Are Colleges Concerned with Intellectual Development?

The assumption is often made by college professors that incoming freshman students think logically. Using tests designed by the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget to evaluate logical thought processes, the authors found that 66 of 131 freshmen exhibited characteristics of the concrete operational thinker, while another 32 did not meet the criteria for formal operations. Professors further compound the problem by failing to recognize the kinds of experiences incoming freshmen students must have to move toward more logical thought. McKinnon, using a newly developed inquiry-oriented science course based upon Piagetian criteria, found a highly significant difference between those students who were exposed to the course and like students who were not. The authors concluded that secondary and elementary teachers do not take advantage of inquiry-oriented techniques so necessary to the development of logical thought because college professors do not provide examples of inquiry-oriented teaching.