Reading, Learning, and Growing: An Examination of the Benefits of Common Book Programs for First-Year Students' Development
Author(s): Soria, K. M.
Citation: Soria, K. M. (2015). Reading, Learning, and Growing: An Examination of the Benefits of Common Book Programs for First-Year Students' Development. Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition, 27(1), 29-47.
Abstract
Despite the continued growth of common book reading programs on college and university campuses, little is known about the benefits of such programs on first-year students' development. Using a multi-institutional survey of undergraduates attending six large, public universities (n = 1,237), the present study examined relationships between first-year students' participation in common book reading programs and their self-reported development in academic skills and multicultural appreciation and competence. The results suggest that participation in such a program is significantly and positively associated with first-year students' self-reported development in academic skills and multicultural appreciation and competence, controlling for their participation in first-year seminar and learning communities, demographic characteristics, academic engagement, sense of belonging, faculty interactions, grade point average, and students' self-reported skills and competencies when they first arrived on campus.
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