what is it about college that helps students learn?
Oops, I missed two full weekdays of blogging? To be honest, I've been holed up in the library, getting up to speed on the literature in developmental psychology and adult learning and development. I'm writing a research proposal to gather data on the general topic, "what is it about college that helps students learn?" Specifically, I'm applying for approval from the Case IRB to analyze which elements of the MGMT 250-251 course sequence have the most powerful impact on students. I want to know how much students are improving in their critical thinking skills, systems thinking skills, and emotional intelligence. Do they really become self-directed learners by the end of their sophomore year? If so, what is it about their experience which helps them to develop, and if not, what else might we try so that they will gain the skills needed to be self-directed learners?
So far, the most useful resource has been the book In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life, by Robert Kegan. Kegan proposes a developmental model for human beings, and asserts that by the end of adolescence, most of us are firmly beyond the second stage of development of our consciousness. We enter into college at the time when we should be solidifying our grasp on the third stage, or order of consciousness, which Kegan calls "traditionalism" ( see figure 9.1, pp. 314-315 in In Over Our Heads). My aim for our undergraduates in management is that by the end of four years of college, they should have a firm grasp of traditionalism, and be moving beyond it into the fourth order of consciousness, "modernism" in Kegan's framework.
The thing is, Kegan's ongoing studies show that most people are not at this forth order of consciousness when they enter graduate programs, even if they are in their thirties or forties. So my dilemma is whether I am setting expectations too high for our undergraduates, or whether we as a society are not setting expectations high enough?
It's a very valuable exercise, to be framing this research. It is pushing me to be explicit about the kinds of skills I expect our undergraduates to be developing, not just in laypersons' terms, but in terms of what scholars have concluded are common patterns of intellectual and moral development.
Comments
You pose some fascinating questions about consciousness, and I'm interested in learning more. I'll have to check out the Kegan resource.
I think we walk a tightrope in setting expectations. Science of the mind can provide guidelines and "averages," but each individual progresses at his or her own rate.
As the parent of an "identified gifted" child, I am intimately familiar with "asynchronous development." Even within the same person, development in various areas comes in fits and spurts, with regression coming on the heels of fantastic progress!
I guess I'm trying to say that we can set expectations, but we need to be flexible in recognizing that almost no one will follow the "average" developmental curve.