A qualitative case study of the response of the returning adult student (RAS) to university higher education was conducted during the 16-week period of the 1990 Spring semester at Florida State University. The participants in the study were 13 RASs taking a graduate course in statistics. / The investigator observed the participants during 46 class sessions, interviewed each participant five times, and reviewed a set of 28 documents. From the 1,004 pages of data gathered, 249 units of information were compiled and used to develop four major themes or categories concerning the response of the RAS to higher education. Properties which characterized or described each major category were deduced. The properties of each category were combined to create an inclusion rule for final category placement of each unit of information. The major categories developed by analyzing the data gathered during the study were (a) meeting the requirements, (b) responding to help, (c) managing time, and (d) making adjustments. Substantive theory about the education of adults in higher education was generated by positing five working hypotheses generated from the data gathered and analyzed. The study provides practical implications for RASs and instructors and administrators of higher education. Implications of the study include the need for RASs, instructors, and administrators in higher education to recognize the importance to RASs of meeting the requirements, responding to help, managing time, and making adjustments. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-03, Section: A, page: 0780. / Major Professor: Irwin R. Jahns. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_78441 |
| Contributors | Lewis, John L., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 282 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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