Joseph A. Mayo
134
As a versatile assessment tool, the RGT can be used not only to “provide snapshots of
construct systems at a given point in time” (Winer & Vazquez-Abad, 1997, p. 366), but
also to assess changes in dynamically evolving conceptions across time. In examining evi-
dence of students’ conceptual change, it may prove useful to link this information to
Carey’s (1985) distinction between weak restructuring and strong restructuring of a person’s
conceptual systems over time. In weak restructuring, students make new connections
between/among new concepts that already exist in their long-term memories. In contrast,
students change their core conceptions when engaging in strong restructuring.
It is also possible for teachers to vary intended learning outcomes through variations in
the adopted RGT format. In place of a provided construct form of the grid, where the
teacher supplies students with a list of bipolar constructs on which to rate predetermined
elements, educators may choose to employ an elicited construct form of the RGT (Bannister &
Mair, 1968), in which students themselves generate and apply constructs, with or without
instructor prompting. For instance, students may begin by assessing the perspective of a
single psychological contributor for whom they have generated a series of constructs in the
form of short-phrase descriptions (emergent poles) and their bipolar opposites (implicit
poles). By repeating this process with other contributors, students can create an anchoring
point from which to compare and contrast the views of an increasingly wider range of
individuals. This RGT strategy resembles the concept known as laddering, which is a plat-
form for deeper construct elicitation involving the evaluation, modification, and intercon-
nection of ideas. Depending on an instructor’s preferences, students can work through this
process either individually or in small groups, subsequently submitting their responses to
the entire class for peer feedback. As Tobacyk (1987) noted in using the elicited construct
form of the RGT in teaching history and systems of psychology, this strategy assumes
greater student familiarity with course content. This approach can also help students to
develop creative and evaluative skills that can generalize beyond the confines of the course
assignment in question.
References
Allen, M. J. (2004). The use of scoring rubrics for assessment and teaching. Available from Mary J.
Allen, Director, Institute for Teaching and Learning, California State University, 401 Golden
Shore, 6th Floor, Long Beach, CA 90802-4210.
Bannister, D., & Mair, J. M. M. (1968). The evaluation of personal constructs. London: Academic
Press.
Bruner, J. S. (1956). A cognitive theory of personality: You are your constructs. Contemporary
Psychology, 1, 355–357.
Carey, S. (1985). Conceptual change in children. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Fetherstonhaugh, T., & Treagust, D. F. (1992). Students’ understanding of light and its properties:
Teaching to engender conceptual change. Science Education, 76, 653–672.
Gaines, B. R., & Shaw, M. L. G. (2005). WebGrid III [Computer program]. Alberta, Canada:
Knowledge Science Institute. Retrieved December 7, 2007, from http://tiger.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/
Hjelle, L. A., & Ziegler, D. J. (1992). Personality theories: Basic assumptions, research, and applica-
tions (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Kelly, G. A. (1955). The psychology of personal constructs (Vols. 1–2). New York: Norton.