Deeply Affecting First-Year Students' Thinking: Deep Approaches to Learning and Three Dimensions of Cognitive Development

Abstract

This study estimates the effects of a deep approaches to learning scale and its subscales on measures of students' critical thinking, need for cognition, and positive attitudes toward literacy, controlling for pre-college scores for the outcomes and other covariates. Results suggest reflection is critical to making gains across the outcomes.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Thomas F. Nelson Laird

Thomas F. Nelson Laird is Associate Professor in the Center for Postsecondary Research, Indiana University; [email protected].

Tricia A. Seifert

Tricia A. Seifert is Assistant Professor at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto;

Ernest T. Pascarella

Matthew J. Mayhew is Associate Professor of Higher and Postsecondary Education at New York University;

Matthew J. Mayhew

Ernest T. Pascarella is Professor and Mary Louise Petersen Chair in Higher Education and Higher Education and Student Affairs at University of Iowa;

Charles F. Blaich

Charles F. Blaich is Director of Inquiries at the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College. Please direct correspondence concerning this article to the first author at 1900 East Tenth Street, Eigenmann Hall Suite 419, Bloomington, IN 47406—7512.