This is an early incarnate of my current research in using collaborative learning strategies to help foster critical thinking and facilitate student learning outcomes.

1. Encouraging the
“Risks of Caring”
A Cognitive-DevelopmentApproach to Collaborative
Learning in First-Year Composition

2. General Movement for Perry’s Scheme of
Intellectual Development

3. A Compositionist’s Approach

4. Sample Prompt for Whole-Class Workshops

5. A student
survey
(with short
answer spaces
removed)

6. One response:

7. …I get more than
one opinion…
that will help
me revise.
Maybe if more
personal ideas
were shared, so
that I would be ok
with my opinion
being different
and not worry
about thinking how
everyone else
does.

8. The Next Steps:
Research and Training in Collaborative
Theories of Pedagogy
▪ I will explore potential intersections between
cognitive behavioral therapy, emotions in group
dynamics, and collaborative learning in writing
classrooms.
▪ Theories of pedagogy courses for First-Year
Composition should include introductions to
cognitive-affective studies.
▪ We should increase opportunities for
interdisciplinary projects among
rhetoric/composition and educational
neuroscientists.

9. Acknowledgments and Contact Information
▪ Many thanks to Dr. Ian Barnard
and Dr. Irene Clark of the
English Department at Cal
State Northridge for
respectively inspiring me and
keeping me level-headed.
▪ Even more thanks to my
students for participating in
this research and, moreover,
for participating in their
education.
Angeline.Olliff@gmail.com
For a detailed list of works cited,
other additional information, or
to work together in the future,
contact me:

10. Bibliography
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25 April 2013.
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JSTOR. Web. 14 April 2015.
Bizzell, Patricia. “William Perry and Liberal Education.” College English 46.5 (1984): 447-54. JSTOR. Web. 28 December 2014.
Bruffee, Kenneth A. “Collaborative Learning and the ‘Conversation of Mankind.’” College English 46.7 (1984): 635-52. JSTOR. Web.
28 December 2014.
---. Introduction. “Writing, Collaborating, and Social Construction.” A Short Course in Writing: Composition, Collaborative
Learning and Constructive Reading. 4th ed. NY: Harper-Collins, 1993. 1-13. Print.
CSUN. “Approaches to University Writing.” Department of English. CSUN. Web. 27 April 2015.
---. “GE Student Learning Outcomes.” College of Humanities. CSUN. Web. 27 April 2015.
Immordino-Yang, Mary Helen, and Matthias Faeth. “The Role of Emotion and Skilled Intuition in Learning” Mind, Brain, and
Education. 69-83.
Knefelkamp, L. Lee. Introduction. Forms. By William G. Perry, Jr. xi-xxxviii. Print.
Kollar, Ingo, and Frank Fischer. “Peer Assessment as Collaborative Learning: A Cognitive Perspective.” Learning and Instruction 20.4
(2010): 344-48. ScienceDirect. Web. 28 December 2014.
Love, Patrick G., and Victoria L. Guthrie. "Understanding and Applying Cognitive Development Theory." New Directions for Student
Services 88 (1999): 5-99. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 6 May 2013.
Perry, William G., Jr. Forms of Ethical and Intellectual Development in the College Years. 1968. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999.
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Rose, Mike. “Narrowing the Mind and Page: Remedial Writers and Cognitive Reductionism.” College Composition and
Communication 39.3 (1988): 267-302. JSTOR. Web. 28 December 2014.
Sousa, David A. Ed. Mind, Brain, and Education: Neuroscience Implications for the Classroom. Bloomington: Solution Tree, 2010.
White, Robert B. Foreword. Forms. By William G. Perry, Jr. xxxix-xlv. Print.
Willis, Judy. “The Current Impact of Neuroscience on Teaching and Learning.” Mind, Brain, and Education. 45-66.