There has been a significant change in the cultural zeitgeist as of late. It has been especially noticeable in the academy over the past several years with the discipline of social work being no exception. In this essay, I will situate myself in a vulnerable position and will write about my disillusionment in the discipline I was proud to join a…

Fostering interdependence with nature is a central goal of environmental education. Exposing students to nature has been a common practice in environmental education for nurturing this connection among students. However, this exposition is not always feasible, especially in the context of higher education, nor is it clear that exposure to nature…

Academic departments exert a powerful influence on students by recruitment of distinctive personality types into academic disciplines, and by a socialization process in which departments reward students for the display of attitudes in accordance with the norms of their disciplines. This study examined the differential patterns of student growth…

The conference theme was Testing--Then and Now, based upon the assumption that psychometrists should review their origins and look forward to their future. In the area of intelligence testing, Nancy Bayley discussed the research that re-assessed previous concepts of the nature of intellectual growth and decline. Thelma Thurstone discussed new…

Engineering is a profession likely to attract the individual who seeks direct, sure lines to follow in life where he can avoid the tension of ambiguous or novel ideas, the sensitive encounters of interpersonal relations, and can derive satisfaction from tangible accomplishments. The supposition is that this individual, regardless of ability or…

Explored the relationship between cognitive development and perceptions of environmental press using the Allen (l983) Paragraph Completion Instrument and a version of the Classroom Environment Scale by Moos and Trickett (l974). Persons functioning at varying levels of cognitive development (dualism, multiplicity, late multiplicity, and relativism)…

There is increasing evidence that significant personality changes take place during adolescence and early adulthood. Among 10,000 high school seniors tested, the group intending to go to college differed in ability, socioeconomic background, parental encouragement, academic motivation and attitudes from those going on to jobs or homemaking.…

A study of the relationship between student financial contribution to college costs and self-perceived intellectual development between the freshman and senior years found that students contributing over 75 percent of their costs were less dualistic, more committed to life goals, more stable, and better at expressing their values and thoughts.…

Perry's theory of intellectual and ethical development of college students is briefly reviewed. This theory was based on work with Harvard University students, and addresses dualism, multiplicity, and relativism. In the first stage, a student sees the world in right-wrong, black-white terms, with no room in the thinking process for conditional or…

The nature and purpose of US colleges is explored within the framework of student development and its relationship to social change. Data were gathered during a 5-year study on the educational, vocational and personality development of 10,000 graduating high school seniors. A strong relationship was found between college entrance, level of ability…

Because the phenomenon of delayed graduation--the practice of prolonging the college career beyond the normal 4 years of undergraduate study--is so widespread researchers speculated that "continuers" might have certain common characteristics which would differentiate them as a group from "completers." The objective of this…

Comparison of a standardized production format measure, the Measure of Epistemological Reflection and an open-ended interview resulted in a high positive correlation to support the potential of standardized assessment of intellectual development. (Author/KS)

Lists the values acquired through the study of foreign languages. These include an acquisition of a sense of a relevant past; expansion of one's world view; contribution to the creation of a student's personality; development of the intellect; encouragement of respect for other peoples; and exposure to modes of thought outside one's native…

A series of studies carried out in Aberdeen, Scotland and Lancaster England is used to illustrate changing interests in the area of personality and learning. The early studies looked for general relationships, adopting a psychometric approach. Recent work has been focused more on the process of learning, particularly in higher education, and on…

Examines four problems associated with developing character in college students: two concerned with moral cognition, or knowing what is right, and two concerned with moral action. It then reviews educational programs concerned with moral action, and provides suggestions for designing character development strategies. (Author/TE)