A learning paradigm can transform the field of academic advising. Ten organizing principles answer the two core questions raised by a focus on learning. What should the student learn through advising? How might the learning take place? The first three organizing principles define a curriculum for academic advising and are based on the premise that the goals and values of advising should be derived from the institutional mission statement and assist advisees in developing higher-order thinking skills. The other principles focus on pedagogy: creating and organizing situations that assist students in meeting learning goals. We draw upon progressive, constructivist, and social constructivist theories of education to study both the learner and the learning context.
Author notes
Martha K. Hemwall is the Dean of Student Academic Services and adjunct associate professor of anthropology at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. She earned her doctorate in anthropology from Brown University. She was a founding member of the NACADA Commission on Small Colleges and Universities, serving as chair from 1993 through 1996. She can be reached at martha.k.hemwall@lawrence.edu.
Kent C. Trachte is the Dean of the College at Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He holds a doctorate in political science and teaches courses on theories of democracy and citizenship. He served as chair of the NACADA Commission on Small Colleges and Universities from 1999 through 2002. He can be reached at Kent.Trachte@fandm.edu.
Drs. Hemwall and Trachte have conducted workshops and presentations on the emergence of a learning paradigm in academic advising at numerous colleges and universities throughout the country.
