Identifying the role played by trust, autonomy, and curiosity in the learning process

Cognitive disequilibrium is a discomforting stage through which people must transition as they assimilate and accommodate new information into existing intellectual schemas. Many students currently enrolled in community college courses demonstrate limitations in their ability and willingness to fully engage in a learning process that puts them into a state of cognitive disequilibrium. The intent of this dissertation is to identify if there are specific emotional traits that influence the manner in which students approach assignments that are intended to cause them disequilibrium. The traits of trust, autonomy, curiosity, and resiliency are explored in relation to the manner in which they support or hinder early childhood education student's abilities to engage in the learning process. Multivariate regression techniques, including stepwise-hierarchal regression, and logistic regression are used to predict (p = <.05) that students that demonstrate specific traits of curiosity and disequilibrium are less likely to engage in learning opportunities that require divergent thinking, and are more likely to seek out opportunities with defined outcomes. The impact of trust, autonomy, curiosity, disequilibrium, and resiliency are also considered in relation to Grade Point Average. The same specific traits of curiosity and disequilibrium that were found to predict engagement in open-ended activities, in addition to a specific trait of resiliency, are also found to form significant relationships (p = <.01) to students' GPA. Recommendations are made identifying specific steps that can be taken to actively support students that demonstrate the identified traits of curiosity, disequilibrium, and resiliency in order to ameliorate any impact on academic outcomes.