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A Dialogical Approach of Group Identity Salience and the Academic Competence of Nontraditional College Students

As of 2007, approximately 73% of the 18 million college students in this country could be identified as nontraditional (Ross-Gordon, 2011). A key characteristic distinguishing this group from the traditional college student is the influence of multiple roles of the adult learner on the learning and engagement process (Keith, Byerly, Floerchinger, Pence, & Thornberg, 2006). Ross-Gordon remarks on some roles that may provide life experience, an asset to understanding theoretical constructs otherwise immaterial to younger, traditional learners. However, it is important to recognize the complex dynamic of conflicting roles as challenges to the academic competence of nontraditional college students. This research examined the vague definition of the nontraditional student and the factors that influence the learning and engagement processes. Through the lens of Hermans and Gieser's (2012) dialogical self-theory and higher education discourse, a novel examination of group role identity salience is proposed as a useful model for improving the educational and social realities of the adult learner.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:honorstheses1990-2015-2470
Date01 January 2013
CreatorsThally, Robert
PublisherSTARS
Source SetsUniversity of Central Florida
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceHIM 1990-2015

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