The transition from high school to university can be a painful experience for a first-

year student. Based on Perry's Theory of cognitive thinking, Identify skills one
needs for a successful transition to University life.

Perry's theory of cognitive development has a huge impact on the successful transition of
a student from high school to university. Zhang L(2001) says Perry’s theory provides a
useful framework both for teaching and learning strategies in the classroom and for
program development and implementation outside the classroom. It also states that it is
mainly in the categories of Dualism, Relativism, and commitment, and (1999) states
Fourth, as they proceed through college, students move from lower levels of reasoning to
higher levels. This details the skills needed to make this transition a success.

According to research, As individuals use their new reorganizations, they apply these
new ways of thinking to new problems and in new contexts, and in the process of
applying and practicing these new skills, consolidate a new way of understanding. One of
the skills is dualism(King, 2009) which Zhu J (2015) says any knowledge, act, or value
that differs from an authority’s world will be associated with error or evil, and the person
is left with no alternative perspective to observe differently is known as dualism. and
goes on to tell how relativism is when A person analyzes, weighs, or evaluates different
evidence, factors, or solutions to develop his or her own opinion, argument, or solution.
the stage of most incoming freshmen according to. Barker D is a dualist and he says that
listening carefully to authority for receiving information constitutes education at this
level from the evidence students are well versed with the good and bad and clearly
understand the stand of the authority. they are with the authority. Barker D states that
dualist students become frustrated with ambiguity and groupwork removing the authority
from the center of the experience. . This shows that as they get frustrated they begin to
lose the concept of using laws.Overally the above evidence shows that the

Zhang (2001) describes the evolution through nine stages of universitystudents’ ways of
reasoning from being dualistic and concrete, to being morecontingent and relativistic, and
to being more committed and goes on to state that it is put into three sequential
categories, namely, Dualism, Relativism, and Commitment . according to
Mellon.A(1981) Relativism, students becomeaware that there are few areas in which
things can be known absolutely. The need for perception,analysis, and evaluation in
forming judgments is accepted.Mellon.A(1981)and LiZhang (2010)talks of dualism as an
individual’s less adaptive forms of reasoning are progressively replaced by more adaptive
forms. Thus, individuals should occupy one dominant cognitive-developmental position
at a given time. This has been proven by many reasechers to have helped students in
developing commintment to consistency as it improves levels of concentration over time.

Zhu J(2015) says ) Any knowledge, act, or value that differs from an authority’s world
will be associated with error or evil; the person is left with no alternative perspective to
observe differently is known as dualism. and goes on to tell how relativism is when A
person analyzes, weighs, or evaluates different evidence, factors, or solutions to develop
his or her own opinion, argument, or solution according to Perry’s theory, college
students in their freshman and sophomore years should score significantly higher on
dualism and lower on relativism and commitment in relativism than college students in
their junior and senior years. (Zhang 1999). This places constructed knowledge in the
student which helps in achieving success. The evidence shows that he can use evaluation
as a means of going about his university work as he is now mature enough to use
authority and can know review information and draw arguments and solutions to the
problem. According to Zhang L (2001), Perry's original study involved conducting
interviews with most males this is a limitation to the perry model as women are not
included in the study making it gender bias. If both genders were included it would be a
different story. An argument can be drawn that the model is inaccurate for both genders
and more accurate for males. And it goes on to state that more accurate theories have
been developed. A person in this position realizes the necessity to commit oneself to a
relativistic world (Zhu & Cox published, 2015) and goes on to tell that Perry’s study was
that his work was based on mainly white, elite college students. This does not involve the
other races and also their belief system providing biased results. And as many researchers
mention that beliefs and gender will affect the outcome of results.

Individuals in this position have developed a maturity in which their identities were
affirmed in their commitment and the associated responsibilities. Individuals here are
aware that commitment is an ongoing activity “to a degree that is partly [their] own to
determine and partly in the hands of fate, [they are] to be forever on the move”(Zhu &
Cox published, 2015). The research shows that students with high relativism develop
commitment and become responsible. Commitment to one’s work.
thinking restores the ability to choose through the recognition that some choices are
better than others based on the context surrounding the choice. The relativistic thinker
assesses evidence in a context to support and defend a stance according to Magolda,
Marcia B. (1989). The above researchers define commitment to be associated with
understanding the responsibility of the person and being able to take critical decisions in
one’s life

This discussion has provided evidence that the theory of Perry is quite compatible and
according to Mellon A upon the theory that student success can be accomplished by
actively involving students in examining not only the course content but also beliefs and
reasoning patterns as well which the theory affirms.

Zhang, L.-F. (1999). A Comparison of U.S. and Chinese University Students’ Cognitive
Development: The Cross-Cultural Applicability of Perry’s Theory. The Journal of
Psychology, 133(4), pp.425–439. doi:10.1080/00223989909599753.
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Zhang, L.-F. and Watkins, D. (2001). Higher Education, [online] 41(3), pp.239–261.
doi:10.1023/a:1004151226395.
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Mellon, C.A. and Sass, E. (1981). Perry and Piaget: Theoretical Framework for Effective
College Course Development. Educational Technology, [online] 21(5), pp.29–33.
Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44422554.
 
Zhu, J. and Cox, M.F. (2015). Epistemological Development Profiles of Chinese
Engineering Doctoral Students in U.S. Institutions: An Application of Perry’s
Theory. Journal of Engineering Education, 104(3), pp.345–362. doi:10.1002/jee.20080.
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King, P.M. (2009). Principles of Development and Developmental Change Underlying
Theories of Cognitive and Moral Development. Journal of College Student Development,
50(6), pp.597–620. doi:10.1353/csd.0.0104.
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Devan, B 2011, 'Perry’s Model of Cognitive Development during the College |Years '. 
Magolda, Marcia B. (1989) psycnet.apa.org. (n.d.). APA PsycNet. [online] Available at:
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1989-41274-001 [Accessed 13 Oct. 2022].
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