Researcher: CLARE ALLINGTON Supervised by: WILL CURTIS Home department: CENTRE FOR LIFELONG LEARNING Expected start date: 01/07/2013 Expected end date: 01/09/2013
Hi, I am a 2nd year student in the Centre for Lifelong Learning. Having worked in the voluntary sector for many years, working with adult learners, I was interested to know what inspires adult learners at Warwick to keep going, especially when many are faced with issues such as family, work commitments and financial problems that could necessitate them leaving. I was further interested in the transitional phase from the safe environment of the local college to joining (in year 2) to a campus based university and how these students coped with this and what their experiences were.
Why do some adult students drop out and leave their course and others carry on and complete their degrees? How did the transition from college to university affect them?
I am hoping to interview adult students, particularly those from non traditional backgrounds (1st person to attend university in family/disadvantaged backgrounds), who have considered leaving their course at some point and the factors that encouraged them to carry on.
Furthermore, the period of transition between college and university will be explored in order to evaluate the impact this period had on the adult student (if any) and the expectations and realities of attenting university.
Using biographical research I hope to unearth the impact of structure and agency on the learning experiences of adult students and how these relate to their past and their issues with regard to dropping out.
"Biographical research often focuses on the individual but this type of research is also helpful for identifying the collectivities in people's lives such as class and gender as the stories reval common life experiences". (Merrill, 2007).
I have further identified that one of the most difficult issues is accessing interviewees, especially those students who I do not have personal knowledge of, to this end I have drafted a questionnaire, (aimed at college students, yet to come to Warwick), in order to provide a basis of information regarding their experiences at college.
One of the issues with access to these students is from a data protection point of view, as I am a student myself, therefore I have had to modify my research to include a quantitative questionnaire in order to reach those students still at college.
