Education Commons^™

Service Learning In The Digital Age: Understanding Nontraditional Students And Their Experiential Journey Through Electronic-Service Learning, Qianhui Hub

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Service learning (SL) is an experiential learning pedagogy that merges real-life community service activities with structured reflection. Electronic-Service Learning (e-SL) is a blended pedagogy that combines online education and SL. The pandemic has significantly prompted the evolution of SL toward e-SL. In planning pedagogy initiatives, educators must not overlook the changing demographics of their student bodies. Within higher education in the U.S., 75% of students have at least one nontraditional student characteristic. Yet, the perceptions and experiences of nontraditional students on e-SL are critically underexplored. Thus, this dissertation examined the potential and value of developing e-SL with particular attention to …

Constructing A Clear Definition Of Neotraditional Students And Illuminating Their Financial Aid, Academic, And Non-Academic Experiences And Outcomes In The 21st Century, Tuan D. Nguyen, Jenna W. Kramer

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Decades of research related to the experience of postsecondary students who are adults, work full-time, or have other life roles have not led to agreement in the field regarding who is a “nontraditional” college student. This study leverages nationally representative data to illuminate shifts in this student population in the 21^st century and builds a picture of their demographics, financial aid receipt, and academic experiences. Our results suggest that, in order to capture the diversity of the 21^st century students and ubiquity of students with multiple life roles, we need to carefully define this student population; the use …

Adult Learners And Credit For Prior Learning: Analytical Thinking And Motives, Carrie J. Boden, Catherine A. Cherrstrom, Todd Sherron

Adult Education Research Conference

This study examined 364 adult learners using linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC) of reflective writing assignments with implications for adult learners and educators and credit for prior learning (CPL).

Hispanic And Non-Hispanic Adult Learners: Analytical Thinking And Affiliation, Catherine A. Cherrstrom

Adult Education Research Conference

This study examined 364 Hispanic and non-Hispanic adult learners using linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC) of reflective writing assignments with implications for adult learners and educators.

An Autoethnograpy Of A Baby Boomer In Higher Education: Challenges And Catalysts For Change, Deborra Finlan

Theses & Dissertations

Higher education as a baby boomer brings mental, physical, and economic adjustments, concerns, and insecurities. Additionally, life delivers unexpected challenges and barriers which can cause hardships requiring various types of motivation. Fortunately, there are also catalysts which can contribute toward successes. Literature from four major elements were the focus in this study: motivation, adult learning, challenges, barriers, and catalysts. Theorists and theories included Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation with the added factor of cost, and Ryan and Deci’s theory on self-determination; Mezirow’s transformative learning and Knowles’s self-directed learning; Cross’s theory on educational barriers—situational, dispositional, and institutional; and Cobb’s social support …

Innovating For Student Success: A Course-Integrated Approach To Delivering Academic Skills And Competency Resources, Danielle Palombi

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) explores student academic support delivery in Burns College (a pseudonym), a large postsecondary institution in Central Canada. The Problem of Practice (PoP) addresses a gap in the consistent and equitable delivery of academic supports, and the increasing need to meet students within the classroom in their first year. The problem responds to nontraditional student needs, but the solution is meant to be beneficial for all students. Nontraditional students are the majority in higher education today, with competing responsibilities that impact their ability to access academic supports outside of the traditionally structured classroom. By integrating skills …

Toward An Invitational Andragogy: Articulating A Teaching Philosophy For The Andragogic Classroom, Whitney Tipton, Stephanie Wideman

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Students older than 25 years are a growing population on our campuses. However, separating these students and labeling them as “nontraditional” further isolates them from campuses that are already geared toward younger learners. This reflective essay explains the need for a philosophy of invitational andragogy—a classroom approach rooted in invitational rhetoric (S. Foss & Griffin, 1995) and Knowles’s assumptions about older learners (1980, 1984). While inviting transformation is important in all classrooms, it is especially important for older learners who often feel separated from the campus at large. To explain how an invitational approach to the andragogic classroom can be …

I'M Still Valid: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed-Methods Study Of Part-Time Phd Students' Motivation And Satisfaction., Heather A Turner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Doctoral attrition rates are consistently documented at approximately 50% in the United States, and attrition rates are typically higher for all students who pursue degrees on a part-time basis, regardless of degree level. Yet an increasing number of students are deciding to pursue research doctorates on a part-time basis. This growth in the part-time PhD student population requires an understanding of the factors that affect their persistence. I investigated part-time PhD student persistence through an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach to understanding the relationship between motivation and satisfaction through the lens of Self-Determination Theory. Findings suggest that part-time PhD students …

Perceptions Of Nontraditional Students Towards Extracurricular And Student Leadership Programming, Allison V. Niemiec

Theses and Dissertations

Nontraditional student populations at higher education institutions have been continuously growing, which requires institutions to become better prepared to address their unique needs. The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed methods study was to explore the perceptions of nontraditional students towards extracurricular and student leadership programming at Rowan University. This research study involved a cross-sectional survey that identified characteristics of nontraditional students enrolled at Rowan University since at least the fall of 2019 and identified their satisfaction with and interest in extracurricular and leadership opportunities. Optional one on one interviews were administered to gain a better understanding of the survey …

Higher Education And Covid-19: Impact On Nontraditional Students Following A Traditional Path, R. Lauren Miller

All Theses, Dissertations, and Capstone Projects

This phenomenological research aimed to examine the impact that transitioning to online education in March of the Spring 2020 semester in response to COVID-19 had on nontraditional students. Students are considered nontraditional if they meet at least one of the following criteria: are at least 25 years old, attend school part-time, work full-time, are a veteran, have children, wait at least one year after high school before entering college, have a GED instead of a high school diploma, are a first-generation student (FGS), are enrolled in non-degree programs, or have reentered a college program (MacDonald, 2018). Nontraditional students hold multiple …

Reaching Out Handbook, Boise State University

Rebuilding the Launchpad: Serving Students During Covid Resource Library

The Reaching Out Handbook has been created for the purpose of providing you with information about Counseling Services, about other campus resources, and how to most effectively assist individuals in distress.

Our goal is to help you recognize some of the symptoms of individual distress, as well as provide some specific options for intervention and for referral to campus resources. We are available to assist you with problem situations and to consult with you on whether to intervene with a particular individual and when to refer.

Guidelines are offered but each individual will need to consider what is appropriate in …

#Realcollege During The Pandemic: New Evidence On Basic Needs Insecurity And Student Well-Being, Sara Goldrick-Rab, Vanessa Coca, Gregory Kienzl, Carrie R. Welton, Sonja Dahl, Sarah Magnelia, Sarah Magnelia

Rebuilding the Launchpad: Serving Students During Covid Resource Library

In March 2020, the coronavirus pandemic struck American higher education. Colleges closed campuses, students lost jobs, and emergency resources failed to meet the demands caused by the crisis. This report examines the pandemic’s impact on students, from their basic needs security to their well-being, as indicated by employment status, academic engagement, and mental health.

Exploring The Effects Of Pacing In Community College Courses, Robin Dillon Shepherd

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

For-profit colleges are threatening community college enrollments by recruiting low-income and minority students with the appeal of quick degree and certificate program completion rates. To remain competitive, community colleges are creating guided pathways for student success. A guided pathway is a clear road map to certificate or degree completion. Community colleges that offer guided pathways challenge students to choose an academic program in their first semester and no later than their second semester. Once students choose their academic program they begin taking specific classes in pursuit of certificate and degree completion, which offer students flexibility in format (face-to-face, hybrid, and …

Experiential Journey Of Females Who Enter Or Re-Enter College Later In Life To Degree Completion, Rita Audy Johnston

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Given the scope and paucity of knowledge about the lived experiences of the female adult student entering or re-entering college later in life to degree completion, this research study identified significant themes in their lived experiences. With an appreciative eye, this study captured the female adult students’ lived experiences conveyed in a rich, inter-connected, and inspiring picture of who they are embedded into the larger context of society; such as role identity theory, social identity theory and the applicability and interpretations of these two theories on their journey to degree completion. This study also portrayed selected aspects of the feminist …

Not Just A Watered-Down Version Of A Freshman Orientation, Emily Skibski

Honors Projects

I developed and piloted two 40 minute sessions for Bowling Green State University’s (BGSU) Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration (SOAR) Program, a one-day intesenive orientation program. After developing facilitation guides for these sessions, I trained a group of eight Orientation Leaders (OLs) to facilitate sessions for nontraditional and transfer students during SOAR, which occurred on January 8, 2016. Depending on how a student self-identified, the student attended among sessions for nontraditional, transfer, or traditional students. A facilitator’s guide for a session for traditional students was already developed and in use. The facilitation guides created for this honors project were designed …

Nontraditional Student Risk Factors And Gender As Predictors For Enrollment In College Distance Education, Tammy Crews Pao

Educational Studies Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine whether nontraditional student age, female gender, and the possession of nontraditional student risk factors predict enrollment in distance education college courses. This dissertation used data from the most recent National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:12), which consisted of approximately 95,000 undergraduate students who were enrolled in higher education in 2011-2012. The results of a logistic regression analysis indicated that both nontraditional student age and female gender were strong predictors of enrollment in distance education, whereas the number of nontraditional student risk indicators was a partial predictor. As leaders in higher education are …

Adult Learners In The Library–Are They Being Served?, Makiba Foster, Kristine Helbling

University Libraries Publications

Like many academic librarians, after completing the marathon of the traditional school year, we often use the summer semester to reflect, revise, and plan for the upcoming fall. In the summer of 2012, during a casual conversation in which we shared stories about rewarding reference interactions, we stumbled upon an “aha moment,” discovering an opportunity to connect targeted library outreach with an underserved user group. During this exchange, we realized how much we both enjoy working with adult learners and how they always seem genuinely interested in gaining skills to make themselves better library users, and therefore better students. This …

Inquiry-Based Teaching In The College Classroom: The Nontraditional Student, Daniel A. Kiernan

Theses and Dissertations

Decline in the economic realm often bolsters an increase of nontraditional student enrollments in colleges and universities (Windolf, 1992). Many of these students, who do not desire to major in some scientific area, find themselves struggling in required science courses. Over the last decade, science departments of higher education have been adjusting their curriculum to include inquiry in the college science classroom. Although inquiry-based teaching has been shown to be very academically positive in science classrooms from K-12, “at the college level the data are mixed as to whether increasing inquiry instruction can significantly change students’ learning or attitudes toward …

Human Kaleidoscopes: Cultivating Success In Non-Traditional Students, Carolyn Coles Benton

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Non-traditional students are a growing population in higher education, yet our understandings of the unique factors that predict their success have not increased. This narrative inquiry examines the lived experiences of high school dropouts entering the college arena as non-traditional students, attempting to improve their personal and academic lifestyles by acquiring a General Education Diploma (GED) in addition to obtaining an associate’s degree from a for-profit postsecondary educational institution. The purpose of this study is to better understand the lives and circumstances of students, leading up to their dropping out of high school. Participants’ reflections of their own college experiences, …

Being Nontraditional And Learning Online: Assessing The Psychosocial Learning Environments, Self-Efficacy, And Affective Outcomes Among College Student Groups, Roslyn La'toya Ashford

Dissertations

The study compared traditional and nontraditional students’ attitudes about the psychosocial learning environment and their influence on self-efficacy, enjoyment of online learning, and student satisfaction by using Moos’ (1979) Model of Environmental and Personal Variables and the three dimensions of social climate as its theoretical framework. Traditional and nontraditional students were selected based on known differences between their personal characteristics/traits. A total of 151 undergraduate students taking online classes at a university in the southeastern United States participated in the online quantitative pretest/posttest. The findings revealed that nontraditional students preferred less student interaction and collaboration and more asynchronicity than traditional …

Persisting To Graduation: A Grounded Theory Exploration Of Nontraditional Undergraduate Women's Enrollment, Danielle Ferioli Sulick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While women maintain a numerical majority in undergraduate college enrollments and degrees earned, they also represent the numerical majority among students over 29 years old, students of color, students who are in the lowest income category, students who are single parents, and students who attend college part-time (Peter & Horn, 2005; Planty, et al., 2008). The National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) has identified seven characteristics that place students at risk of not completing an undergraduate degree; (a) delayed enrollment between high school and college, (b) part-time enrollment, (c) financial independence, (d) students with dependents, (e) students who are single …

A Comparison Of Traditional And Nontraditional Students Attending Historically Black Or Predominantly White Institutions, Courtney H. Podesta

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Previous studies have demonstrated that there are benefits for some African American students in attending an Historically Black College or University (HBCU) over a Predominantly White Institution (PWI); however, studies have not considered how results might be impacted by student status, traditional vs. nontraditional, or the degree to which a student is considered to be nontraditional (minimally, moderately, or highly nontraditional). The current study addressed this gap in research by examining differences between the HBCU and PWI environments for 336 African American traditional and nontraditional students for the following variables: social support, academic self-concept, self-esteem, self-efficacy, role strain, ethnic identity, …

Academic Library Services For Users With Developmental Disabilities: Partnership Of Access And Syracuse University Libraries, Adina Mulliken, Ann Atkins

Publications and Research

Syracuse University Library and Access partnered to provide library orientations to six Syracuse University students who have developmental disabilities. Access is a service that supports college course attendance for students who have developmental or cognitive disabilities. Students with developmental disabilities are being included in college life more and more. As this occurs, academic libraries will be providing more services to this population. We hope Syracuse University’s experience will be useful for other libraries to build on as they develop services. Additionally, we discuss opportunities to improve services for all students by focusing on students with developmental disabilities.

"The Bravest Of The Brave": A Conversation With Mary Bitterman And James Narduzzi, Mary Bitterman, James L. Narduzzi

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Mary Bitterman, former President and CEO of The James Irvine Foundation, is President of The Bernard Osher Foundation and Immediate Past Chairman of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). James Narduzzi is Dean of the University of Richmond's School of Continuing Studies. The following discussion is based on Dr. Bitterman's 2008 commencement address to graduates of the University of Richmond's School of Continuing Studies.

Understanding And Responding To The Needs Of Nontraditional College Students, Joyce Hickson

Perspectives In Learning

The statistical profile of today’s American college student indicates that this sector is overwhelmingly “nontraditional”. The nontraditional student possesses at least one or more of the following characteristics: married; a parent; 25 years or older; returning to college after having been out of school for a number of years; financially independent from parents; attending school on a part-time basis (U. S. Department of Education, 2002). According to the Columbus State University Fall, 2002 Enrollment Report (Wallman, 2002) the average age of undergraduate students is 25 years, while the graduate student mean age is 37 years. Additionally, large numbers of CSU …

The Express: November 2, 2001, Taylor University

2001-2002 (Volume 6)

Administration, students look into Internet options — TUFW community debates evening classes — TUFW disaster policy to be updated — Why Fall Break is a source of human insanity — A thousand steps from campus — And we have a winner — The music major’s reborn melody — A closet full of hats — Let’s meet a TUFW athlete — Men’s basketball jumps into action — Sports briefs — Lady Falcons look to follow-up successful season

Graduate Retention: An Investigation Of Factors Relating To Older Female Graduate Students, Linda Serra Hagedorn

Linda Serra Hagedorn

While admissions at the undergraduate level are experiencing a surge of students over 30 years of age, the pool of traditionally aged students is declining. These phenomena indicate that older (over age 30) students will also be enrolling in graduate programs in increasing numbers. This paper addresses the issue of retention as it pertains to older female graduate students. Data are examined from a fall 1991 survey and its 1992 followup at a large Midwestern research university. The study evaluated such potential obstacles to female graduation as concern family issues, relationships with faculty and fellow students, difficulty of the coursework, …

The Gem 1922, Taylor University

Yearbooks (1898-Present)

The 1922 yearbook of Taylor University in Upland, Indiana.

Dedicated to Monroe Vayhinger