The Impact of College Residence and Diversity Experiences on the Development of Critical Thinking in First-year College Students

• In Event: College Student Experiences With Diversity

Abstract

This study explored the influence of residential status, exposure to classroom diversity, and involvement in interactional diversity on growth in critical thinking skills during the first year of college. To investigate these interrelationships, I analyzed data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education – a 19-institution longitudinal investigation of the effects of liberal arts colleges and liberal arts experiences on the cognitive and personal outcomes theoretically associated with a liberal arts education. With statistical controls in place for potential confounding influences, including precollege critical thinking and academic ability, neither residential status nor either of the diversity measures had significant general effects on critical thinking. However, significant conditional effects by race and academic ability were uncovered.

Author

• Chad Loes, Mount Mercy University