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Student Development in College: Theory, Research, and Practice (Second Edition) Nancy J. Evans, Deanna S. Forney, Florence M. Guido, Lori D. Patton, Kristen A. Renn San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009, 480 pages, $60.00 (hardcover)
Much anticipated, the second edition of Student Development in College: Theory, Research, and Practice is a comprehensive and forward thinking text that reviews and comments upon the current landscape of student development theory. Written by five diverse student development theory scholars who have utilized multiple approaches to student development theory research, they accomplished in an impressive manner the daunting task of reviewing in some detail a broad spectrum of literature in a scholarly yet accessible manner that is relevant to researchers, practitioners, and graduate students.
An update to the first edition published in 1998, the authors intend for this book "to provide a comprehensive, in-depth review of the major student development theories as they relate to student affairs and educational practice" (p. xviii). The preface provides a detailed rationale for the need for the second edition and explains how this edition differs from the first. Acknowledging the limitations of the first edition for effectively working with contemporary college students, the second edition includes not only many of the theories that were the basis of the first edition of the book, but also theories that describe an integrative perspective on student development and theories describing the nature of social identities that are important for working with diverse student populations. As with the first edition, it is written in a manner similar to a literature review with realistic case studies framing each chapter, and often critiques, applications, and suggestions for research.
Given the varied approaches to thinking about student development and relationships among student development theories, the authors were wisely transparent in discussing how they structured this book, especially what to include and...