Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College Years The Life of William G Perry Jr Born in Paris France in 1913 Died January 12 th 1988 BA in English and Greek from Harvard in 1935 ID: 494268
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "William G. Perry, Jr." is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
William G. Perry, Jr.
Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College YearsSlide2
The Life of William G. Perry, Jr.
Born in Paris, France in 1913. Died January 12
th
, 1988.
B.A. in English and Greek from Harvard in 1935
M.A. in English in 1940, also from Harvard
1947- Founded the Bureau of Study Counsel at Harvard: a student center for counseling and tutoring.
Published
Forms of Intellectual and
Ethical
Development in the College
Years
in 1970.
Received lifetime achievement award from the Massachusetts Psychological AssociationSlide3
Perry’s Study
Studied the intellectual d
evelopment of college students
Longitudinal Study
Interview-style questioning: wanted students to give their own accounts of college in their own terms
Then a panel of judges would rate the unedited transcripts of the interviews using Perry’s scheme of 9 positionsSlide4
His Scheme of Intellectual Development
9 positions
Polar terms- we-right-good vs. others-wrong-bad
Diversity of opinion and uncertainty are seen as confusion in poorly-qualified authorities
Diversity and uncertainty are legitimate but also due to not finding the answer yet.
“Anyone has a right to their own opinion.”
Knowledge and values are contextual and relativistic.
Orientation of self in a relativistic world through personal commitment of some sort.
Student makes an initial commitment in some area.
Student experiences implications of that commitment.
Affirmation of identity.Slide5
His Scheme Cont.
While going through the positions students will also:
Temporize- delay in some position, hesitant to move on
Escape- Exploits opportunity for detachment around Positions 4 & 5.
Retreat- Entrenched in Dualism- around positions 2 & 3.
4
Generalized Levels
Dualism (1-2)
Multiplicity or Complex Dualism (3-4)
Relativism (5-6)
Commitment
to
Relativism (7-9)Slide6
Dianne Bateman & Janet Donald
“Measuring the Intellectual Development of College Students: Testing a Theoretical Framework”
Testing the ability of Perry’s Scheme to measure the intellectual development of college students.
Two possible levels or general positions that students take towards knowledge
The first is that knowledge consists of facts and data,
and
that
professors should supply them.
The
second is that knowledge is a quest
in which
students have responsibility for their own learning, and are expected to
be able
to judge the validity of arguments and to identify and defend their own point
of view
.Slide7
My Study: Hypotheses
Hypothesis 1
: The majority of freshman students surveyed will be in the dualistic level of intellectual development.
Hypothesis 2:
There will be a significant difference between the intellectual levels of students and faculty members. Slide8
The How: Online Survey
Sent students and faculty members an online survey through the website Survey Monkey.
Participants had to consent to participating, indicate whether they were a student or faculty member, then they could complete the quiz.
EX: Slide9
My Results: Percentages of Agreement and Disagreement
Levels
of Development
Agreement %
Avg.
Disagreement
% Avg.
Dualism
46.5%
53.5%
Multiplicity
53.2%
46.8%
Relativism
76.4%
23.6%
Commitment
to Relativism
78.2%
21.8%Slide10
#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
D1
A
N
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
N
N
A
N
D2
A
A
D
A
A
A
D
A
N
SA
SA
SD
D
N
N
M3
A
N
A
A
D
D
N
A
A
A
A
SA
A
D
A
C4
N
A
SA
A
A
A
A
SD
A
SA
SA
N
A
N
A
R5
N
D
SA
SA
SA
SA
A
A
A
D
A
SD
SA
SA
A
C6
A
D
A
A
A
D
A
A
A
SA
A
N
A
A
A
C7
A
NO
A
A
N
A
A
SA
A
A
SA
N
D
A
A
D8
N
D
N
A
A
A
D
A
N
N
A
N
SD
D
N
R9
N
A
A
SA
A
A
D
A
A
SD
A
SA
D
A
A
R10
A
SA
SA
SA
A
N
SA
SA
SA
N
SA
SA
SA
SA
A
M12
SA
N
A
SA
A
N
A
SA
A
D
N
SA
A
A
A
R14
A
A
A
A
A
N
D
SA
SA
A
A
SA
N
N
A
C16
SA
D
A
SA
A
N
A
SA
SA
A
A
SA
A
A
A
D17
A
D
N
N
D
SA
A
SA
N
D
D
D
D
N
N
M19
SA
A
D
N
D
SA
A
SA
N
A
N
SA
A
N
N
M20
SA
SD
D
N
D
N
D
SA
N
D
D
SD
SA
D
NSlide11
Percentages of Students in each level
Level
%
of Participants
Dualism
13.3%
Multiplicity
46.7%
Relativism
40%
Commitment
to Relativism
0%Slide12
I was wrong; I’ll admit it.
I was wrong about my first hypothesis. Most students were actually at the level of multiplicity. However, the majority of students surveyed were in the lowest two levels of intellectual development. So…
I cannot accurately test my second hypothesis, however, the professor has reached the level of Commitment to Relativism based on my assessment. He/she is two levels higher than 60% of his students. Slide13
Implications of Study
Assuming that we could come up with valid test based on Perry’s Scheme…
Should we test students on their intellectual development before they enter college?
Could there be a correlation between schooling and stage when entering college?
Should we expect the majority of incoming freshman to be generally dualistic in their thought processes?
Should we change curriculum at the college and high school levels?
Should we be trying to combat dualism or is it necessary for proper development?