IN PARTNERSHIP WITH STUDENTS Megan Schmid and Adrianna Guram

3 Assumptions  Knowledge is complex and socially constructed: participants encounter challenges through multiple interactions, ambiguity, and the need to negotiate what to believe with others  Self is central to knowledge construction: internal sense of self  Authority and expertise are shared in the mutual construction of knowledge among peers: participating as equal partners in mutually constructed knowledge models interpersonal growth, or ability to function interdependently with others.

Wisconsin Experience The idea that, together, we create and apply learning inside and outside the classroom to make the world a better place.  Substantial research experiences that generate knowledge and analytical skills  Global and cultural competences and engagement  Leadership and activism opportunities  Application of knowledge in the “real world”

Essential Learning Outcomes  Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World  Intellectual and Practical Skills  Personal and Social Responsibility  Integrative Learning

Perry’s Model of Intellectual and Ethical Development  Dualistic Thinking  Students generally believe knowledge is certain and unambiguous: black/white, right/wrong  Questions have immutable, objective answers  Students generally believe authorities possess valuable wisdom that contains eternal truths  Certainty yields to uncertainty and ambiguity  Multiplicity  Students come to believe that where uncertainty exists, knowledge and truth are essentially subjective and personal  Students come to recognize that mere opinion is insufficient because specific criteria helps evaluate the usefulness and validity of knowledge claims: methodology empirical evidence explanatory power predictive power logical consistency positive vs. normative conclusions

Perry, cont.  Contextual-Relativism  Students come to believe that even where uncertainty exists, people must make choices about premises, frameworks, hypotheses, and theories to apply; policy conclusions are not self-evident  Students may come to recognize that even in a world of uncertainty, they must make choices (whether about ideas, hypotheses, theories, or policies). These choices require methods of critical thinking.  Context-Appropriate Decisions  Students may come to acknowledge that choices require analysis and values.  Knowledge, theories, and methods are imperfect and uncertain, thus personal choices require acknowledging personal responsibility that follows from personal values.

VIDEO HERE Transition Music

Wisconsin Experience The idea that, together, we create and apply learning inside and outside the classroom to make the world a better place.  Substantial research experiences that generate knowledge and analytical skills  Global and cultural competences and engagement  Leadership and activism opportunities  Application of knowledge in the “real world”

Essential Learning Outcomes  Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World  Intellectual and Practical Skills  Personal and Social Responsibility  Integrative Learning

Learning Partnership Challenge Portray knowledge as complex and    internal belief system socially constructed Validate learners Self is central to knowledge     internal identity capacity to knowconstruction Learning Partnership Situate learning inShare Authority  Mutual learner’s experience and expertise relationships Define learning as mutually constructing meaning Support

Assumptions and Principles  Assumptions, revisited  Knowledge as complex and socially constructed  Self is central to knowledge construction  Authority and expertise are shared in the mutual construction of knowledge among peers  Principles  Validate learners’ capacity as knowledge constructors Helps students realize they can go back to the “potter’s wheel”  Situate learning in learners’ experience (rather than experience of authority) Gives students a context to bring their identity to learning  Define learning as mutually constructing meaning Supports learners’ participation in the construction of knowledge

Wrap Up and Questions  Take home material  Conversation Guide  About Campus article  Journal of College Student Development article  New Directions for Teaching & Learning article Opportunity to continue the conversation: Wednesday, January 28 th, 2009 from noon-1:30 PM CFYE “Brown Bag” on Self-Authorship Visit to register Questions???