Various Aspects of Student Progression - Case Study Example

The objective of the study was to apply development theory in the specific context of two issues, first – the general dislike experienced by students towards the mandatory seminar organised by the college to evaluate various aspects of student progression and experiences to university life and second, the issue of an apparent personality conflict among residential students. In evaluating the first issue, the researcher approached it by using student interest as the bottom line criterion to evaluate the efficacy of the program in question. The observation made in the study is that the students do not find the program topical or relevant. The application of the values congruence theory seems to be indicated in terms of evaluating the program from the perspective of student interest, because according to this theory, a campus activity must align itself with the needs and expectations of students if it is to be effective. Applying this, the program obviously does not meet student expectations in terms of its relevance and topical nature; hence it could easily fall within the parameters of tangential activity as laid out by Chickering and Stamm (2002), because according to the students, it detracts them from time that could be otherwise spent in more useful academic activity that could progress them towards a degree. The researcher has applied two theories to assess this issue. The first is Schlossberg’s Theory of transition and suggests that students entering college except a change from their old roles and responsibilities and thereby becomes confused when required to return to an evaluation of themselves in the context of their past. The second theory which has been applied is Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, which requires students to effectively resolve one stage of development before they can progress to another. Both these theories may be relevant when applied in the context of the mandatory seminar, but the researcher’s application may be slightly flawed, because the dislike the students feel for the program is attributed to the return to old roles and responsibilities, whereas the reasons for the dislike may be the failure to conform to student expectations in terms of providing topical material. In terms of individual development, it could be argued that the program has a great relevance in terms of providing students with the opportunity to examine themselves to discover which extra curricular activities they could engage in to improve themselves; to discover the mistakes of their past so that they can tackle and purge them before moving on to the next stage. Erickson’s theory does point out that students need to resolve one phase completely before they can move into the next stage. The interventions which have been proposed by the researcher are however, likely to be very effective. Integrating the program contents into general education course materials for the first year could make the program more acceptable to students, because it would tackle the root cause of their antipathy; i.e., the perception that the courses are not relevant to their degree. The other solution of redesigning the course curriculum would also be effective, because it would institute the necessary changes immediately based upon student feedback and therefore, make them take the program more seriously because they feel their needs have been accommodated. The second issue dealt with is the conflict between two students. The first – Ronny – has moved away from his earlier conservative dress and demeanour and adopted an ethnic specific lifestyle, including moving away from Cory’s room to live with others of his ethnic group. Cory – his roommate, feels alienated and rejected as a result of Ronny’s moving out because he fails to realize Ronny’s identity crisis is caused by internal factors rather than his friend. Two theories applied by the researcher in dealing with this issue - the first being Cross’ model of psychological nigrescence, i.e, raised in a manner non traditional for his ethnicity. Hence, his sense of identity is not conditioned by typical ethnic influences and experiences. While in college, he is thus faced with his difference from others belonging to his ethnic group. Thus, his alliance with Cory would appear to represent to him, an alignment with his old identity, which he appears to want to change in order to move into a more acceptable new identity which match others of his ethnicity. The second is Helms’ white identity development model, wherein the researcher places Hems in Status 2, i.e, disintegration. Each stage of identity development, according to the theory, contains cognitive and emotional components and processes that the individual uses to receive cues from the environment and react to them accordingly. These theories appear to be well applied in the context of the identity crises that both these students are facing. The explanation for Ronny’s conduct offered by Cross’ model is quite relevant, because it is in effect, an attempt to resolve the conflict between his non traditional upbringing and the new reality about his identity that he is faced with college. Therefore a separation from Ronny who represents his past would be inevitable. In Cory’s case, the feelings of rejection he is experiencing also appear quite relevant in terms of his need for acceptance among his peers and especially his roommate in college. The researcher appears to The intervention proposed by the researcher is brilliant, because it advocates individual counselling at first and then joint counselling so that both young men can face up to what they have experienced and understand the reasons why they feel that way. Once Ronny has understood his own inner urge towards closer ties with his own ethnic group, he would be able to have a more broad based view that in turn would help him to be able to see how he might have caused trauma to Cory. Similarly, through counselling, Cory would be able to arrive at an understanding of what he is going through and rather than resorting to bitterness, be able to cope effectively with the problem by developing his own sense of self confidence. The proposal to have the two young men enter into joint counselling after their own inner recognition of their own problems would be enormously helpful to the students to resolve their problems amicably in the presence of a neutral third party and thereby be helpful in resolving their issues. Revision matrix: On the basis of the above, it would appear that the theories are well applied in the second case, but may need to be revised in the first issue. The revision would need to occur in two aspects (a) correcting the theory itself and applying the right theory and (b) assessing the theory and applying it correctly in terms of the analysis, so that appropriate explanations are offered for the application of Erickson’s theory. The issues and application of theories are summed up in the table below: Read More