Category: Higher Education

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Exploring how short-term overseas study programs impact students’ personal growth

Authors: Jean-Pierre Fenech, Monash University; Sylvana Fenech, RMIT University; Jacqueline Birt, University of Queensland

Edition: Volume 53, Number 3, November 2013

Summary:  This paper is an exploratory study of the impact of short-term overseas study programs on participants’ personal growth in business school environments. We interviewed students participating in such a program organised by an Australian university. Guided by the literature, we used three factors — pre-academic work, a three-week sojourn, and the participants themselves — in order to understand the association between the program and the participants’ personal growth. We noted several idiosyncrasies amongst the participants that affected their level of personal growth, including language ability, age, gender, extent of previous travel and ethnic background. Overall, all students experienced different levels of growth as a result of the program.

Keywords: study abroad, short-term programs, personal development,

 

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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Tertiary study: Barriers and benefits for health and human services professionals

Author: Amy Gibbons, University of Tasmania

Edition: Volume 53, Number 3, November 2013

Summary:   Results from two 2012 surveys exploring the barriers and benefits of tertiary study for staff within the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services suggest that encouraging staff engagement with further study benefits both the individual and the organisation. Respondents reported improved job performance, increased self-esteem and motivation to learn. Barriers associated with limited time and competing demands impacted on staff ability to access information about study options. In this context, workplace and management support for study was identified as a crucial enabler. The investigative process of this study has been made explicit in order to encourage replication by other researchers. This mixed-methods research was informed by the ‘three capitals’ approach in order to examine the personal, social and economic benefits of learning. The relative weakness of benefits associated with social capital in the results reflects the experience of these part-time mature-age students employed in a professionally demanding sector.

Keywords: adult learners, three capitals, tertiary study, health and human services,Tasmania

 

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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Older undergraduate students bringing years of experience to university studies: Highlights, challenges and contributions

Author: Bronwyn J. Ellis, University of South Australia 

Edition: Volume 53, Number 3, November 2013

Summary: Undergraduate students enrolled through two regional locations were surveyed on their experience of being university students in later life. Students aged 55 and over were invited to complete an anonymous online questionnaire. This collected demographic information, and sought, through open-ended questions, information on their study motivations and university experience. Participants had the opportunity to describe the highlights and challenges of their study experience, including any needs for additional support and facilities. They were also asked to identify the contributions made possible by their greater life experience, and to comment on their relationship with academic and administrative staff and other students.

Most respondents (70%) aimed to use their new knowledge, skills, and targetted qualification in a vocational context; self actualisation goals also played a part for some. They reported generally relating well to others at university. Challenges arose from conflicting priorities and some technological issues. Their accumulated experiences helped them contribute significantly to class discussions as they understood the context for the theory they were learning.

Keywords: lifelong learning, older learners, motivation, higher education, equity, diversity

 

 

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

 

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Considering the environment in social work education: Transformations for eco-social justice

Author: Peter Jones, School of Social Work and Community Welfare, James Cook University, Townsville

Edition: Volume 46, Number 3, November 2006

Summary: Addressing the global environmental crisis will require both personal and social transformation. Adult environmental education will clearly play an important role in such transformative processes, but needs to broaden its target audience beyond those already involved in, or committed to, environmentalism to include other potential allies in this process. Social work is a profession characterised by philosophical and practical concerns with social justice and human rights. This paper argues that social workers also have an important, yet largely unexplored, role to play in environmental practice. To realise this potential, social work education needs to provide opportunities for the linking of conceptual and practical environmental issues to social work’s more traditional social justice concerns. This will involve the incorporation of forms of adult environmental education and ecological literacy into social work curricula. The author discusses how transformative learning approaches have been utilised in a subject on socio-environmentalism as part of a social work degree course.

Keywords: environmentalism, human rights, ecological literacy

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Alternative study modes in higher education: students’ expectations and preferences

Author: Robyn Benson, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University

Edition: Volume 46, Number 3, November 2006

Summary: Two features of the recent higher education environment, which have implications for university policies and practices, are the changing nature of the student population and the impact of alternative study modes, particularly as a result of developments in new learning technologies. Both of these features have implications for the characteristics of students as adult learners.This paper outlines an exploratory survey which was undertaken to investigate students’ preferred modes of study, including full and part-time, conventional and online, university-based and workplace-based, in order to inform university planning in this area. The study indicated that, although there was some willingness by students to engage with non-traditional options, particularly as experience of these options or of university life increased, the strongest preferences were for traditional study arrangements.  Many students were more interested in increasing the flexibility of their study through extended access to the campus and improved timetabling than through studying off-campus and/or online.

Keywords: study mode, technology

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Adult learning and recognition of prior learning: The “white elephant” in Australian universities

Author: Tricia A Fox, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology

Edition: Volume 45, Number 3, November 2005

Summary:  Adult learners are being attracted to university programs based on the granting of either academic credit or the recognition of prior learning (RPL). Typically, this attraction is being aligned to fast-tracking degree attainment or student cost effectiveness. It appears from the literature that there are varied interpretations and application of RPL within Australian universities. This can be problematic for adult learners with diverse experiences and expectations. Given the uniqueness of university learning, the future political changes to occur in Australian universities, and the problems with RPL that adult learners experience in university learning, it is timely for Australian universities to establish RPL practices that are transparent and consistent.

Keywords: RPL, university, adult learners

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The Workers’ Educational Association of Victoria and the University of Melbourne: A clash of purpose?

Author: Gordon Dadswell, School of Professional Development and Leadership, University of New England

Edition: Volume 45, Number 3, November 2005

Summary:  The paper challenges an argument made by Alf Wesson in 1972. His argument was that the failure of the University of Melbourne Extension Board to work effectively with the Worker’s Educational Association of Victoria was almost exclusively as a result of the poor management skills and personality of the Director of University Extension, Professor John Gunn. The paper argues that in fact it was the failure by four University of Melbourne inquiries to resolve a difficult situation. The lack of resolution was due to a complete misunderstanding by the University of the role of the Workers’ Educational Association

Keywords: Extension, director, inquiry

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The globalisation of thinking styles: East meets West or never the twain shall meet

Author: Francesco Sofa, University of Canberra

Edition: Volume 45, Number 3, November 2005

Summary:  The research examined how Chinese leaders view the thinking process, what thinking styles they value and how they prefer to think. The methodological framework used quantitative analyses of two thinking styles inventories. The survey included a sample of nearly 300 leaders from a wide representation of industry sectors across China who completed Sofo’s Thinking Style Inventory (TSI) (Sofo 2002). Additionally, 22 of these leaders completed three forms of thinking style (Sternberg 1997). Another sample of 172 non-education leaders’ thinking styles were compared with 48 educational leaders’ thinking styles using independent sample t-tests and supported by analysis of variance. The findings showed that Chinese leaders have strong preferences for ‘executive’, ‘judicial’ and ‘legislative’ styles of thinking as well as high preferences for independent and exploring styles. They reported moderate preferences for ‘inquiring’ and ‘creative’ styles and low preference for ‘conditional’ style, an indication that Chinese leaders may be at the forefront of change in an historically conditional China.

Keywords: China, Sofo, Chinese leaders, preference

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‘SERPS Up’: Support, Engagement and Retention of Postgraduate Students – a model of postgraduate support

Authors: Margaret Alston, Juliane Allan, Karen Bell, Andy Brown, Jane Dowling, Pat Hamilton, Jenny McKinnon, Noela McKinnon, Rol Mitchell, Kerri Whittenbury, Bruce Valentine, Alison Wicks, and Rachael Williams; Charles Sturt University

Edition: Volume 45, Number 2, July 2005

Summary:  The federal government’s 1999 White Paper Knowledge and Innovation: a policy statement on research and research training, notes concerns about retention and completion rates in doctoral studies programs in Australia. This paper outlines a model of higher education support developed at the Centre for Rural Social Research at Charles Sturt University. The postgraduate student body in the Centre represent the most vulnerable to attrition – mostly female and mature-aged, a majority studying at a distance and part-time, and most with family and work responsibilities. The program developed in the Centre – the SERPS model (Support, Engagement and Retention of Postgraduate Students) – has seen a significant  rise in the number of students studying through the Centre and significantly high retention and completion rates. This paper outlines the model as well as the results of an evaluation of the model conducted with students in the Centre. This paper indicates that retention (and ultimately completion) is linked to the vibrancy of the learning and social support networks established for the students and the creation of a collegial culture.

Keywords: White Paper, Knowledge, Innovation, research, doctoral, retention, completion

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Identifying and addressing the needs of adult students in higher education

Author: Karen L. Milheim, Doctoral Student, Penn State University, Harrisburg

Edition: Volume 45, Number 1, April 2005

Summary:  As the number of adult students enrolled within higher education programs increases, educational institutions must respond by addressing their needs on a continual basis. Adult learners possess a wide variety of characteristics which are not common to a traditional student, including personal life barriers, financial responsibilities and different learning styles. This article identifies some of these characteristics, and discusses ways for administrators and educators within higher education to address them in order to cultivate a positive learning experience for the adult student.

Keywords: adult student, learner, higher education, barrier,

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