FACULTY OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SCIENCES AND ECONOMICS
DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
NAME: RUVIMBO SUE MUSHUNJE
REGISTRATION NUMBER: R222596T
DEPARTMENT: ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
PROGRAM: ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
MODULE: STUDENT DEVELOPMENT AND LIFE SKILLS (SDLSBE101)
TOPIC: TRANSITION FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO UNIVERSITY CAN BE A PAINFUL
EXPERIENCE FOR A FIRST YEAR STUDENT. BASING ON PERRY’S THEORY OF
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IDENTIFY SKILLS ONE WOULD NEED FOR A
SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION TO UNIVERSITY LIFE.
ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
FACULTY OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SCIENCES AND ECONOMICS
DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
Students moving from high school to university face quite a number of problems
until they properly fit into university environment. Perry’s theory of cognitive
development contains stages of problems students moving from high school to
university face. These stages include dualism, multiplicity, relativism and
commitment.
Dualism as one of the stages in cognitive development, it states that students
believe that there are wrong and right answers which are known to authorities and
their responsibility as students are to obey authorities. Dualism is divided into full
dualism and basic dualism. Dualistic students are said to know where truth and
knowledge reside. They become frustrated with ambiguity and with group work that
removes the classroom authority from the centre of experience. (Jones & Iredale,
2006) dualistic students ought to develop entrepreneurial life skills. They stated that
the government at that time had a wider aim to develop enterprise culture in the
United Kingdom department of education and employment. They also stated that
enterprise education has a role to play in rising aspirations and expectations in terms
of business and career opportunities. Enterprise education also had the role to
empower learners to take responsibility and control of their own learning and
educational needs. This shows that students at a dualistic stage lack
entrepreneurial skills because they cannot think outside the box which is why they
believe in the existence of wrong and right answer therefore dualistic students which
are usually freshmen need to be educated on entrepreneurial life skill.
Another paramount, stage of cognitive development is multiplicity. At this particular
ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
FACULTY OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SCIENCES AND ECONOMICS
DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
stage students begin to realise that authorities can fail at times. At this stage
students begin to seek the company of peers. This stage is usually experienced by
second year students, they question authorities and may even conclude that no
complete truth exist but only prospective and perceptions. Students at this stage
have discovered that there are at least two sides to every assertion. This stage can
be tiring to peers whose assertions are dismissed. (Dekker, 2020) explains that
students at the multiplicity stage ought to be taught critical thinking life skills to pass
this stage. Dekker describes the nature of critical thinking is about not taking
matters on authority and not assuming that information is correct by virtue of its
source. That attitude towards authority drives a student to demand reasons for
assertions that others make and to investigate matters for one’s self. The skill of
critical thinking according to Dekker means not to just take matters presented to
you for granted , but to be critical about it before we accept it and investigate it.
Therefore students at the multiplicity stage need the critical thinking life skill
because they now believe in two sides of a story thus they need clear consideration
on some facts so as to arrive at a clear point.
In line with the above, cognitive development’s third stage is relativism. At this stage
students recognize that challenges have more defensible and less defensible
solutions rather than a single correct answer or no answer. Facts are seen to be
without real meaning unless the context is understood, some facts seem to be absolutes
because the context is so much a part of what is taken for granted in our reality, but if
pressed far enough one can uncover the assumptions and definitions required to give that
fact its existence. At this stage students can face self doubt, occasional anger and
insecurity. Students at this stage perceive education as the opportunity to develop
understanding and to practice intellectual skills. This stage is also associated with
feelings of focus and commitment. Just like at the multiplicity stage relativism
requires skills of critical thinking. (Suyantana, Herlina, Histrik, Suyantano,
Haryaningtias; 2018) e-book of relativity theory that can build the critical thinking is
prepared according to the stage of scientific approach that is observing,
investigating, making conclusions and equipped with adequate experiment
simulations. Students at the relativism stage need critical thinking skills just as
those at the multiplicity stage. However at the stage of relativism there is need for
more crucial or strong critical thinking skills , this is because the depth of
understanding of certain concepts have been questioned and there are many
solutions to certain problems and in such situations still need to find the very best
answer out of that.
And the last stage of cognitive development is commitment. Commitments take place
in any of several domains. The student may decide to commit to a set of values, a vocation,
a person, or some other ideal. The domain that usually marks this position for most students
is that of a career (or vocation), although some people commit to a set of moral beliefs, a
spiritual path, or a significant other first. Whatever the domain, commitment is the important
aspect. It is the commitment that gives a place to stand in the uncertainty; it offers structure
ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
FACULTY OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SCIENCES AND ECONOMICS
DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
in the ambiguity of relativism. At this stage commitment is within contextual relativism.
Although in the last three stages the brain suffers from ambiguity but at the stage of
commitment the brain appreciates ambiguity as one of the most interesting challenges. At
this stage students recognize that reasonable answers often depend on the contexts and
value systems in which problems occur, but still need investigation. At this stage problem
solving skills are needed. (Simon, 1975) even simple problem environments, numerous
distinct solution strategies are available , and different subjects may learn different
strategies. Different strategies have different degree of transferability, place
different burdens on short-term memory and on perception and require different
learning processes of their acquisition. The stage of commitment needs someone
who can solve problems quickly so that an individual can keep moving up with life. If
a person lacks problem solving skills commitment can be difficult.
Conclusively the four stages of cognitive development are very important in the
student’s transition from high school to tertiary level. In as much as these four
stages are associated with different problems skills such as problem solving, critical
thinking and entrepreneurial skills help students during their transition. However
other life skills such as communication skills are also necessary during these stages.
ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
FACULTY OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SCIENCES AND ECONOMICS
DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
FACULTY OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SCIENCES AND ECONOMICS
DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
FACULTY OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SCIENCES AND ECONOMICS
DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
