Evidence indicates that non-traditional adult returners describe returning to education as a period of self-development and growth. However, lifespan psychology perspectives also show that successful growth and change involves periods of conflict. This paper will explore both the nature of self-development and conflicts experienced by a sample of…

The participation of people from ethnic minorities in UK higher education is greater than that of White people. Nevertheless, students from ethnic minorities are less likely to obtain "good" degrees (those awarded with first or upper second-class honours) than are White students. This article discusses some possible causes and implications of this…

Non-traditional students are increasingly making up a larger part of the student body and can include students from various groupings, for example, differentiated by ethnicity, socio-economic class (SEC), disability, residential location or age. The aim of this initial exploratory study was to investigate whether and how the motivations, identity…

While there are a number of technologies that have been used, with varying levels of success, to support visually impaired students, the purpose of this article is to reflect upon the authors' experiences of supporting a visually impaired student through a nine-month level two undergraduate biological psychology module. The authors developed a…

In this contribution to the Widening Participation Special Issue of Psychology Teaching Review we consider our experiences in education as people who can't spell using an auto-ethnographic methodology (Sparkes, 2007), specifically, evocative auto-ethnography (Anderson, 2006) and guided by a social constructionist approach to identity (Burr, 1995).…

The work of the Open University is situated historically in widening participation, both through its open access policy and the modular structure of the qualifications if offers. The process by which the Open University produces more British Psychological Society accredited graduates with GBC than any other HEI, and the contribution of…

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with teaching staff and students associated with a longstanding Certificate of Higher Education in Psychology course. Participants were invited to give their views upon why a declining number of people from "wider participation" or "socially disadvantaged" backgrounds come forward to register and seek a…

This article presents the author's suggestions on how to improve thesis abstracts. The author describes two books on writing abstracts: (1) "Creating Effective Conference Abstracts and Posters in Biomedicine: 500 tips for Success" (Fraser, Fuller & Hutber, 2009), a compendium of clear advice--a must book to have in one's hand as one prepares a…

This three-year longitudinal study explored the approach to study and academic performance of a group of male psychology undergraduates. In induction week, 112 new psychology students completed the survey. Later in the year, some of the males were interviewed in small groups. Performance was measured from marks at the end of Years 1 and 3. In Year…

The aim of this study was to examine an expanded integrative hierarchical model of test emotions and achievement goal orientations in predicting the examination performance of undergraduate students. Achievement goals were theorised as mediating the relationship between test emotions and performance. 120 undergraduate students completed…

Using published findings and by further analyses of existing data, the structure, validity and utility of the Academic Behavioural Confidence scale (ABC) is critically considered. Validity is primarily assessed through the scale's relationship with other existing scales as well as by looking for predicted differences. The utility of the ABC scale…

The influence of birth order on personality and sibling rivalry is controversial; little research has been conducted into academic sibling rivalry, and none into the connection with personality traits. This study considers the interaction of all three factors. Firstborns (N=22) and lastborns (N=24) completed online personality tests and an…

John Radford's original article (Radford, 2008a) asked some hard questions about the content and purpose of a degree in psychology. The original article prompted a number of replies and a rejoinder from Radford (2008b). In the spirit of carrying on the discussion started by Radford and others, this article offers two personal perspectives on our…

Prenskey (2005) asserted that a major problem within education is not that the information being taught lacks "relevance" to students lives, but that there is a lack of engagement with educational tasks. When attempting to engage classes, tutors are aiming to draw students into learning activities--to involve them--and thus promote active learning…

According to Lusted (1986:3) pedagogy is "...the transformation of consciousness that takes place in three agencies--the teacher, the learner and the knowledge they together produce". Surely, that is what we, as educators, are aiming for? Raymie McKerrow (1989, p. 91) states that critical rhetoric serves to "de-mystify and connect" individuals…