Number Of Mature Students Research Articles

Incremental Learning in a Capstone Project

Organizations are moving away from rigid planning to a more incremental style of planning and execution in projects. There is a growing acceptance of the effectiveness of incremental change, both in industry projects and in student projects, as a development method and as a learning approach. This, though, may not bring a universal benefit to all students. As enrolments in information systems degrees decrease, an increase in the number of mature students has the potential to counter this decrease in enrolments, but mature students need a different learning and teaching approach. This paper examines the impact of the adoption of an incremental, or iterative, approach in a capstone project for mature students. In the same way that there is not a single type of mature student, there also is no common set of impacts on mature students through the use of an incremental approach to learning and development.

Mature Students Matter: The Impact of the Research Development Fellowship in Accessing Art and Design Education

In the United Kingdom, the number of mature students studying in higher education is diminishing. This is also the case within the subject of art and design. This article reports on a project “Mature Students Matter,” a study that aims to widen participation in art and design education within a small specialist university. The approach was developed from a Research Development Fellowship, which provided a model for the project. A case study is used as a method of inquiry through which the project is described and evaluated using a form of narrative inquiry. The study found that the principles of Joint Practice Development (JPD) underpinning the design and development of the project enabled practitioners from different parts of the university to work together and to share similar aims, objectives and values in their research. Drawing some tentative conclusions, the project also found that the wider institutional context was important in the success of the project.

Higher education dropout of non-traditional mature freshmen: the role of sociodemographic characteristics

ABSTRACT This paper examines the role of sociodemographic characteristics on non-traditional mature freshmen higher education dropout rates. One of Chile’s largest higher education institutions, which has an important number of mature students from more deprived social sectors, was used as a case study. A quantitative methodology was applied, based on the estimation of logistic regression models, where freshmen dropout rates were defined as the dependent variable and three types of independent variable were considered: family/demographic conditions, socio-economic situation and institutional structures. The results indicate that students who are parents, have a job, are not the heads of their households, are enrolled in longer programmes and who attended adult high school are more likely to drop out of higher education during their first year of study. Suggestions for institutional practices to better integrate mature students into higher education are discussed.

The Adult Learner: From a Narrative Perspective

Each year there seems to be an increase in the number of mature students enrolled in my Bachelor of Education (BEd) classes. These mature learners experience stress. As there is a need to better comprehend the experiences of the adult learner enrolled in a one-year intensive tertiary education programme, I enrolled in university as a student, and kept a journal as a Narrative research source. I experienced insecurity, loneliness, excitement, a sense of selfishness; I questioned what I was doing, learned a new language, and became an explorer. I became a better teacher because of this experience.

Enhancing employability for LLB law graduates – initiatives with ILEX and Clinic at London South Bank University

This paper describes two new initiatives at London South Bank University designed to enhance employability for LLB law graduates. It introduces LSBU and its student profile by drawing upon recent empirical research which illustrates “the particular and unusual position of LSBU as an inner London former polytechnic situated in an unfashionable though extremely convenient location, with large numbers of mature students, where ethnic minorities constitute the majority”.1 It outlines a conception of employability and legal qualification beyond the narrow emphasis of the traditional route to qualification as a solicitor and explains how LSBU has embedded the ILEX Graduate Fast-Track Diploma in its LLB and has been awarded a Teaching Development Grant to develop teaching and learning resources for a triage-based model of clinical legal education.

The effective use of e-learning in postgraduate health-care students

Recent trends show increasing numbers of mature students in health care reflecting the growing importance of lifelong learning and continuing professional development (CPD) within health and social care. This article reports an evaluation of effective use of e-learning, defined as any learning that uses information and communication technology. This was used in a small cohort of multidisciplinary postgraduate health students over a period of two successive years. Evaluation carried out by questionnaire, informal feedback from students and electronically recorded activity statistics led to the conclusion that mature health-care students find it difficult to adapt to and use the facilities of e-learning. A purposeful approach is suggested in planning integration of e-learning facilities into traditional study and to establish a common level of skills in order to enable all students to use e-learning in furthering their professional development.

The effects of increasing numbers of mature students on the pedagogical practices of lecturers in the institutes of technology

This article is concerned with the effects that growing numbers of mature students have on the pedagogical practices of lecturing staff in the Institutes of Technology in Ireland. It is predicted by the Commission on the Points System and Mature Students that mature student enrolment may reach 15% by 2006, increasing to 25% by 2015. Lecturers in the institutes have primarily designed courses, employed teaching approaches, strategies and methods of assessment for a student who is 18 years of age and has just completed the Leaving Certificate. Mature students do not fall within these parameters, and have approaches to learning and pedagogical needs that are quite distinct from the mainstream student. It is important that the needs of this cohort of students are recognised. A small survey of lecturers from various Institutes of Technology, using semi-structured interviews, was undertaken to ascertain the level of understanding and insight they have towards mature students and how their pedagogical approach may have been extended to include both the mature and mainstream students within the learning environment. While respondents revealed a high level of awareness towards the needs of adult learners, reflecting many of the theories and approaches expounded by educational theorists, it was found that incorporating growing numbers of mature students into mainstream classes presents many unprecedented challenges for which little or no provision has been made in terms of staff development.

Field Instruction and the Mature Student

As increasing numbers of mature students enter schools of social work, it is a challenge and an obligation for field instructors to discover ways to recruit and sustain them in the educational endeavor. Building upon three theoretical perspectives-Freire's pedagogy of the oppressed, Knowles's andragogy, and Schon's reflective learning and teaching, this paper highlights ways in which field instructors can build upon the strengths of mature students to enhance their development as professional social workers. It discusses “parallel process”, “learning styles”, and “contracting” as proactive strategies to fully engage mature students in attaining a graduate degree.

Credible or Tentative? A Model of Open University Students with ‘Low’ Educational Qualifications

Changes in higher education have meant that institutions are attracting increasing numbers of mature students, who have diverse social and educational backgrounds and may lack conventional A Level (higher secondary school) qualifications. The present study by Dr. Shelley McAlister, an Open University Social Science Associate Lecturer, concerns a group of mature students at the Open University who entered Level 1 Foundation courses in Technology and Social Science without having A Level qualifications. Although they were all categorised as having ‘low’ educational qualifications, they had a range of educational skills and experiences which meant that they perceived their experience of university study in very different ways. Using a social cognitive framework Dr. McAlister has developed a model of Credible and Tentative students which does not predict drop out, but which focuses on the complex interplay between psychological, social and institutional issues which affected their study.

Mature Students in Physiotherapy Undergraduate Education

Summary Current demographic changes with a predicted drop by one-third of 16 to 19–year-olds by 1994 means increased competition for school leavers within higher education. One response to these changes is an increased interest by these establishments in those groups who do not traditionally enter higher education. Mature students are such a group. The implications of attracting mature students to any courses are far-reaching. The issues addressed by this study are recruitment, admission and access to courses, the particular needs of mature students, and their performance in comparison with other students. The position of physiotherapy education is examined. An analysis is made of all applicants to physiotherapy courses in 1987 by age, sex and qualification. The application of chi-squared tests shows two groups to be disadvantaged – men of school leaving age and non-standard applicants. A questionnaire, administered to two schools of physiotherapy, reveals that mature students, like their younger colleagues, are a diverse group with a variety of problems and needs. Recommendations are made to facilitate an increase in numbers of mature students on physiotherapy courses.