Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This book is a review and synthesis of literally thousands of studies on how students grow and develop during college. The authors have a gift for integrating multiple findings (even those that conflict with each other) and boiling it down to just the main conclusions and ideas.
That being said, they are summarizing a LOT of information. This is not the type of book that most people would read cover-to-cover in a few sittings. I have used it as a reference, reading the summaries near the back of the book, skimming sections, and then carefully reading only the chapters that pertain most closely to my interests.
The book is quite accessible to readers, but the readability does have a downside. Researchers may be frustrated by the lack of detail and statistical data regarding most of the studies. As thick as this book is, it is a compilation of summaries. However, the comprehensive bilbliography makes it very easy to locate all of the original sources, quickly identifying all major studies on nearly any topic within student development.
Overall, this is a comprehensive overview of a decade of journals, books, and presentations, all packed into one long but reader-friendly volume. Those looking for a brief or applied guide to practice may be frustrated or overwhelmed by the scope, but this book should be required reading for anyone who is at all interested in research on student development.
Click Here to see more reviews about: How College Affects Students: A Third Decade of Research (Jossey-Bass Higher & Adult Education)
This is the long-awaited second volume of Pascarella and Terenzini's 1991 award-winning review of the research on the impacts of college on students. The authors review their earlier findings and then synthesize what has been learned since 1990 about college's influences on students' learning. The book also discusses the implications of the findings for research, practice, and public policy. This authoritative and comprehensive analysis of the literature on college-impact is required reading for anyone interested in higher education practice, policy, and promise¾faculty, administrators, researchers, policy analysts, and decision-makers at every level.
