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Full-Text Articles in Education

"I Generally Say I Am A Mum First . . . But I'M Studying At Uni": The Narratives Of First-In-Family, Female Caregivers Transitioning Into An Australian University, Sarah Elizabeth O'Shea Oct 2016

"I Generally Say I Am A Mum First . . . But I'M Studying At Uni": The Narratives Of First-In-Family, Female Caregivers Transitioning Into An Australian University, Sarah Elizabeth O'Shea

Professor Sarah O' Shea

The university student experience is both evolving and diverse. Increasing numbers of older students are accessing universities worldwide, and also access for student equity groups is a key policy driver in countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, and others. However, among this change and flux, how individuals manage their transition into this environment with reference to new and existing identities is worthy of further exploration. This article draws on 2 separate but complementary Australian research projects that explored the experiences of students who had all commenced university after a significant gap in learning. The participants that feature …


"I 'Feel' Like I Am At University Even Though I Am Online." Exploring How Students Narrate Their Engagement With Higher Education Institutions In An Online Learning Environment, Sarah Elizabeth O'Shea, Cathy Stone, Janine Delahunty Oct 2016

"I 'Feel' Like I Am At University Even Though I Am Online." Exploring How Students Narrate Their Engagement With Higher Education Institutions In An Online Learning Environment, Sarah Elizabeth O'Shea, Cathy Stone, Janine Delahunty

Professor Sarah O' Shea

This article outlines a collaborative study between higher education institutions in Australia, which qualitatively explored the online learning experience for undergraduate and postgraduate students. The project adopted a narrative inquiry approach and encouraged students to story their experiences of this virtual environment, providing a snapshot of how learning is experienced by those undertaking online studies. The study explores what impacted upon students' engagement in this environment and how different facets of their learning experience made a qualitative difference to how individuals enacted engagement. Drawing upon Sharon Pittaway's engagement framework, the article seeks to foreground student voice as the learners define …


'University Wasn't Spoken About At Home, It Was Just Assumed That We Would Start Working…': First-In-Family Students, Family Capital And Higher Education Participation, Sarah Elizabeth O'Shea Oct 2016

'University Wasn't Spoken About At Home, It Was Just Assumed That We Would Start Working…': First-In-Family Students, Family Capital And Higher Education Participation, Sarah Elizabeth O'Shea

Professor Sarah O' Shea

The increases in the number of students attending higher education, particularly those who are the first in their immediate family to attend university provided the impetus for the study outlined in this article. Whilst previous research has explored the qualitative experience of being a first in family student, very few studies have explicitly focussed on how attending university interacts and impacts upon the immediate family of the learner. Drawing upon in-depth semi-structured interviews, this article will detail the findings from a small-scale study conducted in an Australian university that explored the interaction of the family home place and students' enactment …