Literature Review # 4

1) George D. Kuh, Robert M. Gonyea, Megan Palmer

2) Kuh, George. D, Gonyea, M. Robert, and Palmer, Megan. "The Disengaged Commuter Student: Fact or Fiction?" Rev. of National Survey of Student Engagement. Web.

3) This scholarly article discusses the argument of whether or not the notion that commuter students are disengaged from their college experience is fact or fiction. The discussion heavily focuses on and uses the data collected from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). The authors investigate what areas of the college experience yields the most effective educational results.

4) The first author listed is George D. Kuh (also photographed). Mr. Kuh is the director of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment. He is also the founding director of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). He has written extensively about student engagement, assessment, and institutional improvement (https://www.aacu.org/contributor/george-d-kuh). Robert M. Gonyea is an associate director of the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research where he coordinates research and reporting for the NSSE and associated projects. He is also integral in the creation of the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) to assess pre-college preparation and engagement (http://nsse.indiana.edu/html/staff.cfm?iuid=rgonyea&staffFlag=yes). Megan Palmer also has a quite extensive background in this field of study. All three authors have adequate knowledge on college students and engagement/disengagement.

5) One key phrase used in this article is "benchmarks of effective educational practice". The authors describe five clusters of activities that yield effective educational practices and outcomes. They are: Level of Academic Challenge, Active and Collaborative Learning, Student Interactions with Faculty Members, Enriching Educational Experiences, and Supportive Campus Environment. I think these are important because this is where they draw their data interpretation and analysis from.

6) "This is problematic because what students gain from their college experience depends a lot on how much time and effort students put into their studies and other educationally purposeful activities (1)."

"Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education indicates that level of academic challenge, time on task, and participating in other educationally purposeful activities directly influence the quality of students' learning and their overall educational experience" (2).

"Commuters are usually defined as those students whose place of residence while attending college is not in a campus residence hall or in a fraternity or sorority house. Some may argue to limit the definition to those whose residence is beyond walking distance from the institution thereby sorting out those who live near enough to the campus to be able to take advantage of most of the resources and facilities without much undue effort" (2-3).