ABSTRACT
The last four decades have witnessed the publication of a number of comprehensive syntheses of the evidence pertaining to the impact of college on students (e.g., Bowen, 1977; Feldman & Newcomb, 1969; Gardiner, 1994; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). A major, if unsurprising, conclusion from these research syntheses is that the college years are a time of substantial student growth and development, particularly in the areas of learning and cognition. Quite understandably, most of the studies that address how much students learn or develop cognitively during college are concerned with documenting the changes that occur from the time students enter an institution until the time they graduate. Yet, there is certainly evidence to suggest that the first year of college can be a time of potentially important changes in the ways students learn to think and what they come to know (e.g., Baxter Magolda, 1990; Facione, 1997; Heath, 1968; Osterlind, 1997; Pascarella, 1989; Pascarella, Bohr, Nora, & Terenzini, 1996; Upcraft, Gardner, & Associates, 1989). In this chapter, I selectively review the accumulated evidence on college student learning and cognitive development, with special reference to the first year of college. I also give particular attention to the research published since 1990.
