Educational Implications

"Finding ways of improving students' reasoning is of great interest to educators, policy makers, and state legislators, among others; all have a vested interest in having adults be able to make informed decisions in their personal lives, in the workplace, and in their communities…[However, this research suggests] that many college-educated adults do not fully acknowledge uncertainty as the start of the knowing process, and thus may look to authorities for firm, unqualified answers" (King & Kitchener, 2002, p. 54). For additional work by authors who have identified institutional strategies that can be used to promote the development of epistemic cognition, see King, 1992; King & Baxter Magolda, 1996; Kitchener & King, 1990; Davison, King, & Kitchener, 1990; King & Wood, 1999; Kitchener, Lynch, Fischer, & Wood, 1993; Kroll, 1992a,b; Kronholm, 1993; Lynch, 1996; Lynch, Kitchener, & King, 1994; Thompson, 1995; and Wood & Lynch, 1998. King and Kitchener (2002, p. 19) provided the following list of common suggestions in the projects listed above:

• Show respect for students' assumptions, regardless of the developmental stage(s) they exhibit. Their assumptions are genuine, sincere reflections of their ways of making meaning, and are steps in a developmental progression. If students perceive disrespect or lack of emotional support, they may be less willing to engage in challenging discussions or to take the intellectual and personal risks required for development.
  
  
• Discuss controversial, ill-structured issues with students throughout their educational activities, and make available resources that show the factual basis and lines of reasoning for several perspectives.
  
  
• Create many opportunities for students to analyze others' points of view for their evidentiary adequacy and to develop and defend their own points of view about controversial issues.
  
  
• Teach students strategies for systematically gathering data, assessing the relevance of the data, evaluating data sources, and making interpretive judgments based on the available data.
  
  
• Give students frequent feedback, and provide both cognitive and emotional support for their efforts.
  
  
• Help students explicitly address issues of uncertainty in judgment-making and to examine their assumptions about knowledge and how it is gained.
  
  
• Encourage students to practice their reasoning skills in many settings, from their other classes to their practicum sites, student organizations, residence hall councils, and elsewhere, to gain practice and confidence applying their thinking skills.