Research Blog #10: Abstract and Bibliography

Abstract
This analytic research paper addresses the ever so commonly asked and oftentimes debated question of whether or not commuter students are at a disadvantage compared to their residential schoolmates. As more students consider the option of commuting over living on campus, more research is being conducted to investigate whether such a decision is detrimental to their social, academic and intellectual development and growth. Many previously conducted research studies alongside first hand personal accounts will be consulted with to gain a better understanding of the commuter students’ relationship with their academic campus and how much commuting impacts them. This paper exposes the numerous additional difficulties and responsibilities that commuter students face and how this added weight has a substantial negative bearing them when compared to residential students.
 

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.

Armstrong, Elizabeth and Laura Hamilton.  Paying for the Party: How College Maintains

Inequality.  Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2013. Print.

Astin, Alexander A. “Student Involvement: A Developmental Theory for Higher Education.” Journal of College Student Development (1984). Web.

Casimir, Sam. Personal Interview. Nov. 18.

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

1974. Print.

Gasser, Ray. "Educational and Retention Benefits of Residence Hall Living." Review. 2008.

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). Web.

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

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

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

Inc. Web.

Kuh, George. D, Gonyea, M. Robert, and Palmer, Megan. "The Disengaged Commuter Student:

Fact or Fiction?" Rev. of National Survey of Student Engagement. 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). Web.

Literature Review #5

1) Alexander Astin

2) Astin, Alexander A. “Student Involvement: A Developmental Theory for Higher Education.” Journal of College Student Development (1984). Web.

3) This article addresses the topic of student involvement and specifically discusses the areas in which commuter students are lacking student involvement in higher education. Astin also uses the term 'retention' in context with this topic. One specific area that he addresses is the lack of interaction between students and faculty/staff and how that can play a detrimental factor in the student's academic performance.

4) Alexander Astin is a distinguished professor of Higher Education and Organizational Change at the University of California in Los Angeles. Astin is also the founding father of the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. With his extensive repertoire of research, publications and honorary awards, Alexander Astin is highly qualified and adequately knowledgeable to be able to able to publish this research and article.

5) One key phrase used in this article is retention. Astin talks about retention rates and what factors affect students' decision and ability to stay enrolled in school. Some of these factors are working off campus and the presence (or lack) of student-faculty interactions.

6) "Retention suffers, however, if the student works off campus at a full-time job. Because the student is spending considerable time and energy on nonacademic activities that are usually unrelated to student life, full-time work off campus decreases the time and energy that the student can devote to studies and other campus activities."

"Students who interact frequently with faculty members are more likely than other students to express satisfaction with all aspects of their institutional experience, including student friendships, variety of courses, intellectual environment, and even the administration of the institution."

7) This article aids me in my research paper by showing me which factors affect retention rates, and gave me the opportunity to link this with the other research I've looked at. I used this source to talk about student-faculty relations, or lack-thereof, and how this translates to commuter students not being as academically engaged on campus and the repercussions of this.