Abstract
In this chapter, adult cognitive development and its transformation are explored in the context of a rapidly changing postmodern world. This chapter presents and describes three models of adult cognitive development and their educational implications. The models presented are Basseches’ model of dialectical thinking, Kuhn’s model of epistemological development, and Baxter Magolda’s model of the development of self-authorship. These models are described in greater detail because they present advanced forms of adult cognitive development but also because of the challenge they pose to educational practices. These models open possibilities for understanding educational practices and learning especially in higher education and adult life, as adulthood sets new challenges for the individual’s growth and learning with its own unique tasks and various transitions. In conclusion, it is suggested that integrative pedagogy and integrative thinking are suitable models for education in developing these forms of thinking. Integrative pedagogy and practices require knowledge construction and new ways of thinking. In integrative pedagogy, the learning environments are designed so as to fuse theoretical, practical, self-regulated, and sociocultural knowledge, which in turn enables students to practice integrative thinking.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Barnett, R. (2004). Learning for an unknown future. Higher Education Research and Development, 23(3), 247–260.
Basseches, M. (1984). Dialectical thinking and adult development. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Basseches, M. (2005). The development of dialectical thinking as an approach to integration. Retrieved from http://integral-review.org/back_issues/index.asp
Baxter Magolda, M. B. (1992). Knowing and reasoning in college: Gender-related patterns in students intellectual development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Baxter Magolda, M. B. (1999). Creating contexts for learning and self-authorship: Constructive-developmental pedagogy. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.
Baxter Magolda, M. B. (2001). Making their own way: Narratives for transforming higher education to promote self-development. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Bendixen, L. D. (2002). A process model of epistemic belief change. In B. K. Hofer & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing (pp. 191–208). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Biggs, J. B. (1999). Teaching for quality learning at university: What the student does. Ballmoor, Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education, Open University Press.
Billet, S. (2004). Learning through work: Workplace participatory practices. In H. Rainbird, A. Fuller, & A. Munro (Eds.), Workplace learning in context (pp. 109–125). London: Routledge.
Boreham, N. (2002). Work process knowledge in technological and organizational development. In N. Boreham, R. Samurçay, & M. Fischer (Eds.), Work process knowledge (pp. 1–14). London: Routledge.
Collin, K. (2008). Development of engineers’ work and learning as shared practice. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 27(4), 379–397.
Commons, M. L., Galaz-Fontes, J. F., & Morse, S. J. (2006). Leadership, cross-cultural contact, socio-economic status, and formal operational reasoning about moral dilemmas among Mexican non-literate adults and high school students. Journal of Moral Education, 35(2), 247–267.
Dixon, R. A. (1990). History of research in human development. In R. M. Thomas (Ed.), The encyclopedia of human development and education: Theory, research and studies (pp. 9–17). New York: Pergamon.
Fair-Worthen, M. L. (2000). Life-span cognitive giftedness: The development of relativistic thinking. In R. C. Friedman & B. M. Shore (Eds.), Talents unfolding: Cognition and development (pp. 149–166). Washington, DC: APA.
Farrar, F., & Suggs, L. (2010). Empowering critical thinking skills with computerized patient simulators. Journal of College Teaching & Learning, 7(5), 1–4.
Felder, R., & Brent, R. (2004). The intellectual development of science and engineering students. Journal of Engineering Education, 93(4), 269–277.
Fischer, K., Yan, Z., & Stewart, J. (2003). Adult cognitive development: Dynamics in the developmental web. In J. Valsiner & K. Connolly (Eds.), Handbook of developmental psychology (pp. 491–516). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Helsdingen, A. S., van den Bosch, K., van Gog, T., & van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (2010). The effects of critical thinking instruction on training complex decision making. Human Factors, 52(4), 537–545.
Hoare, C. (2006). Handbook of adult development and learning. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hodge, D. C., Baxter Magolda, M. B., & Haynes, C. A. (2009). Engaged learning: Enabling self-authorship and effective practice. Liberal Education, 95(4), 16–23.
Hofer, B. K. (2001). Personal epistemology research: Implications for learning and teaching. Educational Psychology Review, 13(4), 353–383.
Hofer, B. K., & Pintrich, P. R. (2002). Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Inhelder, B., & Piaget, J. (1958). The growth of logical thinking from childhood to adolescence. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Irwin, R. (2002). Human development and the spiritual life: How consciousness grows towards transformation. New York: Plenum.
Jarvis, P. (1992). Paradoxes of learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kallio, E. (2011). Integrative thinking is the key: An evaluation of current research into the development of adult thinking. Theory and Psychology, 21(6), 785–801.
Kegan, R. (1994). In over our heads: The mental demands of modern life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
King, P. M., & Kitchener, K. S. (1994). Developing reflective judgment: Understanding and promoting intellectual growth and critical thinking in adolescents and adults. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Kramer, D. (1983). Post-formal operations? A need for further conceptualization. Human Development, 26, 91–105.
Kramer, R. (2007). Leading change through action learning. The Public Manager, 36(3), 38–44.
Kuhn, D., Cheney, R., & Weinstock, M. (2001). The development of epistemological understanding. Cognitive Development, 15(3), 309–328.
Kuhn, D., Iordanou, K., Pease, M., & Wirkala, C. (2008). Beyond control of variables: What needs to develop to achieve skilled scientific thinking? Cognitive Development, 23(4), 435–451.
Kuhn, D., & Weinstock, M. (2002). What is epistemological thinking and why does it matter? In B. K. Hofer & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing (pp. 121–144). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Labouvie-Vief, G. (2006). Emerging structures of adult thought. In J. Arnett & J. Tanner (Eds.), Emerging adults in America (pp. 59–84). Washington, DC: APA.
Leggett, M., Kinnear, A., Boyce, M., & Bennett, I. (2009). Student and staff perceptions of the importance of generic skills in science. Higher Education Research and Development, 23(3), 295–312.
Levinson, D. J., & Levinson, J. D. (1996). The seasons of a woman’s life. New York: Ballantine.
Linnenbrink, E. A., & Pintrich, P. R. (2002). The role of motivational beliefs in conceptual change. In M. Limon & L. Mason (Eds.), Reconsidering conceptual change: Issues in theory and practice (pp. 115–135). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Marchand, H. (2001). Some reflections on post-formal thought. The Genetic Epistemologist, 29(3). Retrieved from http://www.piaget.org/GE/2001/GE-29–3.html
Merriam, S. B. (2004). The role of cognitive development in Merzirow’s transformational learning theory. Adult Education Quarterly, 55, 60–68.
Merriam, S. B. (2005). How adult life transitions foster learning and development. New Directions for Adult and Continuing education, 108, 3–13.
Merriam, S. B., & Caffarella, R. S. (1999). Learning in adulthood (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Merriam, S. B., & Clark, M. C. (2006). Learning and development: The connection in adulthood. In C. Hoare (Ed.), Handbook of adult development and learning (pp. 27–51). New York: Oxford University Press.
Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Mezirow, J. (2000). Learning to think like an adult: Core concepts of transformation theory. In J. Mezirow & Associates (Eds.), Learning as transformation: Critical perspectives on a theory in progress (pp. 3–33). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Morton, K., Worthley, J., Testerman, J., & Mahoney, M. (2006). Defining features of moral sensitivity and moral motivation: Pathways to moral reasoning in medical students. Journal of Moral Education, 35(3), 387–406.
Moshman, D. (2003). Developmental change in adulthood. In J. Demick & C. Andreoletti (Eds.), Handbook of adult development (pp. 43–61). New York: Kluwer.
Perry, W. G. (1970). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Phan, H. (2008). Predicting change in epistemological beliefs, reflective thinking and learning styles: A longitudinal study. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 78, 75–93.
Revans, R. (1982). The origins and growth of action learning. Lund, Sweden: Studentlitteratur.
Revans, R. (1985). Action learning: Its origins and nature. In M. Pedler (Ed.), Action learning in practice (pp. 9–21). Aldershot, Hampshire: Gower.
Richter, T., & Schmid, S. (2010). Epistemological beliefs and epistemic strategies in self- regulated learning. Metacognition and Learning, 5(1), 47–65.
Schlossberg, N. K. (1989). Overwhelmed: Coping with life’s ups and downs. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Schommer-Aikins, M. (2004). Explaining the epistemological belief system: Introducing the Embedded systemic model and coordinated research approach. Educational Psychologist, 39(1), 19–29.
Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner. London: Temple Smith.
Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Shor, I. (1992). Empowering education: Critical teaching for social change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Sinnott, J. D. (1998). The development of logic in adulthood: Postformal thought and its applications. New York: Plenum Press.
Sinnott, J. D. (2003). Postformal thought and adult development: Living in balance. In J. Demick & C. Andreoletti (Eds.), Handbook of Adult Development (pp. 221–238). New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Sinnott, J. (2005). The dance of transforming self: Both feeling of connection and complex thought are needed for learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 108(27–37).
Stevens-Long, J., & Commons, M. L. (1992). Adult life. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company.
Tynjälä, P. (2008). Perspectives into learning at the workplace. Educational Research Review, 3(2), 130–154.
Tynjälä, P., & Häkkinen, P. (2005). E-learning at work: Theoretical underpinnings and pedagogical challenges. Journal of Workplace Learning, 17(5/6), 318–336.
Tynjälä, P., & Kallio, E. (2009, August). Integrative pedagogy for developing vocational and professional expertise. Paper presented at the 13th Biennial conference for Learning and Instruction, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Vosniadou, S. (Ed.). (2008). International handbook of research on conceptual change. New York: Routledge.
Wapner, S., & Demick, J. (2003). Adult Development: The Holistic, Developmental, and System-Oriented perspective. In J. Demick & C. Andreoletti (Eds.), Handbook of adult development (pp. 63–83). New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Wood, P. (1983). Inquiring systems and problem structure: Implications for cognitive development. Human Development, 26, 249–265.
Yang, S.-Y. (2008). A process view of wisdom. Journal of Adult Development, 15(2), 62–75.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Netherlands
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Liitos, HM., Kallio, E., Tynjälä, P. (2012). Transformations Toward Mature Thinking: Challenges for Education and Learning. In: Tynjälä, P., Stenström, ML., Saarnivaara, M. (eds) Transitions and Transformations in Learning and Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2312-2_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2312-2_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-2311-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-2312-2
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)