Long Strides on the Journey Toward Self-Authorship: Substantial Developmental Shifts in College Students’ Meaning Making

Self‐Authorship

“…How collegians move from their socialization to rely on external authority toward establishing their internal authority depends on the dynamic interaction of their personal characteristics, experiences, their interpretation of those experiences, and their underlying constructions of knowledge, identity, and social relations (Baxter Magolda & King, ). Personal and environmental nuances, often related to experiencing marginalization, enable some collegians to shift toward self‐authorship during college (Abes & Jones, ; Barber, King, & Baxter Magolda, ; King, Baxter Magolda, Joslin, & DeMonbrun, ; Pizzolato, ; Torres & Hernandez, ). However, most research reveals that traditional‐age graduating seniors have yet to bring their internal voices to the foreground to coordinate external influence (Baxter Magolda, ; Baxter Magolda & King, ; King & Kitchener, ).…”

Creating interdisciplinary education within monodisciplinary structures: the art of managing interstitiality

“…This focus is particularly strong in European literature, however, a certain niche of literature describing larger institutional experiments with interdisciplinary research, education and learning is also present in the American literature (Kezar & Elrod, 2012;Kezar & Kinzie, 2006;Luckie, Bellon, & Sweeder, 2012;Mansilla, 2006;Mansilla, Duraisingh, Wolfe, & Haynes, 2009). Areas where the literature from North America takes the lead, are in planning and structuring interdisciplinary undergraduate programmes (Haynes, 2002;Henry, 2005;Klein, 2005;Newell, 2008) and the development of interdisciplinary curriculum and assessment tools (Barber, King, & Magolda, 2013;Boix Mansilla & Duraisingh, 2007;Mansilla et al, 2009;Nikitina, 2006) as well as specially designed entry courses (Orillion, 2009).…”

Assessment from an Educational Development Perspective

“…Although there is a robust debate about the value of student self‐reports to assess learning gains (e.g., Pike, ; Porter, ), a student‐centered assessment practice recognizes the value of student input into their learning experiences. For example, several researchers note the value of conversations with students about “what has made a difference” in their college experiences or what makes a class “hard” (Blaich & Wise, ; Chambliss & Takacs, ), as well as prompting students to make meaning about their educational experiences (Barber, King, & Baxter‐Magolda, ). Some also note the importance of having students cocollect or coanalyze assessment data, with roles ranging from helping to initially define the project to presenting an assessment report to high‐level administrators (Cook‐Sather, Bovill, & Felten, ).…”