Working Title: Sense Making, Coherence, and Coordination of Action on a College Campus: A Study of Attitudes and Values

My dissertation has been narrowed down to examining attitude formation from a social constructionist point of view. My central interest remains: How does student life at my community college impact the attitudes and values of students? How does teaching impact the value and attitudes of teachers?  First, I will explore and document how students make sense of their experience at Johnson County Community College (JCCC). I am tentatively calling this the sense making phase of my study. Here I will explore what the students bring to the campus and how they integrate their experiences off-campus with their on-campus activity. This will include a discussion of larger historical, political-economic, and cultural influences on students and the college.

Second, I will investigate meaning is shaped by the interaction of students and faculty at JCCC. The study will show how students and faculty are both shaped by their interaction. I want to show how students and faculty negotiate meaning

Third, I think I can show that college students are expanding the language games they can be a part of, thus expanding the forms of life they can participate in. They are beginning a coordination of action with the cultural domains of a larger life.

Researching the dynamic relationships of JCCC will be a challenging endeavor. Initially I will meet the challenge using an ethnographic and historical approach. The focus will be on interpreting the relationships discovered. As themes emerge, I will attempt to form explanatory theories. I will not test hypothesis, as they require a theory a priori. I will not, however, go into the research groping in the dark. I bring my experience and biases into the arena, so I expect to find and will look for certain themes. I will look for a historical theme, finding the community college situated in a developing relationship with other institutions. Community engagement, student inculcation, institutional/faculty adaptation to cultural changes are other possible themes. I will also look for examples of life on campus that cannot be explained by logical-empirical theories of human action. I think this is necessary to show that a constructionist metatheory is warranted.