Connecting cognitive-structural development and writing performance: Implications for the first-year composition classroom

Using Patricia King and Karen Kitchener's Reflective Judgment Model as an operational definition for cognitive-structural development, this study sought to answer three questions. First, how well matched are students in terms of their cognitive-structural development to the cognitive demands of writing assignments in the first-year composition course? In particular, how does students' level of reflective thinking shape their response to argumentative writing assignments in first-year English. Second, what impact does writing coursework have on cognitive-structural development? In other words, does exposure to reading and writing about ill-structured problems (i.e., argumentative, thesis-driven writing) facilitate the development of reflective judgment? Finally, what is the role of cognitive-structural development in the writing process? Or, how might students' beliefs about knowledge and strategies for justifying beliefs shape their ways of reading an assignment and the kinds of rhetorical problems they pose for themselves in writing?;The researcher examined the cognitive-structural development of students enrolled in a single section of English 101 in spring 2008. To get a better understanding of the possible impact of the course on students' cognitive development, videotaped observations were made in one unit of the course, course documents and a teaching journal were reviewed, and a small group of students were interviewed before and after they completed a policy essay assignment. The writing assignments for the course were analyzed and discrete rhetorical tasks were identified and mapped onto the Reflective Judgment Model to get a better understanding of the cognitive demands that the writing assignments placed on students. Writing samples were collected from the students enrolled in this section of the course and analyzed to determine students' success in responding to the assignments.;Assessments of reflective judgment, based on the Reasoning About Current Issues (RCI) Questionnaire, and student interviews revealed that the level of cognitive-structural development of students in this sample was consistent with earlier research on reflective judgment with students early in their college careers. RCI scores for all students enrolled in English 101 in spring 2008 suggest that students in the study section were similar to other students taking the course. Evidence of students' current level of reflective thinking is seen in their approach to writing about ill-structured problems and shapes what they see as important goals in writing an argumentative essay. Some students were not able to accomplish rhetorical tasks that were pitched at more than one stage level above their current developmental level. For students who were more advanced in their reflective thinking and who still struggled with certain rhetorical tasks, it suggests that something beyond cognitive-structural development plays a role in writing performance. While the study was of too short a duration to identify significant changes in students' reflective thinking, some limited evidence suggests that exposure to ill-structured problems through course readings and class discussions may facilitate reflective thinking---at least within the same domain.;The findings suggest that an awareness of where students are likely to be developmentally may help instructors reframe writing assignments for the course and their expectations for student performance on argumentative tasks. Rather than suggesting that assignments be recast at lower developmental levels, it is recommended that additional opportunities for support and practice be built into the course and that students focus as a group on a single ill-structured problem throughout the semester.