Giving
Developmentally Appropriate Writing Assignments
Carolyn
Haynes
Director of Windate Writing Center
Miami University (Ohio)
Have you ever felt like
the students are not performing up to your
expectations of a college student? One possible
reason for this is that you may be offering
assignments that are not in keeping with
the intellectual development of college
students.
Below is a summary of
the stages of cognitive development of traditional
college students as identified by Marcia
Baxter Magolda in her longitudinal study
of Miami University college students . (See
Baxter Magolda’s Knowing and Reasoning
in College: Gender-Related Patterns in Students'
Intellectual Development. Jossey-Bass, 1992.
Beneath the description of each stage are
some assignment ideas for students in that
developmental stage.
Note
Baxter Magolda and other educational researchers suggest that in order to help students move from one stage to the next, it is important to offer their assignments that are in keeping with their developmental level and to offer a few assignments that are in keeping with the level above where they currently are.
Stages of Student Development
Stage
I - Absolute Knowing
Absolute answers exist
in all areas of knowledge. Uncertainty exists
when students don't have access to the absolute
answers at the time. Differences of views
are ignored or viewed as inconsequential
opinions or misinformation. The right answers
can be gained from authority figures or
experts. This is similar to Perry's dualism
stage where knowledge is seen in true-false,
good-bad dichotomies. 68% of first-year
college students, 48% of sophomores, 11%
of juniors and 2% of seniors are absolute
learners.
Patterns of
Absolute Learning:
- Receiving
learners (more of whom are women)
take a more private approach to acquiring
knowledge. Receiving learners tend to
take notes and listen quietly; they use
peers to clarify the knowledge gained
from the authority.
- Mastering learners (more of whom are men) adopt a more public approach to learning. Mastering learners ask questions, seek verbal interchange with instructors and use peers to quiz one another to gain control over the knowledge disseminated by the expert.
Suggested Assignments for Absolute Learners:
- Self-evaluation or progress report
- Interview (with experts from disciplinary
or professional fields)
- Analytical essay using simpler forms
of analysis (critiquing a text using stated
criteria; tracing a theme or metaphor,
investigating rhetorical features of a
text, etc.)
- Simple questionnaires, surveys or direct
observations of disciplinary practitioners;
- Annotated bibliography on a certain
topic
- Reflective essay on one’s learning
and/or writing process.
- Academic and personal journal
- Description
- Summary
- Definitions, informational pamphlet,
fact sheet, glossary, lexicon
- Question-and-answer column
- Charts, diagrams, flowcharts
- Dialogues (imaginary or real)
- Letters (to editor, classmates, professor,
authority figure)
- Commentary, review, or critique
- Memoir, biographical sketch
- Personal essay, exemplification
- Narrative
- Peer review
Stage II - Transitional Knowing
Knowledge can be separated
into certain and uncertain categories. Discrepancies
among authorities or uncertainties are viewed
as a result of the answers being unknown.
This stage is similar to Perry's multiplicity
stage where students begin to recognize
that the world may not be divided dichotomously
into right and wrong elements. 32% of first-year
students, 53% of sophomores, 83% of juniors
and 80% of seniors are transitional learners.
Patterns of
Transitional Learning:
- Interpersonal
learners (more of whom are women)
prefer to be involved in learning by interacting
and exchanging ideas with others. They
want others to hear their views and to
offer new ones. They seek rapport with
the instructor to enhance their self-expression,
and they resolve uncertainty by relying
on their personal judgment.
- Impersonal learners (more of whom are men) want to be forced to think for themselves. They prefer to exchange ideas via debate and expect to be challenged by their instructor. They tend to resolve uncertainty through logic and research.
Suggested Assignments
for Transitional Learners:
- Position paper (argument following
the norms of a certain discipline)
- Analytical essay
- Comparison/contrast essay
- Lab report
- Naturalist essay
- Research essay with specified criteria
(certain number and type of sources, focused
topic)
- Critical review (of film, book, article,
event, performance)
- Feature article for popular magazine
- Short story
- Poem
- One-act play
- Reflective essay; self-evaluation
Stage
III - Independent Knowing
Knowledge is open to
many interpretations and thus uncertain.
Everyone has their own beliefs. Differences
in opinions of various authorities represent
the range of views possible in an uncertain
world. Students begin to see themselves
as equals with valid opinions. 0% of first-year
students, 1% of sophomores, 5% of juniors,
16% of seniors and 57% of those in their
first year after graduation are independent
learners.
Patterns of
Independent Learners:
- Interindividual
learners (more of whom are women)
have a dual focus: thinking for themselves
yet also engaging the views of others.
They believe the classroom should foster
an open exchange of ideas.
- Individual learners (more of whom are men) also value interchange, but their primary focus is on their own thinking. They want the classroom to assist students in defining their own learning goals.
Suggested Assignments
for Independent Learners:
- Position paper involving a clear research
method;
- Position paper incorporating a theoretical
angle;
- Evaluation of a research method and
how it suits a certain discipline or type
of problem;
- Evaluation of a theory or theories
and their applicability to certain problem
or issue;
- Comparison/contrast essay examining
different research methods;
- Comparison/contrast paper examining
two or more theories;
- Research paper, meaningfully incorporating
a research method;
- Self-evaluation, personal reflective
essay;
- Research paper, incorporating an array
of primary and secondary sources;
- Personal essay, comparing a theory
with the student's own experience;
- Peer review of another's research project.
Stage
IV - Contextual Knowing
Individuals create their
own perspective by judging evidence in a
context. Thus, some knowledge claims are
better than others depending on the particular
context. Judgments of what to believe are
possible, but they must be made based on
evidence. Teacher and student share a collegial
relationship. No gender patterns are discernible
among college students. This stage seems
to be similar to Perry's contextual relativism
and commitment within relativism stages
where students begin to see knowledge in
the context of a particular situation and
where they comprehend that they must make
decisions based on their own values. 1%
of juniors, 2% of seniors and 12% of those
in their first year after graduation are
contextual learners.
Suggested Assignments
for Contextual Learners:
- Senior project that requires students to integrate in a self-conscious and critical manner two or more disciplines in order to respond to or solve a question, topic, issue or problem of their own choosing. Depending on the nature of the topic, projects should display a meaningful use of theory and/or methodology. While projects can and should vary greatly from student to student, all of them should cover most (if not all) of these steps: defining the topic; determining all knowledge needs; developing an integrative framework and questions to be asked: specifying a study to be undertaken; gathering information; resolving disciplinary conflicts; evaluating; integrating; and concluding. The sequence of the steps and the depth with which they are covered will differ from project to project.
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