Jean Piaget in higher education? The use of Piagetian operative activities in the last 50 years

Abstract:

Higher Education is made complex due to the several strategies and mechanisms required from students, and Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development acts in a fundamental way in such understanding. One of the main means of investigation is Piaget's operative activities. Therefore, the objective is to present a Systematic Review (SR) on research that investigates cognitive aspects in higher education students, through Piaget’s operative activities. The PRISMA Protocol was adopted for the realization of SR in five databases, obtaining a total of 38 documents in approximately 50 years. The results point to the emergence of four main research trends, as well as a cognitive development not consistent with what was expected in theory, showing an important weakness in the context of higher education, lacking affirmative and educational actions for clarification. Finally, despite half a century of research, this theme is current and necessary, since specific knowledge cannot, and should not, be disconnected from cognitive aspects in the university environment.

Keywords:
cognitive development; higher education; Jean Piaget; literature review