The evolving meaning and influence of cohort membership

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 observa-tional 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 devel-opment. 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 contex