Peers

Engaging as

Energizing

Resources

Center-based &

0nline

Academic

Collaborative

Helpers

Enhancing

Success Training Program

How Adults Learn

Source: http://studentaffairs.webs.com/

What are they asking me to do?

Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy

KNOWLEDGE - Student recalls or recognizes information, ideas, and principles in the approximate form in which theywere learned.

COMPREHENSION - Student translates, comprehends, or interprets information based on prior learning.

APPLICATION - Student selects, transfers, and uses data and principles to complete a problem or task with a minimum of direction.

ANALYSIS - Student distinguishes, classifies, and relates the assumptions, hypotheses, evidence, or structure of a statement or question.

SYNTHESIS - Student originates, integrates, and combines ideas into a product, plan or proposal that is new to him or her.

EVALUATION - Student appraises, assesses, or critiqueson a basis of specific standards and criteria.

Perry’s Scheme of Scheme of Intellectual and Ethical Development

DUALISTIC STUDENTS are those who see the world as a place of absolutes such as right or wrong, true or false. Knowledge is seen as existing absolutely. Dualistic students tend to think of their role in terms of "right" answers and the role of the professor as providing those answers. These students will present judgments and evaluations as if they were self-evident, without the need for substantiation.

MULTIPLISTIC STUDENTS recognize that there are multiple perspectives to problems. However, they are unable to evaluate each perspective adequately. A typical multiplistic response might be "We're all entitled to our own opinions," or "We're all good people." Argumentation ends, or is avoided, with the multiplistic attitude.

RELATIVISTIC STUDENTS see knowledge as relative to particular frames of reference. They show a capacity for detachment; they look for the "big picture," think about their own thinking, and evaluate their own ideas as well as those of others. Frequently, by seeing alternative perspectives, they have difficulty making a decision. Authorities are seen as people who can and should be questioned.

COMMITTED STUDENTS see knowledge as an integrated part of who they are and what they have learned from others. They combine personal experience and reflection as they engage in the learning process. Students at this stage realize that learning is a commitment and it is an ongoing, unfolding, evolving activity

Shades of GrayBilly Joel (1988)River of DreamsShades of grey wherever I go

The more I find out the less that I knowBlack and white is how it should beBut shades of grey are all the colors I see…Shades of grey are all that I findWhen I come to the enemy lineBlack and white was so easy for meBut shades of grey are all the colors I see…Shades of grey wherever I goThe more I find our the less that I knowAin’t no rainbow shining on myShades of grey are all the colors I see

Summary of stage Basic Example

The authorities know e.g. "the tutor knows what is right and wrong"

The true authorities are right, the others are frauds

e.g "my tutor doesn't know what is right and wrong but others do"

There are some uncertainties and the authorities are working on them to find the truth

e.g "my tutors don't know, but somebody out there is trying to find out"

(a)Everyone has right to their own opinion(b) The authorities don't want the right answers. They want us to think in certain way

e.g "different tutors think different things"e.g "there is an answer that the tutors want and we have to find it"

Everything is relative but not equally valid

e.g "there are no right and wrong answers, it depends on the situation, but some answers might be better than others"

You have to make your own decisions e.g "what is important is not what the tutor thinks but what I think"

First commitment e.g "for this particular topic I think that...."

Several Commitments e.g "for these topics I think that...."

Believe own values, respect others, be ready to learn

e.g "I know what I believe in and what I think is valid, others may think differently and I'm prepared to reconsider my views"

DUALISTIC STUDENTS

MULTIPLISTIC STUDENTS

RELATIVISTIC STUDENTS

COMMITTED STUDENTS

Theory Nature of Knowledge

Role of Learner

Role of Peers

Role of Instructor

Role of Evaluatio

n

Silence

Knowledge is

unattainable and held

only by all-powerful

authorities

Learners are non-

existent. No learning

takes place, the learner doesn’t feel qualified to

“know” anything.

Learners let the

authorities handle

everything.

Peers are sometimes viewed as

authorities, but mostly

they are seen to be

as voiceless as the

learner.

Instructors are

nonexistent at this stage.

Everyone who is in

possession of

knowledge is an

authority who is all-powerful.

Evaluation - can’t take

place because

there is no “learning” gain to be

judged

TheoryNature of

KnowledgeRole of Learner

Role of PeersRole of

InstructorRole of

Evaluation

Received

Knowledge comes from

authority figures who

possess pertinent facts

and figures that they

impart to the learners.

Learners receive,

retain, and return the

knowledge imparted to

them by authority

figures. They do not reflect on the data nor do they connect the data to their experiences. They accept

and memorize what they have been presented.

Peers are resources

because they can help

explain what the professor

or another authoritative source has

said. They can give facts and figures, but

their opinions don’t count towards the reception &

attainment of knowledge.

Instructors are the primary sources of

information and

knowledge. They provide

the books, lectures,

notes, etc. from which the students

must memorize and

recite what they have learned.

Evaluation is a tool used to measure how

much accurate

information the learner

has received, retained, and returned to prove what they have

learned from the proper

content authorities.

Theory Nature of Knowledge

Role of Learner

Role of PeersRole of

InstructorRole of

Evaluation

Subjective

Knowledge and truth are personal,

private, and intuited. Truth

comes from within even if

outside sources do not value

that truth.

Learners come to discover their

personal authority in

relation to the knowledge that

they are presented with. They begin to investigate the world and see that everyone has a personal

and private connection with

knowledge.

Peers are seen as having the

same opportunities to investigate the world and their

opinions are tolerated if not

valued.

Instructors are sometimes seen as having their

own agendas by asking for

conformity in student

responses. If instructors act ithis way, they

are seen as only valuing the subjective

nature of their own knowing to the detriment of

the students’ opinions and knowledge.

Evaluation is an invasion of the personal nature of true knowing in that it does

not always allow for the complexity of the world and various and

equally valid opinions to be

expressed. Evaluation is useless and aribitrary.

Theory Nature of Knowledge

Role of Learner

Role of PeersRole of

InstructorRole of

Evaluation

Procedural

Knowledge is no longer a set of equally valid

and multiple opinions; it is a

set of arguments that

can be evaluated for their relative

worth and truth.

Learners begin to use objective reason as the to

evaluate arguments.

Truth becomes lodged below the surface of facts and must

be ferreted out. Mastery of

argumentative forms and not knowledge are

the focus. They want to be

taught how to fish and not to be just given

one to eat today.

Peers’ views on knowledge and their arguments are measured up to a particular

set of criteria in order to judge

the relative worth of their

arguments.

Instructors are no longer

arbitrary and capricious authorities

wielding their power. Their worth to the

learner lies in the relative

strength of their arguments and reasoning -- not

on the power they hold over

students.

Evaluation is a means of

demonstrating a learner’s skill in

constructing and

deconstructing arguments. The

form rather than the content

of their responses is

what is viewed as important.

TheoryNature of

Knowledge Role of Learner Role of PeersRole of

InstructorRole of

Evaluation

Constructed

Knowledge is constructed by

weaving together both rational and emotional thought.

Knowledge comes from both outside

and within and is constructed

by the individual.

Learners operate from

questioning and problem-posing perspectives. They believe

that only through inquiry

will they be able to

construct knowledge and

truth.

Peers are learners with

whom they can collaborate in

the construction of knowledge.

Instructors are seen as true

experts only if they too

appreciate the complexity of

the construction of knowledge.

Evaluation is a way in which to express how the

learner individually

constructs his or her

understanding of the

knowledge they have gained by

asking questions about

the course content.

This table is a combination of the works of Belenky, et al (1985) and Baxter Magolda (1995).

Learning Theory ResourcesBelenky, Mary F.; Clinchy, Blythe M.; Goldberger, Nancy R.; & Tarule,

Jill M. (1986), Women's Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice, and Mind (New York: Basic Books).

Perry, William G., Jr. (1970), Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College Years: A Scheme (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston).

Perry, William G., Jr. (1981), "Cognitive and Ethical Growth: The Making of Meaning", in Arthur W. Chickering and Associates, The Modern American College (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass): 76-116.

See also: http://studentaffairs.webs.com/