Browsing by Subject "Adult college students"
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Item Factors Associated With Persistence of Adult Students Attending a Community College(Texas Tech University, 1995-08) Wade, Margaret GastonStudent retention is a critical issue. Using the retention model of Bean and Metzner (1985), the main problem of this study was to determine at Midland College which variables best described the differences between adult students (25 years and older) who persisted from Fall 1994 to Spring 1995 semesters and those who did not persist. This study had three purposes. The first purpose was to determine the differences between those adult students who persisted from Fall 1994 to Spring 1995 semesters and those adult students who did not persist from Fall 1994 to Spring 1995 semesters. The second purpose was to formulate an equation to assist community college educators in predicting the individual success of entering adult students. A third purpose was to make program recommendations to aid in the retention of adults. The methodology included the development and distribution of two questionnaires. The first questionnaire was distributed the fourth week of classes, the second one on the twelfth week. Information was also gathered on each student from the registrar. A total of 523 out of 1,702 students over the age of 25 completed both questionnaires for a usable response rate of 31%. Discriminant analysis was the statistical method used to answer the eight research questions, to test the 53 hypotheses, and to fulfill the purposes of this study. Discriminant analysis enabled the researcher to describe the differences between persisters and nonpersisters and to formulate an equation to predict student group membership. The major findings of the study were as follows. In describing the differences between the two groups of students, 15 of 52 variables proved to be significant. In formulating the equation to predict group membership, 19 of the 52 variables were found to be significant. The prediction equation formulated was found to predict group membership correctly in 79% of all cases. Based on chance, group membership would have been correctly identified only 57% of the time. Policy and procedure recommendations were made based on these findings. The researcher concluded that commitment to an educational goal seemed to be the overriding characteristic that distinguished persisters from nonpersisters.Item The lived experience of attending college as an older adult: the phenomenological perspective of students age 60 and older(Texas Tech University, 1999-12) Bratrud, Shirley AnnThe purpose of this study was to investigate the meaning of attending college or university courses for academic credit as an older adult student from the interrelational and perspectival nature of the participant. The problem, from a phenomenological perspective, was the need to explore what it is like to be an older adult student. The question that guided this study was: What is the meaning of being an older adult student in an educational environment which has been traditionally focused on the needs of younger students'i' Educational gerontology and phenomenology provided the theoretical foundation for this inquiry. Following the work of Van Manen, this study used a phenomenological approach to gather and collect data In-depth conversational interviews were conducted with 13 purposely-selected older adult students, age 60 and older, enrolled in higher education programs in Minnesota and Texas Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. Experiential descriptions were also collected in the format of protocol writings. As the researcher, I investigated other sources know to yield significant interpretive understanding such as poetry, literature, and students' creative work. Thematic analysis and phenomenological writing were guided by Van Manen's hermeneutical approach to doing phenomenology. Four major themes and 12 sub-themes representing meaningfial expressions of the lived experience of being an older adult student were identified "Autonomous Participation," "Tenacious Sensibilities," "Enhanced Self," and "Aging with Integrity" emerged as essential themes. Older adults participate in higher education programs with a sense of autonomy, solitariness, and perseverance. Interviewees described inharmonious impressions, intrinsic pleasurability, and referential expressions associated with the learning experience From their lived-experience descriptions emerged delineative subthemes related to informed citizenship, individuality and identity, and creativity. Older adult students shared a healthfiil perspective about growing older. The lived experience of being an older adult student contributes to interpersonal enrichment and intergenerational symbiosis. This study revealed new understandings about the lifeworld of older adult students These findings provide a basis for policy and practice recommendations for higher education faculty, administrators, policymakers, and student support services suggestions for further research are discussed Understanding the special needs of older aduh learners may indeed warrant a new field of geriagogy—the art and science of teaching adults age 60 and older.