Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-143).

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-143). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Instructional Systems Technology, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-01, Section: A, page: 0155. Adviser: Thomas Schwen. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed Jan. 24, 2007)."

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1988. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-07, Section: A, page: 1669. Adviser: Leonard Grob.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Fairleigh Dickinson University, 2001. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 62-04, Section: B, page: 2074. Chairperson: Andrew R. Eisen. Available also in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-07, Section: A, page: 2423. Adviser: Steven Aragon. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-189) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Idaho, May 2006. / Major professor: Jerome M. Fischer. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-143). Also available online in PDF format.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Instructional Systems Technology, Dept. of School of Education, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-04, Section: A, page: 1304. Adviser: Curtis J. Bonk. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed June 19, 2007)."

<p> The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of motivation in the persistence of adults enrolled in online higher education. Since the 1990&rsquo;s, online courses and programs have proliferated across higher education, with adults (ages 25 and over) currently making up the largest portion of online enrollments. Online courses, however, suffer from a higher rate of student attrition than their hybrid and face-to-face counterparts. Although it is difficult to attribute the high rate of attrition in online education to any one factor, research has identified a lack of motivation as a primary cause of student dropout. Likewise, studies have shown that when motivation is present, learners are more likely to persist in their coursework. In order to develop a deeper understanding of this issue, a phenomenological approach was chosen as the most appropriate method for this study. </p><p> Participants for this study were at least 25 years of age and were enrolled in an online class at a large public university in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. In adhering to the phenomenological method, open-ended, in-depth interviews were used to investigate how adult learners experience motivation in online higher education. Transcendental phenomenological analysis was then used to determine the essence of this experience. During the first stage of this process, twelve distinct themes emerged from the data, including Relevance and Applicability, Communication, Flexibility, and Instructor Presence. During the next stage, three additional structural themes were identified: Relation to Self, Relationship with Others, and Time. During the final stage of analysis, the essence of this experience was revealed as the participants&rsquo; Goal Commitment and their Need for Guidance. </p><p> Key findings from this study include the confirmation of motivation as a critical component in the persistence of adult online learners. In addition, a number of factors were identified as key facilitators and barriers to persistence in adults learning online. In developing an in-depth understanding of the link between motivation and persistence in this particular sample of learners, the results of this study may potentially contribute to addressing the overall larger problem of high rates of attrition in online higher education. </p><p>

This thesis explores participation in adult learning and focuses upon three key areas of interest: reasons for participation, the challenges of participation, and the enabling factors relating to participation. The purpose of the research is to expand understanding in order to enhance and improve learning support practice, through a study of a university based, professionally accredited, part-time, Master's Degree programme in Human Resource Management, which serves as the research setting. The study of participation in adult learning is a well-trodden path, beginning with the seminal work of Cyril Houle in the early 1960s. Since then, researchers have continuously sought to prove, disprove or adapt existing typologies. Research has focused on generating groups of single identified factors, motivational indicators and specific challenges influencing participation in adult learning. Specific models and frameworks related to the enablement of participation are identified as being missing from the participation literature, with reference to enablers existing only within the disparate literature relating to adult learning and its broader contexts and influences. A review of the key literature reveals a lack of a single open framework that considers the reasons for, the challenges to, and the enablers of participation across defined contextual dimensions, for the purposes of understanding the nature of participation. This research presents an original conceptual framework matrix, developed from this existing literature, intended to fill this gap. The matrix affords two key opportunities. Firstly, as a theoretical device by which to organise and review current literature in the field and secondly, as a means to identify, explore and present the dominant factors relating to participation in adult learning. To achieve this the matrix identifies the three key areas of interest: i) the reasons participants have for joining the learning activity; ii) the challenges they have faced in doing so, and finally; iii) the elements and influences that enable them to successfully participate in the learning activity. These areas are reviewed further across four dimensions of the participants' life world, that of the psychological, the professional, the practical and the personal. Utilising a critical realist ontology and a post-positivist epistemology the conceptual framework matrix is used to structure the research design. The study adopts a linear, mixed methods approach to collecting data using types of thematic analysis (quantitative and qualitative), achieved through the use of an online questionnaire and one-to-one interviews with the target population. Viewed through the lens of the conceptual framework matrix, findings from within the research setting demonstrate that participants chose to engage with the learning activity as a result of a wide range of influencing factors. Reasons for participation were dominated by two of the dimensions, professional and psychological. Challenges to participation were found to be dominated by psychological factors, alongside issues of a restrictive learning environment and difficulties in achieving work life balance. The dominant enablers were people, deriving from all aspects of the participants' life-world. To aid successful participation in the learning activity under investigation two key recommendations are made to the programme managers and facilitators: i) the facilitation and encouragement of communities of practice and, ii) the development of links between the programme provider and employers. Further to this, this study suggests that, following further research to establish transferability and usability, the matrix has the potential to contribute to wider practice as an open, exploratory framework to be applied to a variety of different learning activities as a means of identifying areas of improvement or change.