Date of Award
5-2014
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Departmental Honors
Department
Languages, Philosophy and Communication Studies
Abstract
On-campus student housing at any university has the opportunity to positively impact student experiences. This exploratory study looks at how frequency of interaction with the Resident Assistant (RA) and interaction with the residence hall community, sense of community, social self-efficacy, and academic self-concept correlate with academic success. This study is intended to show the effect the Resident Assistant has on students' academic and social experiences in apartment-style housing. Therefore, this study also looks at how variables are related to each other in order to give Resident Assistants a better understanding of their sphere of influence in a community. The relationships between these variables are partly facilitated with an understanding of the Symbolic Interactionism perspective. This theory states that how people view themselves influences how they interact with others and react to ideas, concepts, objects, etc. Results show positive correlations between the number of interactions with the community and sense of community and also between GPA and academic self-concept. What was unexpected was the moderate negative correlation between GPA and sense of community. Further work should be done to flesh out the connections between variables.
Recommended Citation
Arrington, Kayla, "Impact of Resident Assistants and Community on Student Grades" (2014). Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects. 568.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/honors/568
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Faculty Mentor
Brad Hall
Departmental Honors Advisor
Matt Sanders
Capstone Committee Member
Jennifer Peeples
Co-Faculty Mentor
Lisa Guntzviller