The Personal Development of the Commuter Student: What is Known from the Comparisons with Resident Students? An ERIC Review

Smith, Bruce M.

doi:10.1177/009155218901700107

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Participants viewed dorm students as younger and less responsible and commuters as older and more mature. Contrary to the commonly held belief that living on campus is a more independent experience (Smith, 1989), the participants' saw campus living as restrictive. In noting the restrictions, Kara pointed out that "I don't even think they can have a water boiler in there -like in the dorms."…”

Section: Age and Maturitycontrasting

confidence: 94%

“…In addition, they raised my level of consciousness by disproving the assumption that leaving home and living on campus is a necessary rite of passage in becoming an independent adult (Alfond, 1998;Smith, 1989). For the participants meaning was made through their connection to home, as opposed to independence through separation from home.…”

Section: How Commuter Students Make Meaning Of Their College Experiencementioning

confidence: 97%

“…In following in this vein of the residential experience as the "correct" one, some of the literature operates under the assumption that students need to leave home and break their ties with their families in order to successfully transition into the role of an independent, successful college student (Smith, 1989). Holdsworth (2006) comments on this assumption, noting that "popular discourses about students leaving home for the first time illustrate how going to university is recognized as an important rite of passage for young people" (p. 496).…”

Section: Independence and Family Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The College Experience of Commuter Students and the Concepts of Place and Space

Weiss¹

2014

Preprint

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The demographics of the college student population, the dearth of research on commuter students, and the pervasive negative stereotypes of commuters indicate that an appreciation of the commuter student experience is important for the future of higher education (Dugan et al., 2008;Jacoby, 1989;Krause, 2007). The Digest of Education Statistics 2011 reports that in academic years 2003-04 and 2007-08 85.8% of all students enrolled at postsecondary institutions did not live in on-campus housing (Snyder & Dillow, 2012). Despite their status as the numerical majority, commuter students are still considered nontraditional (Orgren, 2003). Due to the variations in commuter student populations, it is important for each institution to study its commuters, and to use that information to guide policy and programs, instead of basing decisions on data collected nationwide or at a particular institution (Dugan et al., 2008;Jacoby, 1989). As the vast majority of State College undergraduate students commute (Office of Institutional Research and Planning, 2012), it is necessary to have an understanding of the phenomenon of commuting. To gain this understanding, the theoretical frames of critical theory, campus ecology, and phenomenology were used to guide the exploration of two research questions:1. How do commuter students make meaning of their college experience? 2. How do commuter students describe the role of campus space and place in their college experience?For this study I interviewed ten participants, asked them to collect photos that represented their college lives, interviewed them about their photos (participant-driven photo elicitation), and conducted gallery walk focus groups in which the participants' photos were displayed and they had an opportunity to discuss the themes present in the photos. Through general inductive thematic analysis, as well as the trustworthiness measures of member checking, peer debriefing, and triangulation, three overarching themes emerged: commuter students and dorm people, "How difficult it is for commuters" (Victoria), but we're used to it, and finding a "second home" (Lindsay).These themes, along with a review of the findings through the lenses of the theoretical frameworks, were used to develop recommendations for both practice and research related to commuter students.v assumptions of what it means to attend college and to reexamine my role in Student Affairs and higher education.

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Section: Age and Maturitycontrasting

confidence: 94%

Section: How Commuter Students Make Meaning Of Their College Experiencementioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Independence and Family Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The College Experience of Commuter Students and the Concepts of Place and Space

Weiss¹

2014

Preprint

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“…Thus, a closer look at various subgroups of a particular population may reveal differences in perceptions and experiences. This finding highlights the diversity within the commuter population that makes it difficult to categorize, describe, and understand this complex student group (Jacoby, 1989;Smith, 1989). These results may indicate that for transfer students different variables may be important to the college experience as well as their expectations for, perceptions of, and satisfaction with it.…”

Section: Differences Between Transfer and Native Studentsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Marginality of Transfer Commuter Students

Kodama¹

2002

NASPA Journal

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❖ The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to examine the construct of marginality in transfer commuter students, and (2) to discover possible demographic (e.g., race, gender) and situational (e.g., on-campus support, employment) characteristics that might contribute to this sense of marginality. In the first analysis, no significant differences were found between transfer and native commuter students on marginality. However, results showed that these students have few sources of on-campus support, and that this lack of support contributed to feelings of marginality. Also, women and Asian American participants experienced higher levels of marginality. Finally, different variables were contributors to marginality for transfer students as compared with an overall sample of commuter students. Marginality of Transfer Commuter StudentsTransfer students make up nearly half of the student body at some

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“…The transition to college is considered to be successful if the freshman manages to adapt and socialize him/herself to the new university environment (Dyson and Renk, 2006). As we mentioned before, the development of social relationships with fellow college students and university faculty is crucial in this regard (Dyson and Renk, 2006;Paul and Brier, 2001;Perl and Trickett, 1988;Smith, 1989). One of the consequences of individualism, however, is that members of individualistic societies are generally well skilled to socialize and build relationships with new people (Kagitçibasi, 1997).…”

Section: University Life In Flanders Versus In the Usmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Life, Old Friends

Abeele

Roe

2011

YOUNG

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Communication technologies make it possible for college freshmen to maintain their pre-college relationships, while at the same time building new relationships on campus. For American freshmen the transition to college is generally considered as a major change that involves distancing oneself from family and pre-college friends, while for Flemish freshmen the transition to college appears to be a more gradual process. Consequently, American freshmen might benefit more from using communication technologies to build new relationships, while Flemish freshmen might benefit more from using communication technologies to maintain existing relationships.This article reports the results of a cross-cultural survey study among American (N = 198) and Flemish freshmen (N = 326) at the beginning of the academic year. The results indicate that both for American and Flemish freshmen calling, texting, instant messaging and emailing more frequently with one's pre-college friends is associated with a higher sense of belongingness to a strong and supportive social network. Communicating with new college friends, however, is only associated with an increased sense of belongingness for American freshmen.

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The Personal Development of the Commuter Student: What is Known from the Comparisons with Resident Students? An ERIC Review

Cited by 6 publications

References 9 publications

The College Experience of Commuter Students and the Concepts of Place and Space

The College Experience of Commuter Students and the Concepts of Place and Space

Marginality of Transfer Commuter Students

New Life, Old Friends

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