Research teams at the University of Michigan, led by Dr. Patricia M. King, and the University of Miami (Ohio), led by Dr. Marcia Baxter Magolda, have conducted interviews each year with a subset of students at six of the institutions in the Wabash National Study 2006 cohort. The following list of conference papers and published articles comprise the ongoing research findings from the interviews. When possible, we have posted abstracts and provided links, highlighted in red, to papers and articles.
Barber, J. P. & King, P. M. (2007, November). Experiences that promote self-authorship: An analysis of the "demands" of developmentally effective experiences. In M. Mayhew (Chair), Self-Authorship and the College Student. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Louisville, KY. (PDF)
Baxter Magolda, M. B. (2007). Self-authorship: The foundation for twenty-first-century education. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 109, 69–83.
Baxter Magolda, M. B. & King, P. M. (2007). Interview strategies for assessing self-authorship: Constructing conversations to assess meaning making. Journal of College Student Development, 48, 491–508.
"This article presents two interview strategies used to assess college students' developmental growth toward self-authorship. We illustrate that self-authorship is a foundation for achieving many college learning outcomes and argue that designing practice to promote self-authorship requires understanding how to assess it. We offer a brief overview of the concept of self-authorship, explore the basic tenets of assessing self-authorship, and describe in detail two self-authorship interview strategies. The conversational nature of the interviews creates a learning partnership between interviewer and interviewee that serves the dual role of assessment and developmental intervention. Challenges and benefits of using these interview strategies to assess and promote self-authorship will help readers judge their utility in future research and practice." [Introduction by Authors]
"Many national studies have identified experiences that are associated with
enhancing college students’ learning and involvement. This study contributes to the small
but growing body of research that attempts to ascertain why given experiences have a
developmental impact on student learning. For a theoretical foundation, this project uses
the constructive-developmental tradition, in particular the theory of self-authorship, to
understand how students interpret their experiences. Based on interview data from the
Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, researchers determined that
educational experiences are most effective when they are tailored to students’ meaning
making. Four overarching categories of effects are articulated for students who are
externally defined, who use a mixture of external and internal meaning making, and who
are self-authored." [Abstract from Authors]
"Given the salience of diversity issues within colleges and universities (indeed,
within societies across the nation and around the world), coupled with the role of higher
education in addressing social problems, there is a need to better understand the kinds of
collegiate experiences that help students not only tolerate but appreciate differences. This
mixed method research project utilized results from a student experience survey and a
semi-structured interview about students’ meaningful experiences to identify what kinds
of experiences are developmentally effective for students. This project was specifically
focused on a broad definition of diversity, especially those experiences outside of the
boundaries of race and ethnicity. Cross-cultural interactions and differences in religion,
political affiliation, and socioeconomic class were found to be most important in
students’ experience. This study contributes to the growing body of research that
documents the value of interactions with diverse others in increasing students’ openness
to, valuing of, and deeper understanding of diversity." [Abstract by authors]
King, P. M. & Baxter Magolda, M. (2007, November). Experiences that promote self-authorship among students of color: Understanding and negotiating multiple perspectives. In M. Mayhew (Chair), Self-authorship and the college student. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Louisville, KY. (PDF)
King, P. M., & VanHecke, J. R. (2006). Making connections: Using skill theory to recognize how students build and rebuild understanding. About Campus, 11(1), 10–16.
"In this companion to Marc Schwartz and Kurt Fischer's article, Patricia King and JoNes VanHecke describe how student affairs educators can help students become sophisticated thinkers." [Introduction appearing in About Campus]
"Facilitating students’ development in moral reasoning is an important and well-documented goal in American higher education. This study explored this educational outcome through a mixed method analysis of findings from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, focusing on factors that affect the development of moral reasoning and on how students made meaning of their moral experiences. Several factors were found to predict moral reasoning, including gender, ability, and several attitudes and values. Further, meaning making orientation was found to have strong explanatory power for understanding differences in moral reasoning. By understanding the predictors of higher moral reasoning, as well as how students make meaning of the moral dilemmas they face in college, educators can better prepare students to respond to such challenges in the future." [Abstract from Authors]