Using the Perry Scheme to Explore College Student Classroom Participation

Using Perry's Theory of Ethical and Intellectual Development as a framework, the purpose of this study was to identify the extent to which dualist, multiplist, and contextual relativist students differ in their in-class participation behaviors (i.e., asking questions, being willing to talk in class, and exhibiting an involvement in classroom interaction). Participants were 202 undergraduate students enrolled in two introductory communication courses at a large mid-Atlantic university. Results indicate that multiplist students ask more questions than dualist students, and contextual relativist students are more involved in classroom interaction than multiplist students.