The Disengaged Commuter Student: Fact or Fiction? Summarize this article.

"The Disengaged Commuter Student: Fact Or Fiction?" is an academic paper researched and compiled by George D. Kuh, Robert M. Gonyea, and Megan Palmer from the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research and Planning. The authors are keen to challenge what they see as a persistent stereotype: that students who commute to college are somehow disengaged from their learning experiences. This is a commonly-held view, and one that is not surprising given the various competing demands on a commuting student's time, such as work and family.

Nevertheless, the authors challenge this assertion. The main focus of their report is what they call student engagement. This is a qualitative factor which determines how much time and effort each student puts into his or her study. The concept is drawn very broadly and includes such activities as reading, writing, preparing for class, and engaging with instructors.

The authors set out to answer the question of disengagement of commuter students by utilizing statistics and data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). These figures are then to be interpreted against five benchmarks of effective educational practice:

1. Level of Academic Challenge.


2. Active and Collaborative Learning.


3. Student Interactions with Faculty Members.


4. Enriching Educational Experiences.


5. Supportive Campus Environment.

If we compare the experiences of students who live on campus with those who commute, we find that levels of engagement are indeed higher among the former. Crucially, however, the gap between them and commuter students is relatively small considering the additional demands on their time. Furthermore, the report finds that commuting students were just as likely to be engaged in key learning activities as their non-commuting counterparts. For example, they were every bit as likely to collaborate with other students, to contribute to class discussions, and read on their own for personal enjoyment or academic enrichment. Overall, commuting students put forth just as much effort into their learning experiences as those who live on campus.

The authors conclude that, although commuting students are marginally less engaged than non-commuting students, certain aspects of the classroom experience show them to be far from disengaged overall. Nevertheless, the proximity of a student to his or her place of learning does seem to be a factor in levels of engagement. The authors call for more to be done to deepen commuter students' involvement in their learning experiences. To this end, specialized programs and services should be created to cater to the specific educational needs of the commuting student.