#CSAM18 Day 8: Baxter Magolda & Epistemological Reflection

I rediscovered Baxter Magolda in the past few months as I’ve been doing reading for my new role as Coordinator of Tutoring. I wanted to dive into the literature of learning and tutoring, and boy have I done that. I’ve gotten through two full books, several articles, and am now into the “additional reading” portion of the Oxford’s Guide for Writing Tutors. The past couple of months have been busy with implementing changes and the new year, but I hope to increase my reading time soon. I have learned or re-learned a whole heck of a lot, which is kind of a fun twist now that I’m writing about learning.

Baxter Magolda came up with three principles of learning, outlined here from https://www.geneseo.edu/tlc/baxter:

1. "Validate Students as Knowers" - Students reported they learned better when professors conveyed a caring attitude, which ranged from taking an interest in their extracurricular activities, to talking with them rather than at them, to creating test formats that permitted partial credit for students who explained and documented the thinking behind their wrong answers.
2. "Situate Learning in the Student's Own Experience" -Students learned better when their teachers used examples that related to everyday life or offered real world assignments, and when students had opportunities to tell their own stories or create their own examples.
3. "Mutually Construct Meaning with Students" - To elucidate this principle, Baxter Magolda refers to Kegan's (1993) scenario of two instructors teaching the concept of 'irony': Teacher A asks for a definition of 'irony.' A student responds with an example, but not a definition. Teacher A notes that it is a good example but not a definition, then asks again. Students continue to think of examples but cannot come up with a definition, and fall silent. The teacher then gives the definition, which the students write down. There is student involvement, but this teacher is not connecting to the way the students make meaning, and they end up learning the definition by rote. In contrast, Teacher B capitalizes on the example given by the first student by asking for more examples, writing each on the board. After collecting several examples, this teacher invites the students to figure out a definition for irony that encompasses all the examples, thus taking into account how they make meaning using examples.

Title of theory: Epistemological Reflection

Year theory was published: 1992

Students originally studied: 101 college students at Miami University across their time at college. In an additional study published in 2001, Baxter Magolda interviewed 39 of the original students studied, asking about their experiences in adulthood and how those experiences affected their ability to deal with the different things that happen throughout adult life. She then described four phases in adult life: following external formulas, the crossroads, becoming the author of one's own life, and the development of an internal foundation.

Background of the author: Marcia Baxter Magolda was born and raised in Ohio, and has continued to live in Ohio throughout her life. She continues to study some of the students who originally participated as 18 year olds.

How theory can be used now: There are four different ways of knowing: absolute, transitional, independent, contextual. Each is associated with different sets of expectations from both the learner, their peers, and the teacher about learning. Each is broken down into three different ways of knowing: How do I know? Who am I? What relationship do I want with others? She also found that there were differences between men and women and how they navigated ways of knowing.Baxter Magolda has further explained her theories and how they can be used in educational settings through three principles: validating what the student knows, helping the student understand how learning falls into their experiences, and understanding that learn is something built among people. We need to be aware of where and how our students are learning from us and our programming.

Words of warning: I'm not sure I have any words of warning here. I rediscovered Baxter Magolda recently, and I think her theories can be used fairly regularly in our work in higher education.

http://collegestudentdeveltheory.blogspot.com/2010/10/baxter-magoldas-theory-of-self.html
https://www.dsa.vt.edu/aspirations/symposium/keynote.php
https://www.geneseo.edu/tlc/baxter

https://characterclearinghouse.fsu.edu/article/marcia-baxter-magolda-miami-university-ohio
Student Services: A Handbook for the Profession, 4th edition, by Susan R. Komives, Dudley B. Woodard, Jr., & Associates.