This mixed methods study, a concurrent triangulation design, explored Tinto's integration theory as it relates to nontraditional students. The study explored the relationship of academic and social integration, defined by classroom active learning strategies and sense of belonging, with persistence. The study also expanded upon the idea of socio-academic integrative moments which might occur when social and academic integration converge or overlap. Consistent with Tinto's model, factors including initial institutional commitment, initial goal commitment, and subsequent institutional commitment were also analyzed. Multiple regression analysis of data obtained from a 38-question survey (n=299) revealed one common predictor of persistence among the three research questions: initial commitment to the educational goal. Qualitative data, interpreted from a diverse group of 10 nontraditional students, confirmed the quantitative findings and revealed that, in relation to persistence, initial commitment to the educational goal seemed to transcend all other theoretical factors including institutional commitment, social integration, academic integration, and student entry characteristics such as race, gender, parents' educational attainment, first-generation status, and high school GPA. In addition, focus group findings indicated the presence of socio-academic integrative described as academically-focused social integration. Recommendations for further exploration into the integrational convergence or non-linearity of Tinto's model are included. Recommendations for practice and future research prompt additional exploration into nontraditional student persistence including suggestions to identify factors related to meaningful integration for nontraditional students and how those factors might influence persistence.

Orientador: Elizabeth Nogueira Gomes da Silva Mercuri / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-08T00:41:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Smaniotto_SandraReginaUliano_M.pdf: 400030 bytes, checksum: 8ee1977bf1102c93ef8ae8fa5b51eef8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: O aumento dos Cursos Superiores de Tecnologia e as mudanças nas características dos alunos do ensino superior são conseqüências das atuais políticas nacionais de expansão do ensino superior. Os Centros de Educação Tecnológica e as Faculdades de Tecnologia, embora representando 7,4% do total de instituições do sistema, foram os que tiveram o mais expressivo crescimento entre todos os modelos de organização acadêmico, atingindo 54,8% no ano de 2004, modalidade esta em que se observa, entre seus estudantes, uma grande concentração de adultos e de trabalhadores. O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever e analisar as mudanças pelas quais passam os estudantes adultos-trabalhadores de cursos superiores de tecnologia, a partir da percepção dos alunos; descrever e analisar as condições internas e externas a sala de aula, propiciadoras das mudanças e analisar a relação existente entre as mudanças, nos diferentes domínios e as condições favorecedoras, internas e externas à sala de aula. Para tanto, foi utilizada a metodologia de investigação qualitativa, com entrevistas semi-estruturadas com 11 alunos concluintes de curso, com idade superior a 30 anos e que trabalhavam em período integral - estudantes de uma faculdade privada de tecnologia localizada no interior do estado de São Paulo. A análise de conteúdo das respostas possibilitou a categorização das mudanças nos domínios social, pessoal, profissional e acadêmico e, quanto às condições propiciadoras, em internas e externas a sala de aula. Constatou-se que a extensão das mudanças percebidas pelos estudantes é comparável à citada pela literatura de aluno tradicional, o que nos sugere que a vivência acadêmica, independente da categoria de organização acadêmica, tem um impacto similar, tanto para alunos tradicionais como os não tradicionais. Com relação às condições propiciadoras, observamos que as internas à sala de aula são responsáveis pela grande parte das mudanças percebidas por este grupo, porém nota-se que há uma ampla variedade de condições que não são de responsabilidade da instituição, mas assumidas como propiciadoras de mudanças, ligadas à família, trabalho e amigos. Estes dados nos apontam para a necessidade de políticas e práticas de ensino que atendam as exigências e características dos alunos não tradicionais / Abstract: The increase in the number of Technology Higher-Education Courses and the changes in the students of higher-education are consequences of the current national policies for highereducation expansion. The Centers for Technological Education and the Technology Colleges, although representing 7.4% of the total amount of institutions of the system, were the ones that had the most significant increase among all the academic organization models, reaching 54.8% in the year of 2004, in which segment we can notice, among the students, a great number of adults and workers. The aim of this study was describe and analyze the changes the adult-workers students of technology higher-education students have been through from the students¿ point of view; describe and analyze the in-class and out-class conditions, which can lead to changes, and analyze the existing relationship between the changes in the different domains and the favorable conditions in-class and out-class To do so, a qualitative investigation methodology was used, with semi- structured interviews done with 11 senior students, aged over 30 and who worked fulltime, studying in a private technology college in the interior of São Paulo. The analyses of the content of the answers made it possible to classify the changes in social, personal, professional and academic domains and, in what concerns to favorable conditions, in in-class and out-class. It was concluded that the depth of the changes felt by the students is comparable to the already mentioned by traditional students in other literature, which suggests that academic life, undependably of the academic organization category, has a similar impact both for traditional and non-traditional students. In what concerns to favorable conditions, we could see that the in-class ones are responsible for the greatest part of the changes realized by this group, however we can see there is a wide variety of conditions that are not responsibility of the institutions, which are taken as propitiating the changes connected to family, work and friends. This data show us the policy need and teaching practices that meet our needs and the characteristics of the nontraditional students / Mestrado / Ensino, Avaliação e Formação de Professores / Mestre em Educação

The primary purpose of this study was to identify and secure perceptions of what personal and institutional factors influenced and attracted adult students to enroll in four year institutions in Oklahoma. The secondary purpose was to compare student responses by institution. The more notable findings include: (1) dominant personal factors as to why adult students in this study returned to college were reportedly to improve/advance themselves, especially as it relates to their career; (2) flexible class scheduling was reported to be the most important institutional function for recruiting adult students, with academic quality and institutional costs of education next in importance; (3) almost 90% of respondents reported being under 45 years of age; (4) almost 85% reported commuting fewer than 50 miles to class; (5) approximately 90% reported enrolling each fall and spring (6) approximately twice as many respondents who returned to college reported they did so because it was more important to them to complete an unfinished degree than to begin a degree. Conclusions drawn from this study are as follows: (1) adult students appear to be unlikely to enroll in classes meeting more than three times a week; (2) adult students in Oklahoma may no longer be described as part time and/or night students; (3) these students appear to be returning to college as full-time students, absorbing it into their daily lives and continuing their careers; (4) adult students in Oklahoma are homogeneous in that they tend to be relatively young, white, well educated and employed; (5) institutional officials should exercise caution about using the information given by these students as tools for recruiting adult students to their institutions.

The purpose of this study was to test a causal analytic model for predictors of course outcomes and a second causal model for predictors of continued participation in post-secondary education. The demographic characteristics were compared for students who continued to participate in post-secondary education and those who did not continue to participate in post-secondary education after completing ALNU 1100 Basics of Patient Care at East Tennessee State University. The two models selected for testing were Henry and Basile’s (1994) “Decision Framework” for students’ decisions to continue participation, and Donaldson and Graham’s (1999) “Model of College Outcomes for Adults”, which focused on student outcomes. A review of recent literature was also conducted to ascertain and further identify additional factors. A descriptive correlational research design was used without any sampling (total population of interest was studied). The student population for this study consisted of all students who had enrolled and completed ALNU 1100 Basics of Patient Care course at East Tennessee State University. Causal models were developed using path analysis based on hierarchical multivariate linear and logistic regression. The factors that influenced student outcomes and continued participation in higher education were examined from the students’ perspectives, and causal models were constructed and presented in diagrammatic, tabular, and narrative form. The main findings were that the causal models in the present study were not the same as either the Donaldson and Graham model or the Henry and Basile model. There were as many similarities as differences, however the similarities were striking in both cases. Results from this study revealed that students, who continued in education, were males with a higher education level than average. There was also a tendency for those with a few children and high household incomes to be associated with continued participation. The most important categorical predictor of continued participation in higher education was the students’ perceptions of deterrents, course attributes, and institutional reputation. The most important categorical predictor of student outcomes was psychological values of the student.

本研究旨在瞭解目前成人華語文教學課堂遊戲設計、規劃與實施的現況，以及成人華語教師對課堂遊戲的看法；調查的內容包括遊戲實施的頻率、目的、優缺點和適用性等。為達成研究目的，本研究採用調查研究法，以調查問卷與焦點團體訪談為研究工具，蒐集研究資料，作為分析與討論問題的依據。本調查研究針對臺北市11所公私立大學校院華語文教學中心之華語教師進行調查，以滾雪球抽樣發出120份調查問卷，回收有效問卷91份，彙整分析調查結果。其後，從表達參與訪談意願的受試華語教師中，隨機選取6位教師進行焦點團體訪談，探討華語教師對成人華語文教學課堂遊戲實施的經驗、想法與意見。 經過研究實施與資料分析，歸結研究結果如下：（一）儘管課堂遊戲並非臺灣成人華語文教學課堂中的主要活動，多數教師仍肯定課堂遊戲應用於成人學生的適用性，並且同意課堂遊戲能有效提升學生的語言能力與學習興趣；課堂遊戲訓練學生的主要語言技能為口說和聽力，確實表現了語言的溝通交際功能；成人學生的華語程度、個性、年齡是主要影響課堂遊戲實施的個別差異。（二）華語教師的「教育程度」會影響其對於「遊戲能否有效提升學生學習興趣」的評估；華語教師在「成人華語文教學以外的教學工作類型」會影響其「設計或規劃課堂遊戲的時間點」。（三）華語教師認為使用課堂遊戲所遭遇的主要問題為「遊戲設計與教具製作費時、缺乏遊戲資料來源」，建議包括同事交換心得、參加教學研習、請學生提供適合的遊戲等；次要問題為「成人學生對課堂遊戲沒興趣、參與意願低」，建議是一旦出現學生不配合的情況，教師應該改變遊戲規則、類型、帶領方式，或是直接結束遊戲。 最後根據調查結果提出相關建議，以供華語教師、學校行政單位以及教學研究者在成人華語文教學課堂遊戲設計、規劃與實施等方面的參考。 / The present study aims to investigate the current situation of classroom games applied in adult Chinese teaching, and teachers’ perspectives toward games used in adult Chinese teaching. A total of 91 teachers of Chinese language center, from universities in Taipei city, responded to a questionnaire designed for this survey. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and cross analysis. Afterward, six Chinese teachers were chosen randomly to participate in a focus group interview. They discussed their experiences and perception of using games to teach adult Chinese learners. Results of this study show: (1) Games are not the main activity used in adult Chinese teaching, but teachers mostly have positive response toward game-using in teaching adult Chinese learners. (2) Teachers’ different educational backgrounds significantly influence their attitude toward the statement “games teaching would increase students’ learning interest”. Teachers’ teaching experiences also influence significantly the timing of preparing classroom games. (3) The duration of game-preparing, the insufficiency of game material, and adult students are unwilling to participate in those games are the main challenges reported by teachers. Based on the findings of the survey, teaching implications and suggestions for further research are included at the end of the thesis.

Orientador: Elizabeth Nogueira Gomes da Silva Mercuri / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T10:03:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vassoler_AnaMariaJesuinaBarbieri_M.pdf: 2082854 bytes, checksum: 083368976e8316a5eb205e974f61f955 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: Observa-se, no Brasil, nas últimas décadas, um aumento significante no número de estudantes ingressantes no ensino superior, resultado do aumento da população jovem adulta, das exigências do mercado de trabalho para responder ao desenvolvimento econômico e social do país, das políticas de acesso e de abertura à maior heterogeneidade de alunos neste nível educacional e, que tem, entre suas consequências, maior presença de estudantes adultos neste nível de ensino. Nota-se que os termos para a identificação do aluno adulto na graduação, bem como os atributos que o definem, variam consideravelmente nos estudos da área, contudo, o mais frequente atributo utilizado tem sido o ingresso no ensino superior com idade igual ou acima de 25 anos. Observa-se na literatura que os estudantes adultos possuem características que influenciam como eles aprendem e como vivenciam a graduação, incluindo as interações que estabelecem com os pares. Diante do número cada vez maior de estudantes adultos na graduação e pelo entendimento de que as interações com os pares destacam-se na literatura como uma variável associada à integração acadêmica, ao envolvimento do estudante, ao sucesso acadêmico, bem como à permanência deste nas instituições de ensino superior, objetivou-se nesse estudo descrever e analisar em estudantes adultos ingressantes na graduação, a frequência e o conteúdo das interações com os pares nos campos acadêmico e social e sua relação com as variáveis pessoais dos participantes: sexo, idade, turno do curso, exercício de atividade remunerada, e semestre do curso. Participaram do estudo 84 universitários de diferentes cursos, com idade variando entre 25 a 69 anos, matriculados em um dos campi de uma universidade confessional localizada na região sudeste do Brasil. Os principais resultados deste trabalho, cujos dados tiveram origem nas respostas de estudantes adultos a uma Escala de Interação com os Pares, indicaram que estes interagem de maneira geral com baixa frequência com os pares. Em relação às diferenças das médias obtidas pelos quatro domínios da escala, observou-se a existência de diferença estatisticamente significante entre as interações características de convívio social e de lazer que se mostraram como a de menor frequência. Ao comparar a natureza de interações com pares que se associam às variáveis dos participantes, observou-se que as interações do campo social estão mais fortemente associadas quando comparadas às interações de natureza acadêmica e que, do conjunto de variáveis dos participantes, sexo, idade, turno do curso e exercício de atividade remunerada mostraram-se associadas significantemente a diferentes domínios de interação com os pares. Os resultados do presente estudo auxiliam na compreensão do comportamento dos estudantes adultos do ensino superior em relação às interações com os pares, possibilitam ampliação do conhecimento sobre esse aluno e contribuem com políticas e ações de intervenção. / Abstract: It is observed in Brazil in the last decades, a significantly increase in the students number enrolled in college. It is resulted of the young adult population's rise, of the job market requirement to respond the social and economical country development, the governmenta openness and access policies to a better heterogeneity from this educational level, that has as consequence a larger presence of adult students in this educational level. It's also observed that to identify the adult students in college, as well the attributes that define them vary substantially in the studies area, however the most used attribute has been the college enrolled on the age of 25 or above. It is perceived in previous studies that adult students have characteristics that influence how they learn and how they experience the college, including the interaction that they establish with the common peers. Before the increase number of adult students in college and understanding that the common peer interactions is highlighted in previous studies as a variable associated to the academic integration, to the student's involvement, to the academic success, as well the permanence of them at the college institutions allowed in this search describe and analyze in adult students enrolled in college institutions, the frequency and the content of the common peer interactions in the academic and social field and its relation with the personal variables of the participants: gender, age, course shift, occupation and course semester. Participated of this search 84 college students from different courses, ages from 25 to 69, enrolled in a college's campus situated in the southeast region of Brazil. The main results of this search, which datas were collected from the adult students answers to a common peers interaction scale, revealed that they normally interacted with the common peer in a low frequency. According to average's differences got by the four scale dominion, it's observed the existence of a significant statistically difference between the interaction deriving of social aspects and leisure, being the last one observed with the lowest frequency. Comparing the way of interactions with common peers are associated to the participants variations, it's observed that the social interaction are substantially associated when compared to the academic interactions and, from the personal participants variation, gender, age, course shift and occupation was significantly associated to different dominions of common peers interaction. The results of this search support the behavior understanding of adult students attending college courses according to the common peer relation interactions, it enables a knowledge enlargement about this student and also contributes to policies and intervention actions. / Mestrado / Psicologia Educacional / Mestra em Educação

No description available.

Over 42% of students re-entering education in the United States are age 24 or older (NCES, 2002). Community colleges offer financial, academic, and geographic accessibility making them a viable option for adults seeking to re-enter education (Cohen & Brawer, 1996). The purpose of this study was to learn more about the life transitions that precipitate entry into a community college. The researcher also sought to bring insights about the experiences of being an adult student returning to education at a community college. Research participants included 24 adult re-entry students and recent graduates at Mountain Empire Community College in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. Through indepth interviews, the personal experiences of the life transitions that prompted college entrance and the experience of being enrolled in college were explored. Qualitative research techniques were used in this study. Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed. The findings derived from the data analysis were presented thematically as they addressed the research questions. The findings revealed that participants returned to education because of job-related concerns (typically a layoff or company's closing) or an issue of timing (a feeling that it was "time" to return). Re-entry students faced barriers that were both institutional and personal as they navigated the educational process. Participants reported that financial, geographic, and academic accessibility of the college made it a resource in itself. Finally, participants suggested implementing a specialized, adult, student-focused orientation course, on-site daycare services, and campus activities supportive of needs of students returning to the academic world. Recommendations included a quantitative study involving a survey with a larger sample of adult re-entry students. The data could provide a richer examination of the similarities and differences among the re-entry college population. Recommendations for practice included an orientation class specifically designed to attract and meet the needs of adult re-entry students at the community college level; the establishment of a comprehensive, developmentally-based childcare service located on the college campus; and initial and follow-up contacts by a counselor designated as an adult, re-entry student contact and resource person in the student services division.

This study investigated the relationship between the self-directedness (as measured by the Adult Learner Self-Directedness Scale) and employability attributes (as measured by the Student Employablity Attributes Scale) of adult learners enrolled at a South African distance learning higher education institution. Correlational and inferential statistical analyses were carried out in order to realise the research objective. A stratified random sample of 1 102 mainly black and female participants participated in the study. The research indicated self-directedness to be a significant positive predictor of employability attributes and also revealed significant differences between the gender, race and age groups regarding these variables. Recommendations are suggested for use by university lecturers and human resource development professionals. / Human Resource Management / M. Comm. (Human Resource Management)

This study investigated the relationship between the self-directedness (as measured by the Adult Learner Self-Directedness Scale) and employability attributes (as measured by the Student Employablity Attributes Scale) of adult learners enrolled at a South African distance learning higher education institution. Correlational and inferential statistical analyses were carried out in order to realise the research objective. A stratified random sample of 1 102 mainly black and female participants participated in the study. The research indicated self-directedness to be a significant positive predictor of employability attributes and also revealed significant differences between the gender, race and age groups regarding these variables. Recommendations are suggested for use by university lecturers and human resource development professionals. / Human Resource Management / M. Comm. (Human Resource Management)