>From owner-trad-l@LISTSERV.VT.EDU Thu Mar 6 10:54:23 1997 Received: (from mailadm@localhost) by sable.cc.vt.edu (8.8.4/8.8.4) id KAA24083 for fox@fox.cs.vt.edu; Thu, 6 Mar 1997 10:54:22 -0500 (EST) Received: from listserv.vt.edu (listserv.vt.edu [128.173.4.9]) by sable.cc.vt.edu (8.8.4/8.8.4) with ESMTP id KAA29631; Thu, 6 Mar 1997 10:54:22 -0500 (EST) Received: from listserv.vt.edu (listserv.vt.edu [128.173.4.9]) by listserv.vt.edu (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id KAA24668; Thu, 6 Mar 1997 10:54:20 -0500 Received: from LISTSERV.VT.EDU by LISTSERV.VT.EDU (LISTSERV-TCP/IP release 1.8c) with spool id 600981 for TRAD-L@LISTSERV.VT.EDU; Thu, 6 Mar 1997 10:54:20 -0500 Received: from sable.cc.vt.edu (sable.cc.vt.edu [128.173.16.30]) by listserv.vt.edu (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id KAA15390 for ; Thu, 6 Mar 1997 10:54:11 -0500 Received: from [128.173.119.106] (ctg.dos.vt.edu [128.173.119.106]) by sable.cc.vt.edu (8.8.4/8.8.4) with SMTP id KAA23052 for ; Thu, 6 Mar 1997 10:54:09 -0500 (EST) X-Sender: ctg@mail.vt.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Message-Id: Date: Thu, 6 Mar 1997 10:52:28 -0500 Reply-To: "Cathryn T. Goree" Sender: trad-l Discussion List From: "Cathryn T. Goree" Subject: an elaboration To: TRAD-L@LISTSERV.VT.EDU Here is a brief passage which can either be woven into what I have already written about efficiency vs. effectiveness or into Terry's piece about how learning occurs. There is a large body of research which explains the development of higher order thinking in college students. The foundation for this scholarship was provided by Perry (1968), who demonstrated that students go through predictable stages of intellectual development, from dualistic thinking, through multiplicity, to relativism, and finally to commitment. Other scholars have proposed alternate models, focusing for example, on the differing developmental issues of women (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, & Tarule, 1986; Gilligan,1982), or on the development of moral or ethical thinking (Gilligan, 1982; Kohlberg, 1972). All cognitive development theories share these hallmarks: the stages occur in an invariant sequence; they are hierarchical, and they are universal. "Invariant sequence" means that everyone experiences the stages in the same order (though they may not reach the final stages). "Hierarchical" means that each stage is qualitatively superior to the preceeding stage because its way of understanding the world is more adequate. People can comprehend the reasoning of previous stages, but can only foresee the outlines of the next stage as they are ready to move to it. "Universal" means that the same stages occur in the same order in cultures around the world. The movement from one stage to another, called a paradigm shift, requires adopting a wholly new and more complex way of understanding the world. Such shifts occur when students are forced to grapple with ambiguity in the environment and with conflicting reasoning in classes. These confrontations with self typically occur in residence hall discussions and writing-intensive classes. Learning that roommates have wholly different views from one's own or selecting and defending a position on the causes of the Civil War can bring about a paradigm shift if the student is otherwise ready for it. Because students can only foresee the basic outlines of the next stage up as they are ready to enter it, any stages more than one step removed are totally inaccessible intellectually. This means that "plus-one" reasoning is the kind most likely to assist a student in making the move to the next stage of cognitive development. That is, students who are becoming uncomfortable with dualistic thinking can begin to accept a multiplistic view, but will be unable to fathom relativistic arguments. This understanding of cognitive development impels a curriculum which is increasingly labor-intensive as students proceed toward graduation -- lectures for freshmen, seminars for seniors in the most traditional form. Students functioning more toward the dualistic end of the spectrum will be comfortable in lecture classes with objective tests. But students who are ready to move toward higher order thinking require some classes where they can receive both challenge and support from faculty as they grapple individually with new concepts. Students who have already moved to higher order thinking are ready to write lengthier analyses and accept more in-depth criticism of both form and content. They are also ready to explore the relationship between classroom learning and their own future work and service commitments. As we construct new opportunities for students to learn using technology (technologies?) this underlying developmental progression requires a similar logic. The very newness of the technologies will be a stretch emotionally and intellectually for some students and will require considerable personal and technical support until they become comfortable. Recall that this learning must occur as students are also moving away from home, learning to deal with good or bad roommates, and perhaps doing their own laundry for the first time. In this context, learning to use new technologies may in itself provide all the cognitive challenge that students can handle, and the content of classes for those students could be designed to imitate a more familiar classroom milieu. Students who have acclimated to the campus and the technology will be ready for some highly interactive experiences in which they confront multiple points of view and have to select and defend their own. Toward the end of their careers at Tech, students should be involved in highly interactive experiences with opportunities to explore personal values and future commitments. Belenky, M. F., Clinchy, B. M., Goldberger, N. R., & Tarule, J. M. (1986). Women's ways of knowing; The development of self, voice, and mind. HarperCollins. Gilligan, C. (1092). In a different voice; Psychological theory and women's development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Kohlberg, L. (1972). A cognitive-developmental approach to moral education. Humanist, 13-16. Perry, W. G., Jr. (1968). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years; A scheme. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ############################################################################## Cathryn T. Goree Phone: 540-231-3787 Dean of Students FAX: 540-231-4035 Virginia Tech TDD: 540-231-8718 107 Brodie Hall Blacksburg, VA 24061-0255