Cognitive Development
Analyze the following scenario:
You are working with a group of faculty to re-think the teaching of “Introduction to Social Psychology” at your institution. Your team has divided a class of 150 into
five smaller sections of 30 each, and it has incorporated more writing, experiential activities, and group work into the course. The faculty report that students are
reacting well to some of the new strategies, but not to others. For example, they seem to like the tutorial sessions led by teaching assistants better than the
projects where they collaborate with their peers. In addition, they prefer to interact with their peers online, as opposed to in the classroom. Students also report
less satisfaction with assignments where they are asked to express personal opinions.
Change almost always results in some level of discomfort. Students and faculty are both somewhat uncomfortable in this scenario. Cite references from your readings
about cognitive development to explain students’ discomfort with the new instructional strategies. How can faculty move students past their discomfort to a new level
of understanding?
Sample Solution