Further resources include links to relevant journals, periodicals, and media sources; the theory work-up template; two video i-blogs and reflections created by guest lecturers; a sample weekly course schedule highlighting key topics aligned with book chapters; and a downloadable full sample syllabus.
Relevant Journals, Periodicals, and Media Sources
Media Sources
- Inside Higher Ed Podcast
- HigherEdLive
- Student Affairs NOW
- In the Margins
- The Association for the Study of Higher Education’s Presidential Podcast
- Blacktivism in the Academy Podcast
Journals
- The Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice
- College Student Affairs Journal
- Student Affairs Today
- Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs
- The Journal of College Student Development
Periodicals
Theory Work-Up Template
This template corresponds to Learning Activity 1: Theory Work-Group Activity.
Instructions
Each pair will upload a written “Theory Work-Up” and their exemplar prior to their presentation. The Theory Work-Up should be no more than one single-spaced page (excluding cover page and references), using the *template provided by the instructor.
In the Theory Work-Up, pairs will engage student development theory through a critical, reflective lens by addressing the prompts below.
- Briefly outline the key assumptions or premises of the theory.
- Critically reflect on the theory:
- What aspects ring true? (reflecting on positionality/lived experiences)
- What does not resonate? (reflecting on positionality/lived experiences)
- What’s missing? (engaging in theory building)
- Whose interests does the theory serve? (critiques of sociopolitical contexts)
- Use the considerations posed by Duran et al., 2024 to explore the connections between the theory and your chosen exemplar.
- Who Are College Students? How Do We Situate Their Journeys Within and Beyond College?
- How Does Development Occur Within Larger Systems of Power and Oppression?
- How Do Multiple Environments Influence College Students?
- How Do We Challenge and Reimagine Developmental Trajectories?
Duran, A., Abes, E. S., Stewart, D. L., & Jones, S. R. (2024). Looking back, moving forward, and everything in between: Revisiting student development’s relevance and enduring concepts. Journal of College Student Development, 65(2), 121-136.
Video i-Blogs Created by Guest Lecturers
These videos showcase examples of the video i-blog highlighted in Learning Activity 5 and Teaching Method 4. Drs. Hernandez and Hudock share their original video i-blogs along with newly recorded reflections on the experience created just for this site.
Dr. Susanna Hernandez, Latina Identity
Dr. Marigold Hudock, White Womanhood
Sample Weekly Course Schedule by Topics and Chapter
| Week | Focus | Reading |
| 1 | What is student development theory? | CSDTiA – Part One Introduction CSDTiA – Chapter 1 |
| 2 | What are common components of development across theories? How might educators spur development across theories? | CSDTiA – Chapter 2 CSDTiA – Chapter 4 CSDTiA – Chapter 5 |
| 3 | How does context affect development? | CSDTiA – Part Two Introduction CSDTiA – Chapter 3 |
| 4 | How do students develop cognitively? | CSDTiA – Chapter 6 CSDTiA – Chapter 9 |
| 5 | How do students develop morally and ethically? | CSDTiA – Chapter 7 |
| 6 | How do students develop capacities to engage across difference? | CSDTiA – Chapter 8 |
| 7 | What role does identity play in students’ development? | CSDTiA – Chapter 11 |
| 8 | How do students develop a sense of race, ethnicity, and nationality? | CSDTiA – Chapter 12 |
| 9 | How do students develop a sense of gender and sexual orientation? | CSDTiA – Chapter 13 CSDTiA – Chapter 14 |
| 10 | How do students navigate disability in ways that implicate their development in college? | CSDTiA – Chapter 15 |
| 11 | How do social class and first-generation status experiences affect development? | CSDTiA – Chapter 16 CSDTiA – Chapter 17 |
| 12 | How do students’ religious, spiritual, and secular identities develop in college? | CSDTiA – Chapter 18 |
| 13 | How do students develop a sense of their multiple identities simultaneously? | CSDTiA – Chapter 19 |
| 14 | How do students develop across domains of development simultaneously? | CSDTiA – Chapter 10 |
| 15 | How do we take what we have learned in this class beyond this class? | CSDTiA – Chapter 20 |
Sample College Student Development Theory Course Syllabus
Download a sample syllabus using College Student Development Theory in Action for a thirteen-week course.

Quick links
- Relevant Journals, Periodicals, and Media Sources
- Theory Work-Up Template
- Video i-Blogs Created by Guest Lecturers
- Video – Dr. Susanna Hernandez, Latina Identity
- Video – Dr. Marigold Hudock, White Womanhood
- Sample Weekly Course Schedule by Topics and Chapter
- Sample College Student Development Theory Course Syllabus