Psychosocial and Cognitive Stage Approach to Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

Abstract

This study relates the developmental stages of the learners in terms of psychosocial and cognitive stages of development to learning and teaching in higher education. The study aims to develop a framework based on the current teaching practices that are being implemented in higher education and how to incorporate these developmental stages to carry out effective teaching methods. It also correlates Identity versus Role Confusion - Intimacy versus Isolation psychosocial stages of Erik Erikson and Formal Operational cognitive stage of Jean Piaget. Learning is about how we perceive and understand the world, about making meaning (Marton and Booth, 1997). Knowing the developmental stages of the students will be helpful for teachers in terms of having a professional knowledge by knowing the lebarners themselves. This research is derived on the accessible knowledge regarding the stages and teaching methods but the idea of the author is to develop a simple framework of an approach that will be tailored practically to help teachers in higher education not only in the university setting but also sensibly be used by registered training providers that are using a vocational pathway before the final year of the learner’s bachelor’s degree based on the learners’ current psychosocial and cognitive developmental stages.