associated with lower intelligence.

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4.0

IMPLICATIONS OF PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Heredity factors and environmental factors influences the physical and cognitive development of individuals from different birth in terms of physical, intellectual, emotional and social development of each other. This means, the learning and understanding of each student in the classroom is different. Therefore, teachers must take into account all aspects of the planning for teaching and learning activities. Teachers should use the appropriate strategies and approaches such as group activities, rehabilitation, and so their abilities and resources of students in the class.

Based on the statement above, all students in one class are different in terms of intellectual, physical, spiritual, emotional, experience, interests, talents, and so forth.Thus, the rate of their ability to learn and their understanding is different. In a class of diverse students, these differences can not always be considered and dealt with by the teacher, one by one. In addition, the syllabus is needed to be spent within the teaching period, teachers are forced to use the classes in methods of teaching them. Thus, students who have the ability and the low level of understanding that would not be following what has been taught by teachers and pupils will be left behind as the syllabus can not master basic skills that were taught. As such, programs or remedial classes should be provided for those students so that their learning problems are not assembled to a level that can not be teached again.

Pupils who are weak in studies are needed attention and guidance of teachers during their learning process and create a written work. Pupils in this class usually are not motivated to learn, do not know how to learn and how to solve problems and do not want to ask if they do not know about the lesson. In addition, they are easily disturbed by environmental factors and give up easily when faced with complex situations or problems. They are generally less intelligent, slow and fast to forget the skills to learn new facts. According to research specialist teachers, some children as a whole has the intellect and intelligence are low and can not be compatible with a completely normal education. They are less able to draw conclusions and to face problems in their learning activities. To help these students overcome their learning difficulties,
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programs or remedial classes or a means of teaching and learning is most effective.Thus, rehabilitation programs should be available to help them overcome learning problems and correct their behavior during the study.

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5.0 PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT Physical development refers to changes of body parts,functions and corporate members of human character.While developing, children will experience changes in height, weight, become stronger and get themselves to involve in more complex physical activities. (Haliza Hamzah and Joy N.Samuel,2009).While we went for our School Based Experience, we have made few observation on physical development on few chosen student from various age range. There were four main aspects that have been observed by us; 1. Body size 2. Head size 3. Height 4. Weight These are the data collected from our observation on Physical Development:
AGE NAME BODY SIZE HEAD SIZE (cm) 6 YEARS OLD Nor Hafiszha Small and skinny Muhamad Aiman 9 YEARS OLD Nur Alisha Balqis Fakhrullah Ahmad 12 YEARS OLD Muzairi Shahrizal Nurul Nabila Dayana Nur Zaara Iman 18 Medium 52 139 39 Big and tall 53.5 141 43 Big and tall 54 139 40 Medium 53 122 27 Medium 55 129 30 Mohd Azrie Small and bulky Small 56 125 24 50 110 20 50 105 18 Mohd Rizal Small 51.5 HEIGHT (cm) 108.5 WEIGHT (kg) 22

Based on our data, we have made a general average of physical development for each aspect observed. These data below shows summary of average development for every age range. AGE AVERAGE BODY SIZE AVERAGE HEAD SIZE (cm) 6 YEARS OLD SMALL 50.75 106.75 19.5 AVERAGE HEIGHT (cm) AVERAGE WEIGHT (kg)

9 YEARS OLD

MEDIUM

55.5

128

29

12 YEARS OLD

BIG AND TALL 52.75

140

40

160 140 120 100 Average Head size (cm) 80 60 40 20 0 6 years old 9 years old 12 years old Average Height (cm) Average Weight (kg)

Graph 1.0 Graph 1.0 shows the statistic of models development in Average Head Size,Average Height and Average Weight.

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5.1 ANALYSIS ON PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT a) Age 6 years old.

From the data,this shows that physical development rate for this age range is still low. Their average head size shows that the physical development usually starts from head to feet. Thus,the average head size for children at this stage is more higher than other body structure. At this point of development, the rate of growth for girls are much higher than boys. However, the boys body size develop much more than girls. This may caused by genetic factor. Besides genetic factor, food intake also will influence the rate of growth. This shows during our interaction with all models and girls tend to choose junk food than healthier food.

b) Age 9 years old.

From the data collected,this shows that physical development for this age range is at medium rate. The rate of growth for all models happened in a stable rate and not too rapidly like before. Besides that, the height rate girls will continue to add up until it reaches its limit at certain age (12 years old) while height rate for boys willl continue until it reaches its limit at certain age (15 years old). From our observation, it shows that children at this stage are starting to become active and energetic. Their motor calibration and body control are getting better at this stage of development

c) Age 12 years old.

Based on the data, at this stage, the rate of growth for these children are getting much higher and they are developing rapidly. This stage shows their changes in certain aspects going into adultery stage. They are becoming much energetic and able to do tough activities in daily routine.

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Furthermore, girls at this stage are developing and maturing more than boys. Their physical growth shows more changes than boys. Girls undergo few changes in certain parts of their body,especially in chest and hips. This is because girls tend to grow faster,one or two years ahead of their puberty stage.

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6.0 PIAGETS CONSERVATION TASK

TASK 1 : MASS MATERIALS : PLASTICINE

NO CONSERVATION

CONSERVATION 1

Question : Does the mass of these three rounded plasticine the same?

Question : Does the mass of plasticine A and B is the same after we pressed B? Why?

Why?

Details

Figure 1.

Collection of Data Age 6 (1) (2) (3) 9 (1) (2) (3) 12(1) (2) (3) No conservation Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Conservation 1 Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

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Analysis of Data We followed Piagets conservation of mass task first with the students for the age of 6, 9 and 12 without using our modifications. We put 3 rounded plasticines infront of the 3 bears and we asked them wether the mass of all rounded plasticines is same. For 6, 9 and 12 years old student, all the students answered right for the no conservation task. Then, we pressed the rounded plasticines B and asked the if the mass is still same with the rounded plasticine A. All the students in 3 different stages of age answered right but only a student in age of 3 years old answered wrong. This is because, he thought that the mass of the rounded plasticine changed along with the shape. According to Piagets theory, he would explain that the student in preoperational stage, tends to be fooled by the misleading perceptual appearance, judging that the mass changed along the shape of the object. Piaget furthered the conclusion to suggest that this confusion was born from a pre-operational childs inability to understand the notion of reversibility; the ability to see the reversal of a physical transformation as well as the transformation itself.And that is why the student failed the conservation of mass task.

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TASK 2 : NUMBER Materials : Bread

NO CONSERVATION

CONSERVATION 1

CONSERVATION 2

Do you know what is this?

Does the number of buns of bread A is same as bread B Does the number of after we split bread buns of bread A and B B one by one and is the same? put it randomly? Why? Try to count the bread. Why? When we arrange randomly again, is the number same?

Does the number of buns of bread A is same as bread C when we arrange it in three levels? Why? How about the number?

Details :

Figure 2.

Collection of Data Age 6 (1) (2) (3) 9 (1) (2) (3) 12(1) (2) (3) No conservation Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Conservation 1 No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
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Conservation 2 No No No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes

Analysis of Data We started this task as we arranged 9 buns of bread as Bread A and 9 buns of bread as Bread B infront of them. For the no conservation task, we asked them if the number of the bread is same as we have arranged as shows in the Figure 2. All the students answered right. Then, for the Conservation 1, we splited the arrangement of Bread B but mantained the Bread A without them knowing it as shows in Figure 2. Then we asked them about the number of Bread B. Two of the students in the age of 6 and 9 had answered wrong while the others answered right. For the Conservation 2, we arranged Bread B by the arrangement of piramid and asked them again about the number of Bread B after we arranged it like that. All the students for the age of 6 answered wrong, two of the students from age 9 answered wrong and all the students from age 12 answered right. Refering to Piagets theory, he has concluded that children who are unable to conserve believe that a perceptual change means a quantitative change. Piaget believed that this confusion arose from pre-operational children's lack of understanding of reversibility.

Reversibility

is

the

ability

to

see

physical

transformations

and

then imagine reversing them so that the change is cancelled out. Piaget said young children did not realize these two rows are still the same number because they confused and did not see what adults see that help them to understand the task. Piaget said the ability to understand this task is in the face of a perceptual change, and the young child tends to be fooled by the misleading perceptual appearance.

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TASK 3 : LENGTH Materials : Ribbon

NO CONSERVATION

CONSERVATION 1

Are the ribbons same or not? Does the length of ribbon A, B and C is the same?

Does the length of ribbon A is the same as ribbon C after we made ribbon C curly? Which is longer?

Why?

Why?

Details :

Figure 3.

Collection of Data Age 6 (1) (2) (3) 9 (1) (2) (3) 12(1) (2) (3) No conservation Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Conservation 1 No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes

Analysis of Data
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For the last conservation task, it was about the length of the object. We put 3 ribbons (A,B,C) that the length is the same and aligned it together as shown in Figure 3. After that, we questioned them does the length of the 3 ribbons was the same? One of the students from age 6 has answered wrong compared to the others which answered right. For the conservation 1, we maintained the condition of ribbon A and B but we curled the ribbon C as figured above. Then, we asked them does the length of ribbon A and C were still the same or already changed? Two students from age 6 have answered wrong and each of the student from age 9 and 12 were answered wrong while the others answered right. The reason why they answered wrong might possibly because they were confused about the length after the ribbon was curled. Piaget said in his theory that childrens thinking is perception bound in preoperational stage and also they could not focus their attention on two aspects of the new object, they were attentive only to one aspect which is that ribbon A is longer than ribbon C after ribbon C was curled, and they did not realize that those have the same length.

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INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION MOHD ZAKIRAN ALI In completing this task, I learn a lot of new things that I was simply dont know before. There are a lot of things that I as a future teacher should know. Things like physical and cognitive development should be in my prospects of my teaching near in the future. It is not easy to teach a lot of children that is differ in a lot of aspects, so I should keep myself with enough knowledge. Through the piagets conservation task, now I know that in each level of age, there are a lot of difference especially in the childrens cognitive development. The teacher must play their part to help the children to develop and become more matured. In physical development, the teacher must give the students some way for instance exercising to build up their muscles and bones and making them healthier. In this way, the development in the students body can be fastened so that they will be in a good shape in their physical. The teacher also can give their students some advice to get enough nutrients such as vitamins, carbohydrate, calcium and others to grow much better. As for now, I think I have the knowledge on how to deal with the students and how to give the best way to teach them. As a teacher, I should learn a lot to give the best teachings and to make sure all of my students can receive the lessons. Different student cannot be taught in just the same way. I must find and learn from many other sources to make sure I the learning process can be done successfully.

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INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION Ahmad Fathi Lutfi Bin Mohd Amran Tesl B

After finishing this coursework, I managed to understand deeply about Child Development subject that I have learnt in this semester. This coursework must be done while I was having my School Based Experience. Through this coursework, I learnt about the growth and the development of children by completing the conservation task that has been given to me based on Piagets conservation task theory. Besides, I also gained the knowledge about the physical conditioning theory more deeply after making the measurement of body, weight and others to the students that we have chosen at the school. From my understanding, the development of a children is related to their growth and it is depending on each other. The development of thinking of a student is always develops as they tend to learn and think about something new to them. In order to fulfil our tasks requirement, my group and I have to collaborate and we need to find the children in a range of 6 years old until 12 years old. We also need to instruct them to undergo some Piagets Conservation Task in order to observe their cognitive development. From what I gained, the development of their thinking is different in every diferent range of age. By completing this task towards them, I managed to know better about their behaviour of thinking and observation for some aspects. And for the conclusion of this reflection, I realized that the knowledge that I have gained from this coursework is very important as a becoming teacher especially in primary school because for me, teacher needs to know the best about their profession and the way to mingle and live with the children. Thank you.

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INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION Mohd Haniff Rowther Bin K.Mohd Hussin From this coursework, I have managed to gain more understanding on the topic of Child Development. Before this, there were lots of confusion between growth and development. But after finishing this observation task, I have understand that although growth and development are two different things, they are relying on each other and still have major influences in ones life. From my understanding, generally, child development is the changes that happen in a person life, beginning from the early stages of life until reaching adolescence. The changes can be either from biological or physical aspect of the individual and two main factors that influence an individuals development are environment and genetic. In order to fulfil our tasks requirement, my group and I have to collaborate and observe our subjects, school pupils ranging from 6 years old until 12 years old closely. We also need to instruct them to undergo some Piagets Conservation Task in order to observe their cognitive development. Although this task seems easy, it was quite difficult in the first place to gain our subjects attention while undergoing the entire conservation task. But at the end, I have managed to compile a collection of data on physical development and conservation tasks. From various results of this observation, I concluded that the rate of growth and development of individuals varies based on the two main factors stated above. Different results were obtained from different ranges of age and rate of development changes for each individual.

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REFERENCE

http://www.ehow.com/list_6384855_factors-affecting-early-child-development.html

http://www.123mothers.com/development.html

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Factors_affecting_child_development

www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=0009-3920

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_development

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