The Evolving Meaning and Influence of Cohort Membership
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The Evolving Meaning and Influence of Cohort Membership Michelle A. Maher
ABSTRACT: This study examined the experiences of 13 graduate students enrolled in a closed, lock-step master’s degree of the education cohort program. Interview and observational data, collected over 10 months and across four courses, were qualitatively analyzed to explore students’ understanding of the meaning of cohort membership and how that membership both shaped their educational experience and the development of peer and instructor relationships. Results indicate that both the meaning and influence of cohort membership were fluid and evolved as students progressed in their program, changing from an inconsequential to a significant meaning and from a modest to a deep influence. KEY WORDS: cohorts; learning communities; peer learning; teacher professional development.
In higher education, innovative ways of thinking about learning have begun to emerge. Educators now focus on creating “communities of practice” or “learning communities” in which knowledge is shared and collaboration among learners is valued. While the foundation of this line of thinking rests upon the work of early cognitive theorists such as Vygotsky (e.g., 1978), emphasis on creating shared knowledge and facilitating collaborative learning in postsecondary classrooms is relatively recent. The student cohort represents one specific design of a “learning community,” increasingly used in both undergraduate and graduate programs (Saltiel & Russo, 2001). A cohort is defined as a group of about 10–25 students who begin a program of study together, proceed together through a series of developmental experiences in the context of that program of study, and end the program at approximately the same time (Barnett & Muse, 1993; Barnett & Caffarella, 1992). While Saltiel and Russo (2001) noted that cohort-based programs have been a traditional part of the educational or training process for those in profession-oriented training (e.g., medicine, law), until recently they have been used only sporadically in other areas of higher education. Michelle A. Maher is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. She received her doctorate in higher education administration and her masters in industrial/organizational psychology from George Mason University. Her research interests include the role of graduate and professional education in adult development, uses of technology in educational settings, and educational research methodologies.
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INNOVATIVE HIGHER EDUCATION
Cohort use in higher education became more common beginning in the mid-1980s, when a Danforth Foundation Initiative provided grants to more than 20 universities to support the revision of their educational administration programs. As part of the revision process, each program incorporated a cohort format. Extensions of the Initiative included a flurry of research studies focusing on outcom
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