ERIC Number: EJ783570
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Feb
Pages: 13
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0309-877X
EISSN: N/A
Context and Identity: Exploring Adult Learners' Experiences of Higher Education
Askham, Phil
Journal of Further and Higher Education, v32 n1 p85-97 Feb 2008
This article examines a longitudinal case study exploring the experience of a cohort of part-time, adult, work-based learners, mostly experiencing higher education for the first time. A wide range of instruments, including diaries and interviews, were used to collect data to explore, in some depth, the nature of the learning experience. Data analysis was undertaken using a matrix framework focusing on the positive and negative dimensions of the experience using the twin perspectives of learning context and individual identity. The study is shown to be part of a longer action research cycle. The study identified tensions between individual anticipation and anxiety and an institutional tension between positive conceptualisations of a supportive learning community contrasted with manifestations of higher education as an alien environment that actually hampers learning. The research was driven by the need to explore the development of a support infrastructure that addresses student needs. At one level the purpose of the research was to develop the course with a view to continuous improvement of the student learning experience. However, at the same time the research underlines the power of action research as a means of improving practice by formalising tacit reflection on learning and teaching and how this benefits both tutors and students by improving engagement and awareness of the learning process. (Contains 4 figures and 2 tables.)
Descriptors: Student Needs, Higher Education, Action Research, Adult Basic Education, Adult Learning, Adult Students, Data Analysis, Learning Experience, Longitudinal Studies, Undergraduate Study, Context Effect, Courses, Research Methodology, Academic Achievement, Part Time Students, Distance Education, Interviews
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/default.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Education; Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A