Mature and younger students' reasons for making the transition from further education into higher education

McCune, Velda; Hounsell, Jenny; Christie, Hazel; Cree, Viviene E.; Tett, Lyn

doi:10.1080/13562517.2010.507303

Cited by 55 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…It also creates possibilities for supportive attention to how students' learning histories may shape their capacity to engage with the challenges presented by disturbance of their world views. Research with mature students from under-represented groups, for example, shows how their learning histories bring both particular forms of resilience and strong engagement with learning acting in interplay with experiences of fragility which mean that the balance between support and challenge is highly significant (Gallacher et al, 2002;McCune et al, 2010).…”

Section: Curricula Of Dualitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Close attention to how students' past histories shape their imagined future trajectories is required here if students' projects of selfmaking are to be genuinely enabled. Mature students, for example, can have a particularly rich understanding of the meaning and relevance of their future studies which is grounded in their perspectives on how their current studies relate to their past and present work roles and the future trajectories which have been imagined based on these past experiences (McCune et al, 2010). Enabling teaching thus needs to support students to find a cultural 'tool-kit' which is meaningful in relation to their past histories and guide students to make connections between novel mediational means and their prior experience.…”

Section: Shaping / Enablingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Facing an uncertain future: curricula of dualities

Anderson

McCune

2013

The Curriculum Journal

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This article considers how best to conceptualise higher education curricula in a world marked by uncertainty, where knowledge and the foundations of knowledge are strongly contested. We then draw on conceptions of agency that derive from socio-cultural theorising to consider what 'tools' for thinking and practising individuals may need to deploy if they are to engage with a fast-changing world. The article highlights the large challenges that students may face in developing the forms of being and the orientations to knowledge associated with an age of supercomplexity. The concluding section, Curricula of dualities, addresses the question of how best to achieve curricula and pedagogic practices in higher education that may enable students to embark on an open-ended journey from their present ways of knowing and being. We contend that curricula for an age of uncertainty can be productively conceptualised in terms of pairs of contrasting elements that are in creative tension, e.g. play and discipline, support and challenge.Conceptualising curricula in such a way allows students' present circumstances and orientations and their possible futures to stay in central focus.

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Section: Curricula Of Dualitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Shaping / Enablingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facing an uncertain future: curricula of dualities

Anderson

McCune

2013

The Curriculum Journal

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“…This employability is seen as a component of graduateness-yet another demand which educational institutions must meet Yorke, 2003, 2004;Bridgstock, 2009;Altbeker and Storme, 2013). Efforts to increase employability are enjoying global attention in education with specific emphasis on transferrable skills in addition to knowledge and field-specific skills (McCune et al, 2010;Archer and Chetty, 2013;Sawahel, 2014).…”

Section: Accountabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Assessment Purpose Triangle: Balancing the Purposes of Educational Assessment

Archer

2017

Front. Educ.

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This article introduces the concept of the assessment purposes triangle to illustrate the balancing of purposes that needs to be considered in assessment for educational quality. The triangle is a visual aid for stakeholders making value judgments about equitable resource allocation in an environment of scarcity. This article argues that each of the three basic purposes of assessment, assessment to support learning; assessment for accountability; assessment for certification, progress, and transfer need to enjoy appropriate attention to support quality education. Accountability and certification, progress, and transfer are inherently high stakes due to systemic pressures such as institutional funding, accreditation with various bodies, legislative requirements, national and international competition, and public and media pressure. It is thus likely that resources will be diverted to these purposes from the lower stakes assessment to support learning. This article illustrates the inherent dangers of over-emphasizing certain purposes to the detriment of others in any educational system. It also discusses the power inherent in assessment and argues for a harnessing of this power for quality education through catering for the three basic assessment purposes in an equitable manner. All actors in an educational system should be cognizant of the goals of the education system as a whole when developing and engaging with assessment. This article provides a conceptual tool for stakeholders in educational assessment to engage with these goals when considering the allocation of appropriate resources to each of the assessment purposes.

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“…A number of studies conducted over thirty years have reported that older students in general often have more of a deep learning approach than younger students (Richardson, 2013 provides a review), but men may have higher extrinsic and lower intrinsic motivation than women (Severiens & Ten Dam, 1994). Older women can also provide more intrinsic motivations for study (McCune et al, 2010). Recent research has linked these factors, finding that older female students more often have a deep learning approach than younger females or men of any age (Rubin, Scevak et al, 2016).…”

Section: Impact Of Gendermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A recent study here found mature female students had greater satisfaction with regard to their studies than younger females or male students, and demonstrated more of a deep learning approach (Rubin, Scevak et al, 2016b). Studies in the UK have shown working class, mature female students to be motivated more by a passion for learning than for instrumental purposes (McCune, Hounsell, Christie, Cree & Tett, 2010;Reay, 2003). As well as negotiating the unfamiliar field of HE they may face greater challenges related to familial responsibilities than some other equity groups according to Australian researchers (Stone & O'Shea, 2013), though research from NZ shows that improving their children's lives can also provide motivation for mothers (Longhurst et al, 2012).…”

Section: Influences Of Gender and Maturitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Narratives from non-traditional students in higher education

Macqueen¹

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This study examines the experiences of non-traditional university students in higher education. Recommendations from the Review of Australian Higher Education (Bradley, Noonan, Nugent & Scales, 2008) have seen universities aiming to increase enrolments of school leavers, particularly those from low socioeconomic status backgrounds. Similar trends have occurred in other countries such as the United Kingdom, with mixed success.In addition to students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, non-traditional students include those who are mature-age, have low achievement at secondary school, are from Indigenous or Torres Strait Islander backgrounds (in Australia), belong to minority ethnic groups, or come from rural or remote areas. Despite widening participation initiatives, enrolments of students from less advantaged groups have remained largely static in recent decades, both in Australia and elsewhere.Research has shown that students attracted to university in the context of widening participation policies are clustered in some particular institutions, based on location, admission requirements and the extent to which the institution itself genuinely participates in the policy initiative. Likewise, such students are more likely to enrol in some degrees than others. They are likely to be the first generation from their family to attend university.Students from less advantaged groups also experience higher education differently from their more advantaged peers, and face additional challenges. There are exceptions, with some non-traditional students succeeding in HE, but little is known about the factors which facilitate such success.This thesis presents a longitudinal study which combines a Bourdieuian theoretical framework with a narrative methodology. Non-traditional students with a range of background variables were followed into, through and sometimes beyond their enrolment

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Mature and younger students' reasons for making the transition from further education into higher education

Cited by 55 publications

References 17 publications

Facing an uncertain future: curricula of dualities

Facing an uncertain future: curricula of dualities

The Assessment Purpose Triangle: Balancing the Purposes of Educational Assessment

Narratives from non-traditional students in higher education

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