Category: Research report

Posted on

Tertiary study: Barriers and benefits for health and human services professionals

Author: Amy Gibbons, University of Tasmania

Edition: Volume 53, Number 3, November 2013

Summary:   Results from two 2012 surveys exploring the barriers and benefits of tertiary study for staff within the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services suggest that encouraging staff engagement with further study benefits both the individual and the organisation. Respondents reported improved job performance, increased self-esteem and motivation to learn. Barriers associated with limited time and competing demands impacted on staff ability to access information about study options. In this context, workplace and management support for study was identified as a crucial enabler. The investigative process of this study has been made explicit in order to encourage replication by other researchers. This mixed-methods research was informed by the ‘three capitals’ approach in order to examine the personal, social and economic benefits of learning. The relative weakness of benefits associated with social capital in the results reflects the experience of these part-time mature-age students employed in a professionally demanding sector.

Keywords: adult learners, three capitals, tertiary study, health and human services,Tasmania

 

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

Posted on

Literacy strategies used by adults with intellectual disability in negotiating their everyday community environments

Authors: Michelle F. Morgan, Karen B. Moni and Monica Cuskelly; University of Queensland

Edition: Volume 53, Number 3, November 2013

Summary:    This paper presents the findings from one part of a participatory research investigation about the literacy strategies used by three young adults with intellectual disability in their everyday community environments. Using data collected through video recording, prompting and think-alouds, information was collected about the range of literacy events that the research partners engaged with and the strategies that they used to negotiate these events. Findings revealed that these young adults engage in literacy in their everyday lives using literacy strategies that are multiple and varied and which draw on learned school-based and context specific strategies. Visual texts enabled more effective construction of meaning. Multiple context specific examples are provided to create a snapshot of how these young adults use literacy in their everyday community environments that broadens our knowledge and understanding of the types of literacy events and strategies that they engage with.

Keywords: literacy, intellectual disability, community, strategies

 

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

Posted on

Learning a new lifestyle

Author: Christina Kargillis, University of Technology Sydney & Flinders University.

Edition: Volume 53, Number 3, November 2013

Summary:  This paper explores the role of innovation in overcoming the challenges and negotiations within the ‘lifestyle migration’ or sea/tree change of working people, to places rich in nature but ‘lean’ in industry. It focusses on how they overcome primarily economic challenges in the process of negotiating a new life. The paper is founded upon a qualitative study in conjunction with relevant literature and theoretical analysis. Participants stemmed from diverse socio-economic positions and represented both the coastal and hinterland townships within the study site. The study stems from the need to understand the difficulties within the lifestyle migration phenomenon, where anecdotally approximately two thirds of working aged migrants within the study site ‘fail’ to sustain their relocation for at least five years. This paper attempts to expose how the minority of those who attempt the transition have managed to survive. The research employs a unique approach in exploring the relationship between adult education theories of reflexive identity and innovation, as well as educational perspectives of self-efficacy and emotional intelligence. The paper suggests that reflexivity with external factors positions the process of seachange among working people as a creative act where lifestyle migrants need to demonstrate creativity in order to survive.

Keywords: innovation, lifestyle migration, identity, regional Australia

 

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

Posted on

Ready for action and civic engagement: Resilient third age women learners in rural Australia

Author: Glenna Lear, University of South Australia

Edition: Volume 53, Number 3, November 2013

Summary: This paper discusses the power of local and experiential knowledge, civic engagement and social transformation on rural third age women’s learning. My passion for learning reflects the methodological stance of heuristic inquiry, which requires the researcher to have a passionate interest in the phenomena under investigation and in this case, includes my tacit knowledge as a third age learner, a former farming partner and a long term resident of the region. Our two informal conversations about their midlife learning gave the six purposively selected women aged 58 – 70 the opportunity to reflect on their learning autobiographies as co-researchers. In their midlife, the women had the freedom and determination to change directions and the generative passions to remain useful, to give something back to their communities and to make them a better place for their retirement years and future generations. They emerged from the relative obscurity of the backrooms, kitchens and traditional supportive roles as farmer’s wives and mothers to become community activists, leaders and change agents who transformed their small service communities into thriving, vibrant, ‘can do’ societies better able to cope with the political, social, economic and environmental changes prevailing in regional Australia since the 1990s. They built new networks within the community and with the wider world and used their local knowledge and personal experiences to develop appropriate strategies for community renewal, which exposed them to diverse experiences, new knowledge and different ways of doing things. Unexpectedly they flourished and experienced personal development, growth and a transformation of the self as a blooming and fruition with the maturation of their potential.

Keywords: third age learning, community engagement, rural women, informal learning, personal transformation

 

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

Posted on

The globalisation of thinking styles: East meets West or never the twain shall meet

Author: Francesco Sofa, University of Canberra

Edition: Volume 45, Number 3, November 2005

Summary:  The research examined how Chinese leaders view the thinking process, what thinking styles they value and how they prefer to think. The methodological framework used quantitative analyses of two thinking styles inventories. The survey included a sample of nearly 300 leaders from a wide representation of industry sectors across China who completed Sofo’s Thinking Style Inventory (TSI) (Sofo 2002). Additionally, 22 of these leaders completed three forms of thinking style (Sternberg 1997). Another sample of 172 non-education leaders’ thinking styles were compared with 48 educational leaders’ thinking styles using independent sample t-tests and supported by analysis of variance. The findings showed that Chinese leaders have strong preferences for ‘executive’, ‘judicial’ and ‘legislative’ styles of thinking as well as high preferences for independent and exploring styles. They reported moderate preferences for ‘inquiring’ and ‘creative’ styles and low preference for ‘conditional’ style, an indication that Chinese leaders may be at the forefront of change in an historically conditional China.

Keywords: China, Sofo, Chinese leaders, preference

[wpdm_file id=233]

Posted on

‘SERPS Up’: Support, Engagement and Retention of Postgraduate Students – a model of postgraduate support

Authors: Margaret Alston, Juliane Allan, Karen Bell, Andy Brown, Jane Dowling, Pat Hamilton, Jenny McKinnon, Noela McKinnon, Rol Mitchell, Kerri Whittenbury, Bruce Valentine, Alison Wicks, and Rachael Williams; Charles Sturt University

Edition: Volume 45, Number 2, July 2005

Summary:  The federal government’s 1999 White Paper Knowledge and Innovation: a policy statement on research and research training, notes concerns about retention and completion rates in doctoral studies programs in Australia. This paper outlines a model of higher education support developed at the Centre for Rural Social Research at Charles Sturt University. The postgraduate student body in the Centre represent the most vulnerable to attrition – mostly female and mature-aged, a majority studying at a distance and part-time, and most with family and work responsibilities. The program developed in the Centre – the SERPS model (Support, Engagement and Retention of Postgraduate Students) – has seen a significant  rise in the number of students studying through the Centre and significantly high retention and completion rates. This paper outlines the model as well as the results of an evaluation of the model conducted with students in the Centre. This paper indicates that retention (and ultimately completion) is linked to the vibrancy of the learning and social support networks established for the students and the creation of a collegial culture.

Keywords: White Paper, Knowledge, Innovation, research, doctoral, retention, completion

[wpdm_file id=226]

Posted on

Assessor judgements and everyday worker performance

Author: Hilary Timma, Recently completed PhD studies, The University of Melbourne

Edition: Volume 45, Number 2, July 2005

Summary:  The subjective nature of assessment focuses attention on the prior perceptions that workplace assessors can bring to formal assessment activities, regarding the competence of workers. This paper draws on a study into workplace learning and assessment practices and the construction of worker identities, which was conducted at three food production companies in North East Victoria. The paper proposes that, rather than concentrating principally on planned, formal assessment activities to determine the competence of workers, workplaces could develop an alternative approach and support assessors to utilize (and make publicly justifiable), the prior perceptions they have regarding workers’ skills and abilities on-the-job and include these in the overall assessment.

Keywords: assessment, workplace assessor, competence, formal

[wpdm_file id=225]

Posted on

A learner perspective on barriers to e-learning

Authors: Karen Becker, Cameron Newton, Sukanlaya Sawang; Queensland University of Technology

Edition: Volume 53, Number 2, July 2013

Summary: This study aims to identify and categorize barriers to e-learning adoption and the relative impact of those barriers on learners. It contributes to the understanding of learner perceptions of barriers, the different types of barriers and their relative importance. This study used a quantitative methodology grounded in previous literature. The study is based on a self-administered questionnaire conducted with employees in a rail organisation. This research demonstrates there are three key factors that represent barriers to e-learning: the nature of e-learning as a learning approach, the use of technology, and concerns about lack of time and potential interruptions when trying to complete e-learning.

Keywords: e-learning, learning barriers, learning technologies, e-learning adoption

 

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_2. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

Posted on

The ‘double-edged sword’ of the adult learning environment

Authors: Sara Murray and Jane Mitchell: Charles Sturt University

Edition: Volume 53, Number 1, April 2013

Summary: The vocational education and training sector plays a critical role in the provision of educational opportunities for young adults who have left school prior to completing a qualification. Some research has found that a major factor that supports student re-engagement in formal education is the ‘adult learning environment’ that characterises institutions such as TAFE. Other studies have questioned the suitability of the adult learning environment for some students. This study explores how students and teachers in five foundation TAFE courses view the adult learning environment and how they respond to this environment. The paper argues that the adult learning environment can in some instances be a ‘double-edged sword’, in that it can both enhance and limit student engagement.

Keywords: vocational, VET, TAFE, young adult, learning, foundation

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

Posted on

Time, money, leisure and guilt – the gendered challenges of higher education for mature-age students

Author: Cathy Stone: Open Universities Australia and The University of Newcastle, Australia

Edition: Volume 53, Number 1, April 2013

Summary: Two qualitative research projects examined the impact of university study on two cohorts of mature-age students at a regional university in Australia. All the students interviewed had entered university via non-traditional pathways and had faced significant hurdles in gaining university entrance and continuing with their studies. The influence of gender on their experiences of managing home, family and work responsibilities in combination with their responsibilities as students is examined. Issues such as lack of time and money, self-sacrifice and guilt emerged strongly from the stories of these students as they struggled to manage their multiple responsibilities. The gendered nature of these struggles is explored.

Keywords: university, mature-age, regional, non-traditional, pathway, student, hurdle

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.