:: Volume 8 ISSN 1656-8575

CONTENTS:

The University of the Twenty-First Century: Reengineering the Teaching/Learning System
Andrew Gonzales, FSC

Changing Perspectives on the Cognitive Competence of Young Children
Allan B.I. Bernardo

Portfolio Assessment of Early Literacy
Annadaisy J. Carlota

Professional Licensure Tests and the Attained Curriculum in the Philippine Universities
Hermogenes Pobre

How Well are Filipino Students Reading in English?
Lenore De La Llana-Decenteceo
Basilio R. Iledan

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Changing Perspectives on the Cognitive Competence of Young Children
Allan B.I. Bernardo
De La Salle University, Philippines

The paper reviews recent research on the development of cognitive abilities in young children. In particular, the paper described research studies on young children’s knowledge about syntax, numerosity, and physical objects. These researches use new methodological paradigms to assess children’s knowledge without requiring verbal responses from children. The methodologies are assumed to be more sensitive indicators of children’s knowledge compared to traditional methodologies. The researches reviewed suggest that children possess rather specific but complex forms of knowledge very early in life (the researches involve new born infants and children up to 27 months old). The paper argues that the possession of such knowledge strongly suggests that children are born with neurobiological systems that are “programmed” to encode information from the environment to give rise to these complex forms of knowledge very early in life. These neurobiological systems endow children with specific forms of domain knowledge even with limited experience in the domains. The findings are discussed in relation to (1) the relationship between the development of so-called biologically primary and biologically secondary cognitive skills, and (2) the implications for child development and education practice.

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