Topic:
Analyze the different networks coming out of college for students who commuted and those who did not and how those who lived on campus are better set up for success and those who commuted.
Pros of commuting: Cost saving, privacy, conveince
Pros of Living on campus; personal growth, accessible resources, deep friendship
Scholarly sources:
1) This report sought to test the hypothesis that living on campus fosters cognitive growth by estimating the relative freshman-year gains in reading comprehension, mathematical reasoning, and critical thinking of resident and commuter students at an urban university. Data were collected from 210 college freshmen students at a large research university in Chicago, of which 170 lived off campus. The study involved a pretest-posttest, quasi-experimental design in which comparison groups (residents versus commuters) were statistically equated on salient fall 1991 precollege variables. The data collected included a precollege survey that gathered information on student demographic characteristics and background data, and the Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency, which assesses selected general skills typically obtained by students in the first 2 years of college. Controlling for precollege cognitive level, academic motivation, age, work responsibility, and extent of enrollment, resident students had significantly larger freshman year gains in critical thinking than did commuters. Contains 39 references. (GLR)
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED357706
2) The Review of Higher Education
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1308043857?pq-origsite=gscholar
There are many different avenues I can pursue with this topic. I want to focus on the network the two types of students have coming out of college.
I would expect that social integration (a key term) would be less likely to happen for commuters. The work of Vincent Tinto, beginning with the book Leaving College, might be useful to look at here, and I think there would be research on whether or not commuters are more likely to drop out, whether or not they are able to feel socially integrated or socially isolated, etc. Building social networks is another way to go.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be interesting to see how just living conditions can have long term affects on people. I would think where a student lived would only affect them while they were in school. It is interesting to learn that it could also affect their jobs and futures.
ReplyDeleteYo, you need more posts....
ReplyDelete