Beyond the Buzzword:
Understanding and Using
Student Development Theory
NATHAN WILLIAMS
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
KARA FRESK, M.Ed.
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
Agenda
I.
Student Development Theory
i.
Cognitive-Structural Theories
a.
b.
c.
ii.
Psychosocial Theories
a.
b.
c.
iii.
Category overview
Perry’s Intellectual Development Scheme
Recognizing Intellectual Development
Category overview
Chickering & Reisser’s Seven Vectors
Recognizing the Vectors
Integrated Theories
a.
b.
c.
II. Activity
III. Discussion
Category overview
Baxter-Magolda’s Journey Toward Self Authorship
Recognizing the Journey
Student
Development
Different than growth
and change
About becoming a more
complex individual
About increasing
differentiation and
integration of self
Cognitive
Structural
Theories
Shifts in how an
individual makes
meaning
Not about the content
or what the person
thinks – about how the
person thinks
Intellectual Development Scheme
 Positions (abridged)
 Dualism
 Multiplicity
 Relativism
 Commitment
 Key Concepts
 Dissonance and assimilation v. accommodation
 Escape, temporizing, and retreat
Perry, W.G. (1999). Forms of ethical and intellectual development in the college years: A
scheme. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Recognizing Intellectual Development
Student Staff
Participants
insert pic of desk attendant
insert pic of IM participants
Psychosocial
Theories
Formation of aspects of
self, such as identity or
purpose
Learning skills or ways
of being to successfully
navigate life
Seven Vectors
 Developing Competence
 Managing Emotions
 Moving Through Autonomy Toward




Interdependence
Developing Mature Interpersonal Relationships
Establishing Identity
Developing Purpose
Developing Integrity
Chickering, A.W., & Reisser, L. (1993). Education and identity (2nd ed.). San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Recognizing the Seven Vectors
Student Staff
Participants
insert outdoor trip pic w/ focus
on trip leader
insert pic of swimmer
Integrative
Theories
Consider both the ways
an individual thinks
and the content of what
the individual is
thinking
Journey Toward Self Authorship
 The Journey
 Following external formulas
 Crossroads
 Becoming author of one’s own life
 Internal foundation
 Being Good Company for the Journey
 Validating learner’s capacity to know
 Situating learning in the learner’s experience
 Mutually constructing meaning
Baxter Magolda, M. (2001). Making their own way: Narratives for transforming
higher education to promote self-development. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Recognizing the Journey
Student Staff
Participants
insert group fitness pic w/ focus
on instructor
insert pic of club sport
participants
Present to the VP!
Your Challenge
 Form
groups
 Each group member will suggest a program or
initiative to address a particular theory
 Each group will pick its favorite program to
present to the VP (and the rest of the room)
 The non-biased judges at the front will pick the
most effective program (applause, heckling, and
bribery will be considered)
 Prizes are on the line!!!
Thank You!
NATHAN WILLIAMS
NATHANW@UGA.EDU
KARA FRESK
KFRESK@UGA.EDU