The Nontraditional Student
International Doctoral Education : Exploring Students’ Lived Experiences and Complexities in Navigating their Research Journeys
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Annabella Fung
This research springs from an initial investigation of the first international higher-research forum in 2015 between two education faculties at Monash University in Australia and the University of Hong Kong. Unlike the prior published study from this project which focused on an older local and international student cohort (aged 35-60, Fung, Siu & Southcott, 2017), this pilot study explored a younger cohort of doctoral students (aged 25-45). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to explore participants’ self-reported experiences concerning the motivations and challenges of mature-aged doctoral students. The findings have significant implications for global doctoral program development, funding and admission policies, scope and quality of educational offerings, international exchange forum organizations, academic enhancement and cross-border research collaboration. It is recommended that mature students require greater emotional support in addition to financial sponsorships in terms of scholarships and stipends. Offering postgraduate research students part-time positions at their home institutions could foster their capacity building and enable early socialisation and successful transition into academia.
Designing Instruction with a Heart: Integrating Affective Learning for Adult Online Learners
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Leni Casimiro
Innovations, rising expectations, and instability in the workplace has drove many adult workers to go back to school in hopes of strengthening their value in the market. This fueled the growth of online learning as the so-called “non-traditional” learners juggle work and study. The distance factor, however, in this modality brings a heavy toll on the affective side of learning. How can feelings and emotions be engaged in a web-based class? At a time when austerity and turbulence are commonplace, education must go beyond head knowledge (intelligence quotient) but, rather, touch the heart of students (emotional quotient). This brings affective learning to the fore of the educative process. This study is an attempt to answer the question, How can affective learning be integrated in online instructional design in ways that engage adult students’ affect and maximize engagement and achievement? To answer this question, six fully online graduate-level classes were subjected to documentary analysis to determine affective learning integration, discourse analysis of online discussion forums, examination of learning analytics of students’ class performance, end-of-course survey, and follow-up interviews of randomly selected students. Results reveal different strategies that support affective learning in three areas—content, course, and program or school level. Results were of value to teachers in adult education, instructional designers, and school administrators who want to ensure that learning is not just for head but also for heart knowledge. Recommendations for further research focus mainly on an expanded measure of affective learning for adult learners.
Language Literacy and Critical Literacy in Greek Second Chance Schools
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Labrina Gioti, Manolia Lebidaki
In this paper we present the findings of a qualitative research concerning the philosophy, the process and the implementation of adult literacy in the Second Chance Schools in Greece which were established in the late ‘90s. SCSs adopt the principle of multiliteracies and critical literacies in order to fight social exclusion. Through the findings, what are confirmed to a large extent are the implementation of the premises and the guidelines of Curriculum Specifications (CS). Thus a more animating role of the educator prevails, as well as the content’s adaption to the needs and interests of the learners, along with practices based on dialogue and communication, participation and collaboration. Finally, the aim is not only the language development of the learners, but also their personal emancipation and social empowerment which are identified with the principles of a humanistic-progressive perspective for personal development and adaption to the given social reality.
