Emily Aversa
Professor Goeller
Research in the Disciplines
October 25, 2016
Research Proposal
Working Title: Through the Lens of the Social Isolate: How some students do not fit into the on-campus resident mold
Topic
As a Resident Assistant of three years, I have always been interested on the impact that the residence hall and I have had on students on campus and if it is different from commuter students. What my paper will explore is the benefits of living on campus based on interaction and engagement in the community. I also want to look into how a community is established in a Residence Hall through either Residence Life (where community is forced) or through the residents living in the hall. As in the book, Paying for the Party, Armstrong and Hamilton mention social isolates in the Residence Hall that were unable to engage with the others in the community and I would like to explore ways to ease them out of this social lack of interaction. Through this paper, I eventually want to lead the reader to the conclusion that some students that live in a Residence Hall (social isolates) may not be meant for living on campus and therefore the benefits laid out in the beginning about living on campus are diminished.
Research Question
What are the benefits of living in a residence hall at a university? How are the communities in a residence hall established and how does this play a part in the interactions of the residents? Do the social isolates in these communities try to engage in the community or are they just not meant for the residence hall? How does this offset the benefits of on campus living compared to commuters?
Theoretical Frame
In Chickering’s book, Commuting Versus Resident Students: Overcoming Educational Inequalities of Living Off Campus, Alan Chickering talks about how students that lived on campus in residence halls were much more likely to graduate college with a degree because of their ability to access resources on campus. This theory also stated that living on or off campus has a direct effect on a student’s academic performance, social skills, identity, and emotional wellbeing. This study, which talked a lot about the benefits of living on campus compared to commuting, helped me to understand why it is beneficial to live on campus. But how does this fit into the perspective of a social isolate? How, if they even do, benefit from the creation of communities in the residence hall by residence life staff? Does the effect of their lack of engagement in the community offset the benefits of living on campus versus off campus? This is outlined in Paying for the Party and Coming of Age in New Jersey, where communities that are built within the hall cause controversy among the socially isolated students. This idea of the importance of interaction within the residence hall is outlined in the Social Interaction Theory by Alexander Astin, where he describes social interaction as a necessity in college in order to stay involved and therefore, steer clear of being a social isolate.
Research and Plan
In the paper, “Student Involvement: A developmental theory for higher education” by Alexander Astin, the author talks a lot about the definition of interaction and how it plays a crucial role in the development and engagement of a student living on campus. I want to dig deeper into this notion of on campus living being the most beneficial for students compared to commuting and explore how some students may not think that way. As I see in my own community, some more isolated, shy students have a harder time reaching out and engaging with others, and that affects their overall involvement with the community in a negative way. In order to compare these effects with the benefits of on campus housing, I want to look at the benefits outlined in my research and try to understand the information. Dr. Astin mentions different factors that contribute to interaction and I want to use that as a framework for how social isolates do not interact in the community.
As a Residence Life staff member, I have come across many students who would be deemed social isolates in the community. With my real life experience, I will be able to apply my own examples into my paper in order to provide exact examples of students who would not interact with the community. I also want to use examples of social isolates from Paying for the Party in order to create multiple examples of social isolates interacting with an already established community. These examples can be further explored by showing how the negative points of them being social isolates can outweigh the benefits of living in a residence hall.
I plan to research my topic using the many scholarly articles I have found on on-campus living and then slowly delve into off campus living and how it differs. I believe that through my preliminary research, that there is more on the subject of on-campus students because it is an easier resource to access. Hopefully, I will be able to draw conclusions related to the questions I have asked in order to completely, or at least partly, answer the many questions that I have started to delve into.
Working Bibliography
Astin, A. W. (1984). Student Involvement: A developmental theory for higher education. Journal
of College Student Personnel, 25(4), 518-529.
Balfour, Denise S. (2013). The Relationship Between Living Arrangement, Academic
Performance, and Engagement Among First-Year College Students, 1-89. Print.
Blimling, G. S. (1989). A meta-analysis of the influence of college residence halls on academic
performance. Journal of College Student Development, 30(4), 298-308.
Chickering, Arthur W. Commuting Versus Resident Students: [overcoming the Educational
Inequities of Living Off Campus]. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1974. Print.
Gianoutsos, D., and Vicki Rosser. “Is There Still A Considerable Difference? Comparing
Residential And Commuter Student Profile Characteristics.” College Student Journal
48.4 (2014): 613-628. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.
Newbold, John J. "Lifestyle Challenges For Commuter Students." New Directions For Student
Services 2015.150 (2015): 79-86. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.
Schudde, LT. "The Causal Effect Of Campus Residency On College Student Retention." Review
Of Higher Education 34.4 (n.d.): 581-610. Social Sciences Citation Index. Web. 4 Oct.
2016.
Turley, RNL, and G Wodtke. "College Residence And Academic Performance: Who Benefits
From Living On Campus?." Urban Education 45.4 (n.d.): 506-532. Social Sciences
Citation Index. Web. 4 Oct. 2016.
Yongyi, Wang, et al. "The Influence Of Residence Hall Community On Academic Success Of
Male And Female Undergraduate Students." Journal Of College & University Student
Housing 33.1 (2004): 16-22. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Oct. 2016.
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