Development of emerging adults in higher education:

a qualitative approach to students´ narratives

.

Gloria Nogueiras

Alejandro Iborra

Annual Symposium, Freiburg 31 May-2 June 2013, Germany

Higher education

Introduction

IntroductionResearch context

Developmental PsychologyDegree in Teacher Training

59 students aged around 18.

Learning and Development of PersonalityMaster in Secondary Education Teacher Training

56 students aged around 25.

2011/2012 academic year. First semester

Collaborative learning( Iborra, Margalef & Samaniego, 2009)

Experiential learning focused on the process(Ingarfield, 2007)

• How will be the learning process lived in a contextfocused on promoting the students´ autonomy throughpersonal exploration and collaborative work?

• Will exist differences in the way of living and managingthe learning experience among undergraduate studentsand master students?

Research questions

Introduction

Method

• Qualitative research(Denzin & Lincoln, 2005; Seale et al., 2007; Silverman, 2010)

• Categorical content analysis(Berelson, 1952; Krippendorff, 1980)

• Exploratory and inductive analysis (Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiah & Zilber,

1998)

• Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis (CAQDAS )

Atlas.ti5

Method

Participants

Undergraduate students: 59 (37 blogs)

Master students: 56 (30 blogs)

4 undergraduate students. 3 women, 1 man. Aged 18.

4 master students. 2 women, 2 men. Aged 25.

Purposive and criterial sampling

(Miles y Huberman, 1991)

Highest marks

Blog

Method

Self-assesment tasks

Blogs

Method

2. Axial coding– joining of categories

1. Open coding (line by line) – free generation of categories

3. Increasingly complex coding: integration of categories

Data Analysis (I)

4. Conceptual networks

Method

Method

Data Analysis (II)

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is associated with

is associated with

is cause of

contradicts

is associated with

is associated with

is associated with

is associated with

is associated with

is part of

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is associated with

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is associated withComienzo del máster-asignatura_

Expectativas iniciales_

Ideas preconcebidas_

Nuevas exigencias_

Pasado estudiantil_

--Descoloque--

Cambio de perspectiva, opinión_

Cambios_toma conciencia necesidadcambios_

Cambio_

Evolución_

Transición situación inicial-situaciónfinal_~

Turning point_~Expectativas futuro_

Retrospectiva_

Situación final_

Cambio concepción del profesor_~

Cualidad profesor_favorece aprendizajeautodirigido_

Ideas preconcebidas sobre el profesor_~

Profesor como facilitador_~

--Profesor_--

Actividad_dibujo como docente_~

Actividades aula_enumeración_~ Actividades fuera del aula_enumeración_

Aula virtual_

Autoevaluación_

Blog_~

Comunidad de Aprendices_~

Diálogo_

Forma de dar clase_~

Trabajo en grupo_~

Uso nuevas tecnologías_~

Yo como caso_~

--Metodología_--

Textos_~

Explicaciones profesor_ Estudio de casos_~

+ATRACCIÓN_

+INTERÉS_

+MOTIVACIÓN_

+SEGURIDAD_+SORPRESA_

DECEPCIÓN_

DESCONCIERTO_

DESORIENTACIÓN_+GRATITUD_

INTRANQUILIDAD_

NO SABER_

+SATISFACCIÓN_SENTIRSE PERDIDO_SOBRECARGA_~

--Emociones_--

--Emociones evaluadas positivamente_----Emociones evaluadas negativamente_--

RIGIDEZ_

Cambios en la identidad_~

Evaluación de la identidad_

Identidad como arquitecto_~ Identidad como docente_~

Integración de identidades_~

--Experimentando el aprendizaje_----Reflexionando sobre el aprendizaje_--

--Dificultades iniciales en elaprendizaje_--~

--Experiencia de aprendizaje_--~

Cualidad aprendizaje_inutilidad_

Cualidad aprendizaje_pocasignificatividad_

Cualidad aprendizaje_incomprensión_

Aplicación real, transferencia delaprendizaje_

Deseo de aprender_

Vinculación asignatura-vida cotidiana_

Aprendizaje significativo, útil_

Aprendizaje autodirigido_

Explicita un aprendizaje_~

Metaaprendizaje_

Metáfora de aprendizaje_

Toma de conciencia del aprendizaje_

Method

New system Initial upset

Expectations

New

requirements

Beginning of the subject

NS = complexity

NS = novelty

NS= freedom

Data Analysis (III)

Results

Beginning of thesubject

Development of thesubject

End of the subject

Teaching methodology

Teacher

Learning experience

Emotions

Identity

Learner´s process

Context of learning

Results

Learning experience, emotions and identity

End of the subject

Revision and integration

-Satisfaction, motivation, proud

-Awareness of learning:learning to learn, learningfrom others, connection between theory and reality, self-directed learning.

Development of the subject

Transition

- Enjoyment, interest, curiosity

- Overload, frustration, mental block

-Connections: contents of the subject-daily life

Beginning of the subjectInitial upset

(Students´expectations VS

Reality )

- Uncertainty, insecurity, fear and confusion

- Difficulties in learning

- Curiosity, interest

Everything seems odd, very different from the things we were used to. It seems that anyone evaluates us, that everything is in our hands. NLG1F

Like anything new, it has a part that generates fear and uncertainty because you do not know what it will happen, and other part that is interesting and appealing. SAM1F

Nowadays I feel as falling between two stools. LVM2F

The more contextualized and practical for teaching a text was, the more interest to read it I had. EAE2F

I began to perceive that I was expected to have a personal initiative, a commitment not to the teacher and his subject, but to myself and my own learning. JPM2M

Now I start enjoying and I think that I can be proud of having bet on it. ALG2M

Results

Discussion

Living a challenginglearning experience

Students have to relativize their relation with the teacher, taking responsibility on becoming active protagonists of their own learning (Baxter Magolda, 2004)

Intern experience of a developmental change can be overwhelming and painful, since it implies feeling that some former allegiances and devotions are risked (Kegan, 1980, 1994)

Starting to transit towards a more complex mental organization

Trigger of a change process…?

Desestabilization of a former model for giving meaning

Upset (students´ expectations VS reality)

Challenging learning context, new requirements

-From the third to the fourth order of consciousness - Towards self-directed learning (Kegan, 1994)

Discussion

Discussion

From the third to the fourth order of consciousness (Kegan, 1994) –Differences among undergraduate and master students

Different ways of organizing and making meaning of the experience.

Differences in the way of managing the challenges met.

• Undergraduate students: third order that starts to be destabilized?

Higher intensity of the initial upset, lower tolerance to negative emotions as uncertainty, greater dependence on the teacher.

• Master students: transition towards the fourth order?

It implies “the exercise of critical thinking or the ability to examine oneself and one´s culture to know how to separate what is felt, what is valued and what is wanted from what should be felt, should be valued or should be wanted” (Kegan, 1994, p. 309).

Learning does not mean moving away from the previous learning, but changing the intention. We have to remember that we are not a diploma, but complex human

beings who can manage different beliefs at the same time according to what is learnt or to what happens around us. LVM2F.

A self-directed learner is able to criticize what he learns, assumes the responsibility of his own learning, sets personal goals, manages his time, is

able to elaborate learning from the others´ critics and use experts and institutions to achieve his objectives (Kegan 1994, following Grow 1991).

Discussion

Towards self-directed learning (towards higher complexity)

We have been given a different freedom: it does not mean doing what we want, but learning by ourselves. SAM1F.

I would define my process of learning as self-directed because I have been planning the topics, no closing doors to new things, appreciating how they fitted with what I was learning. ALG2M

I began to perceive that I was expected to have a personal initiative, a commitment not to the teacher and his subject, but to myself and my own learning. JPM2M.

Discussion

Role of the teacher as generator of a context that facilitates change andlearning. I.e. The teacher offered a less open context and provided moreguidelines to undergraduate students than to master students.

The teacher works for the development of persons. Every person comes from a different background, lives a different situation and has a personal way of developing and the teacher has to take into account this diversity. Maintaining an attitude of sensitive observation, the teacher is in charge

of committing the student with his own development, generating uncertainties and providing with the appropriate frame and support in order that every student can progress qualitatively

towards a higher stage. JPM2M.

The process of becoming a self-directed learner, as well as the concomitant transition between orders of consciousness, is not easy. It demands:

-An epistemological reflection of the subject: questioning of pre-existing assumptions + creation of new ones (Baxter Magolda, 2004).

-A developmental bridge: meaningful and familiar + promoting psychological development (Kegan, 1994)

Experiential learning activated students´ personal experiences andprovided collaborative contexts to compare them with the others´.

= facilitated that some outstanding aspects were identified and

=opened the possibility to review these aspects.

For the first time I saw myself from the outside, coming from inside of me to contemplate my internal debate as something global and not from the field of

battle as usual. LVM2F.

Discussion

Identity

“Knowledge construction, meaning making and awareness ofself are intertwined” (Baxter Magolda, 1996:172).

Some of the challenges of the fourth order of consciousness, “asunderstanding the difference between what we value and whatwe should value, as drafting our own goals or as having sense ofourselves as co-creators of the culture we live in, implies nothingelse than the reconstitution of our self” (Kegan, 1994:283).

Experiential and collaborative context increased the possibility that students felt authors and responsible for their own learning and their peers´ learning.

Writing in the blog and doing the self-assessment task facilitated that students reflected on and became aware of their processes of learning.

In line with recent publications (BaxterMagolda, 2000, 2004; Drago-Severson

& Pinto 2004; Iborra et al., 2009; Kegan, 1994, 2000) we consider thatlearning experiences such as those reviewed in this research…

…can offer the student the opportunity to decide what to learnand how to do it and has a positive effect on the development,encouraging the transition towards self-direction in learning.

…are a good example of how educative context can become a keyenvironment to facilitate holistic development of people.

Conclusions

• Mixed study: students narratives + scales of emotionalprocesses to be studied through Dynamic Systems techniques(Van Geert, 1994; Kunnen, 2011).Trajectories in emotional processes: Nogueiras & Iborra, 2011.

• Paying attention to the other voices part of the learningexperience (the other students, the teacher).Inspiring works in narrative research: Smith, 1999; Sparkes, 1999; Smith ySparkes, 2008; Smith & Sparkes, 2011a.

• Connect and expand with van Rossum and Hamer learning-teaching conceptions (van Rossum & Hamer, 2010).

Paths for the future…

gloria.nogueiras@uah.esalejandro.iborra@uah.es

Development of emerging adults in higher education:a qualitative approach to students´ narratives

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