Faculty of Education - Theses

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Start date: 1960 × Subject: universities and colleges × Subject: adult students ×

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    Alternative entry programs to university for mature age students: program characteristics that encourage or inhibit mature student participation
    Cullity, Marguerite Mary ( 2005)
    Australia has a long history of accepting unmatriculated, return-to-study and equity group mature age learners into undergraduate courses. Universities enrol mature age students on the basis of, for example, their equity background, prior learning, work experiences, scores on a mature age entrance test, or results in an alternative entry program. This study examined the nature and outcomes of four alternative entry programs (AEPs) to higher education for mature age learners (21 years plus). Alternative entry programs provide mature age students with a way to explore their academic aptitude for, and confidence to, study. Prior to this research there was a lack of knowledge regarding the characteristics and outcomes of AEPs for mature age students. In addition, there was no study that examined a series of AEPs to show the relationship between AEP characteristics and learner outcomes. The inquiry addresses this shortfall. The project takes a qualitative case study approach. It provides a way of understanding the uniqueness, particularities and complexities of four AEPs for Australian resident mature age learners. The inquiry indicates implications of current policy and practices. Also it considers ways to advance program characteristics and outcomes. Finally, the data generated a framework that reveals i) how aspects of AEP management and design interact with mature learner characteristics; and ii) how these elements either encourage or inhibit mature age student to participate in a program. The research finding challenge, first, government policy makers, university managers, and AEP staff to consider the nature of an institution’s alternative entry course. It also shows how AEP management and design can affect mature age student participation. The project reveals that the nature of an AEP is determined by a coalescing of institutional, government and, sometimes, community attitudes and initiatives.