How College Affects Students is a book which may be of interest to parents and advocates. Ernest T. Pascarella & Patrick T. Terenzini review and analyze over 20 years of research studies in this book subtitled Volume 2, A Third Decade of Research.
When reading and discussing topics on recent threads such as "High achievers shut out of AP courses", articles on the College Board, SAT scores, and college/career readiness... when considering pre-college variables, selectivity as a proxy for quality of education (rigor)... and many more ideas which underlie themes of posts on the gifted forums, readers may find this book offers insight into the origins, directions, and goals of many policies in play in higher education today.
Consisting of over 800 pages, it includes a Summary of 100 pages and its list of references spans 140 pages.
One of many important concepts discussed is "
internal locus of control" - the sense of being self-directed, responsible, owning one's education.
One example is the discussion on another thread
here.
There is a sequel and prequel to this research tome. They are mentioned in an old thread
here:
1) 1969 - The Impact of College on Students, Feldman and Newcomb
2) 1991 - How College Affects Students: Findings and Insights From Twenty Years of Research, by Ernest T. Pascarella and Patrick T. Terenzini
3) 2005 - How College Affects Students, Volume 2: A Third Decade of Research, by Ernest T. Pascarella and Patrick T. Terenzini
