A Study on the Student's Classificatory Ability (Ⅲ) --on the children from the kindergarten to the lower elementary grade--

Abstract

In order to get the informations about the developing processes of the classificatory ability of the children, the author investigated the children in the kindergarten and the lower elementary grade by clinical method imposing them some tasks developed by the Eary Childhood Curriculum of U.S. A. The data gathered from them were analyzed discussed, and, consequently, the following findings were obtained. (1) The children acquired the single classificatory ability fully until the 2nd grade, but they could not develop the multiplicative classificatory ability even in the 3rd grade. (2) Most of the children who failed the single classificatory tasks could solve these tasks when they were given some suggestions to classify them. (3) Although many classificatory activities are included in the Japanese Course of Study for the kindergarten, but not at all for the elementary school. (4) Most of the foregin science textbooks include many classificatory activities and arranged them progressively from the lower grade to the upper grade. The contents and the arrangement of these activities are good consistent with Piagetian theory. Moreover, they stress that it is necessary for the acquisition of the classificatory ability to have the ability of the observation, identification and seriation of the object's properties.