Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemUndergraduate course preferences of students with some previous tertiary education( 1982)The thesis is an examination of the factors which affect the course choice of applicants to tertiary institutions. The sample is taken from the 1977 applicant cohort registered with the Victorian Universities Admissions Committee. The applicants in the sample are those who had already been enrolled in tertiary educational institutions for at least one year, prior to their application in 1977. The aims of the study are to examine the effect of previous tertiary experience, employment experience, age and sex on the course choice of the applicants. The data used in the study were taken from:. application files held by the Victorian Universities Admissions Committee. The results of the analysis are compared with the results of studies carried out in Australia and overseas which described the vocational and educational choices of students entering tertiary institutions for the first time, and subsequently transferring to other institutions in some cases. The main difference between this study and those which preceded it is that the applicant sample in this study contains persons aged from seventeen years to more than sixty-five years, whilst previous analyses had been confined in the main to the young applicants. A comparison is made between the course choices of the young applicants, aged 22 years or less, and the older applicants, aged 23 years or more. The results of this study are similar to those already published. Nevertheless some new information about the effect of the Victorian tertiary education system - the number and nature of the institutions - on the choices of applicants is presented. In addition the study makes available a comparison of age groups which has not yet been attempted elsewhere. The study shows that applicants of all ages have two objectives: the first, to obtain a qualification which will enable them to find satisfying employment; the second, the study a course which provides them with interesting activity which enables them to find personal satisfaction. In the main students wish to undertake the second objective at a University, whilst vocational training is sought at. a variety of institutions. The prestige and academic standing of the institutions is an important factor in the determination of the applicants' choices, and as a result many are not satisfied in their application.
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ItemPersonality development in college students: the application and extension of the Perry scheme( 1986)In order to investigate 'personality development' in students attending a provincial College of Advanced Education, forty education students - twenty Year I and twenty Year III students - participated in semi-structured individual interviews. 'Personality development' was operationally defined in terms of the concepts and measures provided: the Perry Scheme (1970) assessed the intellectual and ethical growth, while the Ego Identity Status Measures (Marcia, 1966) and the Self Processing Criteria (Touchton et al, 1977) assessed personality growth. Quantitative and Qualitative analyses of the data supported the general hypothesis that students did mature, in terms of their personality growth, during the time spent at college, with Year III students gaining the higher ratings on all measures. The application of the Perry Scheme to the present population and its extension to other measures provided some interesting results and suggestions for further research. It was recommended that tertiary educators may need to consider developmental theory in their programs in order to foster personal and professional growth in their students.