Commencing character: A case study of character development in college

ABSTRACT

In the last century, higher education has witnessed a shift away from explicit character education. Although scholarship has recently reemerged on the importance of character in college, there are almost no empirical investigations of courses intentionally designed to impact student character at the college level. The current study examines an innovative course intervention called ‘Commencing Character’ designed to intentionally teach 16 target virtues through direct instruction, application of seven research-based strategies of character development, and engagement with over 40 commencement addresses focused on character. Comparing pre- and post-course self-reports, results indicated significant group differences in the development of seven targeted virtues when comparing students in the course (n = 31) to a control group (n = 49). These results show that a course focused explicitly on character in a way that is developmentally- and contextually-sensitive can promote the development of specific virtues.

KEYWORDS:

• Character
• virtue
• character education
• college
• commencement

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the John Templeton Foundation under Grant 61514; and the Lilly Endowment, Inc. under Grant 2019 0951. We are also grateful to Wake Forest University for support of this research and to four anonymous reviewers for helpful suggestions that improved the paper. The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not reflect the position of the John Templeton Foundation, Lilly Endowment, Inc., Wake Forest University, the United States Military Academy, the Department of the Army, or the Department of Defense.

Disclosure statement

We have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the John Templeton Foundation [61514]; Lilly Endowment, Inc. [2019 0951].

Notes on contributors

Michael Lamb

Michael Lamb (PhD) is Executive Director of the Program for Leadership and Character and Assistant Professor of Politics, Ethics, and Interdisciplinary Humanities at Wake Forest University. He is also a Research Fellow for the Oxford Character Project. His research focuses on virtue, character education, and the role of ethics in public life.

Elise M. Dykhuis

Elise M. Dykhuis (PhD) was the Senior Research Scholar in the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University at the time this manuscript was submitted, and is now an assistant professor and data analyst at the United States Military Academy. Her research focuses on character development in higher education, developmental character measurement, and intellectual humility.

Sara E. Mendonça

Sara E. Mendonça (PhD) is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Program for Leadership and Character and Department of Psychology at Wake Forest University. Her research focuses on character development, character interventions, and posttraumatic growth.

Eranda Jayawickreme

Eranda Jayawickreme (PhD) is the Harold W. Tribble Professor of Psychology and Senior Research Fellow at the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University. His research focuses on posttraumatic growth, character, and well-being.