Research Blog #5: Bibliography

Alfano, Halley J and Nina B Eduljee. “Differences in Work, Levels of Involvement, and

Academic Performance Between Residential and Commuter Students.” College Student Journal 47.2 (2013): 334-42. Academic Search Premier [EBSCO]. Web.

Chickering, Arthur W. Commuting versus Resident Students:. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,

1974. Print.

"Commuter Students: Myths, Realities, Helpful Theoretical Frameworks." (2006): n.

pag. Magna Publications Inc. Web.

Ernest Pascarella. Cognitive Impacts of Living on Campus Versus Commuting to College.                 Tech. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Forbus, Patricia, John J. Newbold and Sanjay S. Mehta. “A Study of Non-Traditional and

Traditional Students in Terms of Their Time Management Behaviors, Stress Factors, and Coping Strategies.” Academy of Educational Leadership Journal 15 (2011): 109-25. Literary Reference Center [EBSCO]. Web.

Gasser, Ray. "Educational and Retention Benefits of Residence Hall Living." Review. 2008:            n. pag. Web.

Jiang, Qi, Cynthia E. Anderson, Jane S. Reid, and Mark F. Toncar. "Commuter and                          Residential Students: Differing Expectations for College Selection and Student Life."               International Journal of Business Research 7.4 (2007): n. pag. Web.

Johnson, Judith L. "Commuter College Students: What Factors Determine Who Will

Persist or Who Will Drop Out?" College Student Journal 31.3 (97): n. pag. Web.

"Learning Communities for Commuter Students." (2004): n. pag. Magna Publications

Inc. Web.

Newbold, John J. "Lifestyle Challenges for Commuter Students." Wiley Periodicals, Inc.                   Wiley Online Library, 2015. Web.

Rouege, Ciara. "Commuter Lifestyle Gives Students a More Realistic Life

Experience." The Daily Cougar (2013): n. pag. Web.

Research Blog # 4: Research Proposal

Marla Durand

Research Proposal

1) Working Title: Aspects of the Commuter Lifestyle that Affect their Academic Success

2) Topic: I will explore commuter student lives and residential student lives and investigate which factors from each respective group contribute to their academic success or shortcomings. The paper will further address different aspects of commuter students’ lives in detail and use data analysis from different studies to answer the research question.

3) Research Question: Do commuter students have a higher or lower academic success rate than residential students? If not, what factors account for this gap?

4) Theoretical Frame/Approach: There are a number of theories that have been used to address this topic and which were also used to propose solutions as well. According to John Garland’s article Commuter Students: Myths, Realities, Helpful Theoretical Frameworks, some of these theoretical frameworks have been established as “Hierarchy of Needs”, “Student Engagement”, “Environmental Models” and “Adult Learning Theories”. Other articles, such as Judith L. Johnson’s Commuter College Students: What Factors Determine Who will Persist or Who Will Drop Out? and John J. Newbold’s article, Lifestyle Challenges for Commuter Students, also address these theories in their research. I believe these theoretical frameworks are important because they address the very exact questions that need to be investigated to gain understanding about the factors that affect commuter student college life and success.

However, there is much debate and opposing conclusions arguing in fact if there is in fact any difference in academic success between commuter and residential students. So far, most of the research I’ve come across does suggest that commuter students are at risk of being less successful in college due to limited academic opportunity. For example, Ray Gasser includes in his Addendum Educational and Retention Benefits of Residence Hall Living that “research further shows that students who live in residence halls consistently persist and graduate at significantly higher rates than students who have not lived in a residence hall” (3). However, in contrast, some researchers declare that there is no distinct difference between the two groups, and even sometimes, commuters seem to do better and are better prepared during and after their college experience. For example in Ciara Rouege’s article Commuter Lifestyle Gives Students a More Realistic Life Experience, and in Lifestyle Challenges for Commuter Students by John J. Newbold, both authors cite research that show that the added responsibility that commuter students have over residential students is exactly what makes them have better endurance to handle college coursework and to be more successful at it. This contrast in views is interesting and definitely worth investigating more.

5) Research Plan/Case/Additional Question: My research plan is to examine both sides of the argument and to further investigate whether or not choosing to be a commuter student has detrimental consequences that will affect one’s academic success. With this in mind, I will need to also look at what aspects of the residential student’s life has proven to make a positive influence and impact on these students’ academics. In my paper, I plan to distinctly break down different aspects of a “typical” commuter’s life and college experience, and use what I find, alongside previously conducted research on the topic, to determine what effects, if any, positive or negative, they have on commuter students.

6) Working Bibliography:

Alfano, Halley J and Nina B Eduljee. “Differences in Work, Levels of Involvement, and

Academic Performance Between Residential and Commuter Students.” College Student Journal 47.2 (2013): 334-42. Academic Search Premier [EBSCO]. Web.

Chickering, Arthur W. Commuting versus Resident Students:. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,

1974. Print.

"Commuter Students: Myths, Realities, Helpful Theoretical Frameworks." (2006): n.

pag. Magna Publications Inc. Web.

Ernest Pascarella. Cognitive Impacts of Living on Campus Versus Commuting to College. 

Tech. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Forbus, Patricia, John J. Newbold and Sanjay S. Mehta. “A Study of Non-Traditional and

Traditional Students in Terms of Their Time Management Behaviors, Stress Factors, and Coping Strategies.” Academy of Educational Leadership Journal 15 (2011): 109-25. Literary Reference Center [EBSCO]. Web.

Gasser, Ray. "Educational and Retention Benefits of Residence Hall Living." Review. 2008: n. pag. Web.

Jiang, Qi, Cynthia E. Anderson, Jane S. Reid, and Mark F. Toncar. "Commuter and Residential

Students: Differing Expectations for College Selection and Student Life." International Journal of Business Research 7.4 (2007): n. pag. Web.

Johnson, Judith L. "Commuter College Students: What Factors Determine Who Will

Persist or Who Will Drop Out?" College Student Journal 31.3 (97): n. pag. Web.

"Learning Communities for Commuter Students." (2004): n. pag. Magna Publications

Inc. Web.

Newbold, John J. "Lifestyle Challenges for Commuter Students." Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Wiley

Online Library, 2015. Web.

Rouege, Ciara. "Commuter Lifestyle Gives Students a More Realistic Life

Experience." The Daily Cougar (2013): n. pag. Web.

Literature Review #2

1.) John J. Newbold

2.) Newbold, John J. "Lifestyle Challenges for Commuter Students." Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Wiley Online Library, 2015. Web. (chapter of a book-Understanding and Addressing Commuter Student Needs)

3.) This particular chapter addresses some lifestyle challenges that commuter students face that resident students don’t. Newbold’s main argument is that lifestyle differences, particularly those due to on campus versus off campus living situations, play a major and negative role in commuter students’ academics. He posits that because of the heightened level of responsibility that commuter students must attend to outside of their school work, these students are at a major disadvantage compared to their peers.

            Also in this chapter, Newbold investigates the different sources and levels of stress that commuter students experience. As commonly known, stress, when not handled properly, can be very detrimental to one’s mental state and can have many negative impacts on an individual.

Newbold not only brings his own ideas into this chapter, but he consults with many previously conducted research and studies to support his position as well. One such consult was C.A. Lundberg’s piece The Influence of Time Limitations, Faculty, and Peer Relationships on Adult Student Learning. Lundberg addresses different aspects of external demands that commuter students face that create hindrances such as time limitations for their academic endeavors, restricted interaction with faculty and peers, and limited social involvement that traditional residential students may not encounter.

4.) The author of this chapter/book is John J. Newbold. Although Dr. Newbold is a Managing and Marketing professor at Sam Houston State University, he utilizes his line of profession to investigate and study how the managing field correlates to colleges and their student bodies. For example, one of his other scholarly works is A Study of Non-Traditional Students in Terms of their Time Management Behaviors, Stress Factors, and Coping Strategies. Newbold has been conducting research on commuter student topics with other scholars for years.

5.) One important phrase discussed in the chapter is “time management”. This phrase is important because the author actually uses it to also introduce a counter-argument. Newbold claims that time management is one of the many difficulties that commuter students face. However, in the sentence following this claim, he cites a study by Lundberg that suggests that the very fact that commuter students have to juggle their academics, commuting, work and other responsibilities is why they have better time management skills than their residential student peers.

The second important word of this chapter is “stress”. This is a key topic as it addresses the different possible reasons why commuter students have more difficulties excelling in their studies, as believed by the author. In identifying the different origins of stress, one can use this information to compare it with traditional residential students and note where the differences in their lifestyle lie.

6.) “The experience of the more mature commuting students and the many challenges that they face in their work, social life, family life, and study are dissimilar to those of the traditional residential notion of university students upon which higher education principles are usually established” (79).

“Commuter university students have considerably more role and time strains than residential college students (Morris, Brooks, & May, 2003). These commuter students often feel stressed, managing their varied roles and responsibilities (Curasi & Burkhalter, 2009). The external demands and differing responsibilities create time limitations residential students may not encounter (Lundberg, 2003)” (80).

“A few of the numerous difficulties commuter students face include academic responsibility, family obligations, work, maintaining personal relationships, time management, financial obligations, and becoming acclimated to the university environment (Negga et al., 2007)”(81).

“Commuter students have described transportation stress related to the high level of traffic, limited availability of parking, and the amount of time and energy involved in commuting (Hernandez, 2002). There is also stress associated with the inconvenience of needing to return to campus for access to library or computer facilities (Hernandez, 2002)” (81).

“Three successful coping mechanisms that work within the environment of career, social life, family life, and study can be identified as sacrifice, support, and negotiated arrangements (Kember & Leung, 2004). The idea of sacrifice comes from the concept that “something has to give,” and it is usually associated with the giving up personal pleasure or the surrender of aspects of one’s social life (Kember & Leung, 2004)” (82).

“[…] little time is devoted to actions traditionally associated with developing support groups. It is the residential students who are more involved with fraternal and social organizations, dormitories, clubs and teams (Copper & Robinson, 2000). Commuter students are likely to rely on the same people as they did prior to beginning their university studies” (82).

7.) This source helped explore my research question because it introduced a fresh idea that I have yet to come across in my other collected research: stress. Many of my other sources discuss aspects of the commuter lifestyle that contribute to their reduced performance in school, however they did not connect these ideas with stress. Reading this chapter was very insightful because it offered me another angle that I can incorporate in my argument. Because this chapter is part of a book that addresses my topic, I will do further research to consult the rest of the book to gather more information to strengthen my points. Also, because the author consulted with many different scholars’ studies, drawing from his research broadens the collection of sources from which I can gather further information for my paper. 

Research Blog #3: How Does Privatization Affect Students' Living Arrangement Decisions?

The continuous steep rise of college tuition, a phenomenon due to the privatization of higher education, plays an important role in students' living arrangements during their college years. For many students who commute, the choice to do so stems from the fact that they are already paying so much for tuition that adding on another many thousands of dollars per semester for dorming on campus is out of the question. Many students commute to save money in a number of ways. For example, other than dorming expenses, many commuters also cut out meal plan costs, which are very expensive in itself. Of course commuter students have to pay gas and parking expenses, however this is not as much as students who live on campus, or even in "off campus" apartments, but still not considered to be a commuter. According to Rutgers University's website, tuition and fees for both commuter and on campus students are $11,217 and $2,914 per year, respectively. However for on campus students, Room and Board costs them, at minimum, $12,054. These numbers show that room and board cost more than tuition! Commuter students are saving about $12,000 a year. Four years later, that would be about $48,000, without taking into consideration the interest that would accumulate on this amount. So although many papers that discuss the negative effects of commuting on students, one must ask, "are these minor social shortcomings and missed engagement opportunities worth $48,000 (for Rutgers, but much, much more for other universities).

Literature Review #1

 1.) Nina B. Eduljee

2.) Alfano, Halley J and Nina B Eduljee. “Differences in Work, Levels of Involvement, and

Academic Performance Between Residential and Commuter Students.” College Student Journal 47.2 (2013): 334-42. Academic Search Premier [EBSCO]. Web.

3.) This article focuses on studies that investigate the relationship between work, levels of involvement at school and academic performance between residential students and commuter students. Author Nina B. Eduljee makes reference to a previous study done by N.A. Peterson in 1975 that suggested that commuter students tend to be at a disadvantage when compared to on-campus students in a number of ways. Some disadvantages listed are less involvement in student affairs and activities, greater stress levels from working more than on-campus students, and fewer opportunities for personal, nonacademic growth due to participating in fewer developmental activities that are offered on campus.

The article also discusses the academic performance of working commuter students versus on-campus working students. The studies revealed that even though it was found that commuters worked more hours than traditional on-campus students, yet there was not much difference in their overall GPA averages.

The difference that was observed between the two groups was that commuter students were working more hours, especially at off-campus jobs and were significantly less active in on-campus activity. Although this may prompt someone to think that working full time as a college student may be detrimental to one’s college experience, especially as a commuter student, research conducted by M. Wentz and W.C. Yu in 2010 also shows that students who worked often were found to study more and obtain higher GPA’s than students who did not work at all. This suggests that even though being a full time working commuter may have its disadvantages, there are also advantages to it as well, which is worth researching.

4.) There are two authors of this article, however the main author of interest is Nina B. Eduljee, PhD. Nina B. Eduljee is a professor at Saint Joseph’s College. She conducts research on a number of student related topics and presents them at various national and international conferences. One her current ongoing research projects is her research in examining student engagement in college. Eduljee not only presents a lot of her research nationwide, but she also has a high collection of publications in various student related studies as well.

5.) One key phrase that is important to be defined and understood is “student involvement”. Level of student involvement can be defined and evaluated differently among a group of people. Eduljee uses A. W. Austin’s definition of student involvement to refer to the term as “the amount of physical and psychological energy that the student devotes to the academic experience. Thus, a highly involved student is one who, for example, devotes considerable energy to studying, spends much time on campus, participates actively in student organizations, and interacts frequently with faculty members and other students. Conversely, a typical uninvolved student neglects studies, spends little time on campus, abstains from extracurricular activities, and has infrequent contact with faculty members or other students”. Sometimes when we think of student involvement we refer to parties and other social events and clubs. However as the definition suggests, student involvement should also include the level of academic participation as well. I think this is a good definition because it highlights different aspects of being a well-rounded student.

Another important term used in the article is the word “connectedness”. This is defined by how much a student feels as if being part of the university community. This is a key term because studies are showing that commuter students are more likely than their on-campus peers to feel not being part of the community and wish to interact with their peers more.

6.) “[Student involvement is referred to as] the amount of physical and psychological energy that the student devotes to the academic experience. Thus, a highly involved student is one who, for example, devotes considerable energy to studying, spends much time on campus, participates actively in student organizations, and interacts frequently with faculty members and other students. Conversely, a typical uninvolved student neglects studies, spends little time on campus, abstains from extracurricular activities, and has infrequent contact with faculty members or other students" (p. 3).

“[The results indicated that “residential students were more engaged in effective educational practices and – in all likelihood – were more likely benefitting more from their college experience” (p. 6). “driving commuters really do have less contact with their teachers (especially seniors) and do not take advantage of such opportunities as co-curricular activities community service, study abroad, internships and so forth” (p. 8). “It appears that further away a student lives from campus (walking distance, driving distance), the less likely a student is to take advantage of the educational resources of the school.” (p. 9).]” (p. 3)

“[Tinto (1993) indicates that “students will be more likely to invest in greater effort to learn when they become involved as members of the college community” (p. 71)]” (p. 10).

7.) This article helped explore my research question because it introduced different perspectives on my topic that I had not considered implementing in my paper. For example, the definition of “student involvement” as provided in the article opened my eyes and also broadened my thinking on what it means to be involved as a student, on both an academic and social level. After reading this article I have taken note on different phrases and words to use when conducting my research. This will help me be more specific in my research while adopting a more comprehensive approach. This article was also very helpful in providing me with information about previously conducted research that gives me additional support for my topic.  

Research Blog #2: Scouting the Territory

I am going to stay with my topic on commuters and how their academic career and college social experience are affected by not living on campus but rather at home. In my preliminary google searches, I used the combination of words like “commuter/s, university, college, education, social life, engaged, disengaged, success, achievement, experience” to devise a number of different phrases to see if they would provide me with different kinds of search results. From these searches, I found an array of different kinds of papers. Some articles were written by commuter students themselves. Other articles were written by researchers who have conducted studies on the effects of commuting on different aspects of an individual’s college experience and personal growth.

There are some controversies over my topic, in regards to “myths” about commuter students. I think one of the most common myths or perception of commuter students is that they are not as involved in school affairs on an intellectual level, nor do they have as colorful of a social life as most kids on college experience. There are a number of articles that address these “myths” and have the sole purpose to debunk such theories that commuter students are simply not as “fun” as students who live on campus.

While many papers attempt to highlight in what ways commuter students are just as involved as on campus students, other pieces of literature approach the “negative” angle of being a commuter, meaning highlighting in what ways commuter students are in fact losing out on many opportunities and although they still may enjoy their experience, there are limitations to the enrollment and level of engagement in different activities.

http://humphreyreview.com/article/a-student-perspective-commuter-student-experiences-definitions-and-self-identification/

http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1875/Commuter-Students.html

I am beginning with these two sources. The first one offers a student’s perspective on being a commuter and some key terms are also identified and defined. I think this is important because this would be my first step in learning about different perspectives on experience, as I assume that there is a range of first hand opinions on commuter life. Further in my research, I want to find literature from commuters with different viewpoints and perceptions on what it means and feels like to be a commuter.

The second essay I find important also because it takes on a specific angle; the challenges of student commuters. This is also another first step of hearing one side of a story, before I get into articles that highlight the benefits of being a commuter student. I also want to try and find articles that highlight the challenges of commuter life, however not just by researchers, but by actual commuters, and compare/contrast what they say are the main challenges.

One book that would be worth looking more into is called, “Understanding and Addressing Commuter Student Needs”. I think this is important because the title suggests that there are some problems and needs of commuter students that need to be met, and this particular book will aim to provide the solutions. Therefore, I can use this is juxtaposing these points with points that I find in other readings.

In “The Happiest Kid on Campus” talks about a number of topic and even address the parental audience who wish to have their kids experience college in the best, safest way as possible. In the midst of a number of topics, the book address how commuter students can still be “happy kids on campus” provided that there is some level of engagement and passion. I want to look more into these books to see what information I can pull from them to strengthen my idea for my paper and begin brainstorming in which direction it will flow in.