2011 PSU Student Affairs Professional Development Meeting
Cognitive Schemas, Expertise
Development, and Promoting
Student Success
Dr. Peter Collier, Portland State University
My Research
Issue that contributes to relatively poorer
academic performance for ALL students :
they may not have a clear
understanding of how college
works
Traditional Model of Ed
achievement
Student’s
Abilities
Student’s
Performances
Understanding of
Course Material
Two Path Model
Understanding of
Professor’s Expectations
Student’s
Abilities
Student’s
Performances
Cultural
Capital
Demonstrated
Capacity
Academic
Skills
Actual
Capacity
Understanding of
Course Material
Collier & Morgan, 2007
One way to promote college
student success is to facilitate their
negotiation of the upper path of
the two-path model – i.e. increase
their relative level of student
expertise
Model of Student Problem-solving
1. Identify the problem / issue
Model of Student Problem-solving
1. Identify the problem / issue
2. Develop range of possible
solutions
Model of Student Problem-solving
1. Identify the problem / issue
2. Develop range of possible
solutions
3. Select preferred solution
Model of Student Problem-solving
1. Identify the problem / issue
2. Develop range of possible solutions
3. Select preferred solution
4. Act on choice & monitor outcomes
Experts are more likely to
Experts are more likely to
• quickly recognize issue
Experts are more likely to
• quickly recognize issue
• develop multiple workable solutions
Experts are more likely to
• quickly recognize issue
• develop multiple workable solutions
• generate high-success solutions
Experts are more likely to
• quickly recognize issue
• develop multiple workable solutions
• generate high-success solutions
• evaluate solution more realistically
Experts are more likely to
• quickly recognize issue
• develop multiple workable solutions
• generate high-success solutions
• evaluate solution more realistically
• chose a high-success solution
Experts are more likely to
• quickly recognize issue
• develop multiple workable solutions
• generate high-success solutions
• evaluate solution more realistically
• chose a high-success solution
• turn chosen solution into action that
addresses issue
How does Student Expertise develop?
Schema:
organized cognitive knowledge
structure of conceptually
related elements that guide the
processing of information
No schema
Schema
Why Should we care?
1. Schemas influence info processing
Schematic individuals are:
• quicker in recognizing schema
related information
• more certain when judging if new
info relates to important schemas
2. Schemas develop as new info is
incorporated
becoming a “college student” involves
the development of 2 schemas
role schema: organized knowledge
about being a college student
self-in-role schema: organized
knowledge about myself in regards to
being a college student
Role / self-in-role schemas develop by
combining more rudimentary “event
schemas” or scripts
event schema /script:
detailed “line of action” for completing
specific schema-related tasks
Model of an Event schema Collier,2009
issue
resource
strategy
Expertise = well developed schema
expert / schematic person is:
• quicker to recognize issue
• more likely to know set of workable
strategies for addressing issue
• more likely to select a high-likelihoodof-success strategy
• more likely to know relevant resources
for implementing strategy
How are role and self-in-role schemas
built from “scripts?”
Process of adding additional scripts to
role and self-in-role schemas continues
until person realizes immediate goal –
for a student this might be successfully
completing 1st year in school
From my research: participation in mentoring
program facilitated the development of more
complete schemas
More complete schemas = greater # of
scripts for addressing key issues
I propose that having greater # of scripts
for addressing specific college adjustment
issues may explain these students’
superior 1st year academic performance
Practical Suggestions
(caveat)
Expertise Development
Advising / Mentoring and
promoting student success
Expertise development advising
/mentoring involves “experts” sharing
useful information about
• what to do in order to succeed at
the university,
• insights into the culture of higher
education, and
• tips on how to become “more
expert” students.
This approach involves helping
students succeed by making them
aware of available campus support
services and showing how those
services can help with specific
college adjustment issues.
In addition, this approach provides
students with a variety of scripts for
how to use specific campus
resources appropriately as well as
strategies for key campus
interactions
Points of Impact
Student’s
Abilities
Understanding of
Professor’s Expectations
A
B
Student’s
Performances
Cultural
Capital
Demonstrate
d Capacity
Academic
Skills
Actual
Capacity
Understanding of
Course Material
2nd point from my research
On-line Mentoring Works.
Within the framework of the my
intervention, it appears WHAT
mentoring information is
provided is more important than
HOW that information is delivered
This is important because of set of
related issues:
• how to identify range of possible
adjustment issues
• matching campus resources to issues
• indentifying strategies that work
• advisor/mentor availability when
students need information
On-line resources exist
University Studies
University.Connect System
http://uconnect.unst.pdx.edu
“Access without support is not
opportunity”
Dr. Vincent Tinto
Syracuse University
Dr. Peter Collier
Professor of Sociology,
Portland State University
cfpc@pdx.edu
503-725-3961