Issues and Challenges Encountered by Non-Traditional Graduate Students Issues and Challenges Encountered by Non-Traditional Graduate Students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaignat the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Shad Comboy
(comboy@uiuc.edu)
(ready to use)
Coauthors
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH
Unit Keywords
Non-Traditional Student Issues,
University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign,
College of Veterinary Medicine,
Graduate College Student Liaison Program,
Single Parent Network,
LEEP,
CCTL. |
Partner Projects
| Ethnography of the University |
INQUIRE
Rationale of the Unit
What are the issues and challenges encountered by non-traditional
graduate students enrolled in online degree programs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign? |
Research Plan
In order to investigate this inquiry, we first define the term "non-traditional graduate student". For the purpose of this study, non-traditional graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are students who satisfy at least ONE of the following criteria:
- is over the age of 24,
- pursues graduate studies on a non-continuous part-time basis during the fall and spring semesters or pursues graduate students on a full-time continuous basis via non-traditional avenues (i.e. online education, correspondence courses, etc.) during the fall and spring semesters, and/or
- has life concerns outside of the university that take precedence over their academic needs in times of crisis. These concerns include circumstances different from the "traditional graduate student" (which could include parenting, full-time employment, distance learning, etc.), and has returned to graduate school after some time in the workforce, or a significant amount of time after completing a bachelors or other graduate degree/certificate.
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To readings
Current References
Aragon, S. R. (2003). Creating social presence in online environments. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 100 , 57-68.
Armstrong, L. (2000). Distance learning: A academic leader’s perspective on a disruptive product. Change, 12 , 20-27.
Armstrong, L. (2004). U. of Illinois at Springfield wants to 'mirror' all classroom
programs online. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 50(32) , p. A34.
Carnevale, D. (2005, January, 26). Offering entire degrees online is one key to success in distance education, The Chronicle of Higher Education , p. 5.
Richardson, J.C. (2001). Examining social presence in online courses in relation to students' perceived learning and satisfaction. Dissertation Abstracts International, 62 (04), 1316A.
Vakili, D.L. (2003). Online vs. face-to-face: A comparison of learner-centered practices and motivational variables in post-secondary classrooms. Dissertation Abstracts International, 64 (10), 3656A.
Weissman, E.J. (2002). An evaluation of online environments (OLE) on the adult at risk population. JCSC 18(3), 142-154.
References
Astin, A. (1984). Student involvement: A developmental theory of higher education. Journal of College Student Personnel, 25(4), 297-308.
Buerck, J.P., Malmstrom, T., & Peppers, E. (2003). Learning environments and learning styles: Non-traditional student enrollment and success in an internet-based versus a lecture-based computer science course. Learning Environments Research 6, 137 – 155.
Chickering, A. W., & Havighurst, R. J. (1981). The life cycle. In A. W. Chickering & Associates (Eds.). (1981). The modern American college (pp. 16-50). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Council for Adult and Experimental Learning (2000). Principles of effectiveness for serving adult learners in higher education. New York, NY: Forbes Custom Publishing.
Cross, K.P. (1981). Adults as learners. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Fairchild, E. E. (2003). Multiple roles of adult learners. New Directions For Student Services, 2003(102), 11-16.
Fungaroli, C. S. (2000). Traditional Degrees for Nontraditional Students. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Hara, N. & Kling, R. (1999). Student’s frustrations with a web-based distance education course. First Monday, 4 (12). Retrieved November 9, 2004, from http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue4_12/hara.
Jonassen, D. H., & Grabowski, B. L. (1993). Handbook of individual differences, learning, and instruction. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Lefor, P. J., Benke, M., & Ting, E. (2003). Information technology and adult learners at Empire State College. New Directions For Student Services, 2003(102), 35-42.
Martin, W. (1999). Being there is what matters. Academe, 85(5), 32–36.
McGreal, R. (1997). The Internet: A learning environment. In T. E. Cyrs (Ed.), Teaching and learning at a distance: What it takes to effectively design, deliver, and evaluate programs (pp. 67–74). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Phoha, V. (1999). Can a course be taught entirely via email? Communications of the ACM, 42(9), 29–30.
Polson, C. J. (2003). Adult graduate student challenge institutions to change. New Directions For Student Services, 2003(102), 59-68.
Richter-Antion, D. (1986). Qualitative differences between adult and younger students. NASPA Journal, 23, 58-62.
Saunders, G., & Weible, R. (1999). Electronic courses: Old wine in new bottles? Internet Research, 9(5), 339–347.
Scott, B., & Hannafin, R. (2000). How teachers and parents view classroom learning environments: An exploratory study. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 32, 401–417.
Smith, M. K. (2002). Malcolm Knowles, informal adult education, self-direction and anadragogy, the encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved from http:www.infed.org/thinkers/et-knowl.htm.
Terrell, P.S. (1990). Adapting institutions of higher ed to serve adult student’s needs. NASPA Journal, 27, 241-247.
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Findings
Four themes emerged as a result of this study: time management, balancing priorities, support, and other barriers.
Time Management
In America, time is often viewed as a commodity and for most non-traditional students, time is a commodity that can be rare. Being able to manage one’s time is a difficult task especially when it has to be split among the multiple roles that today’s non-traditional students have such as that of full-time employee, parent, and student. The vast majority of the participants in the study mentioned time as a major issue. Often this time deficit presents itself in not having enough time for work or school, but it can also be extended to include not having enough time for the self. Nicole tries to find time outside of work just to relax:
What I am trying to do is, I am getting myself in the position so that when I leave work at 5 o’clock I am able to just go home and relax for a couple of hours and be able to pick up a book and read. So that I am not doing a good job at it – but that is the plan.
Ann also states:
One other thing that I can think of is time, in the sense of “alone time.” It seems like I’m always with somebody, whether it’s my son, or fiancé, except when I’m here at the office. Other than that, I pretty much have to be with them because their feelings get hurt if I’m not. Something like that.
Non-traditional graduate students recognize the importance of effective time management. Mike, the father of three children, stated that he has learned to set aside time for his children. Every Saturday he sets aside at least half of the day to spend with one of his children individuality. Mike started attending graduate school set a good example for his children and was worth the time investment.
Balancing Priorities
In today’s society, most adults play multiply roles – at home they may be parents, at work they are full-time employees, at school they are students and beyond those roles they may be community members, volunteers and even entrepreneurs. Non-traditional students often have difficulties balancing these demands. Some people may place school over work, while others may place work over school. Joe, has often placed school over his full-time work commitments as he explains:
The thing I am missing this semester is a morning meeting, that is another situation where I chose school over work, but I thought that this class that I ultimately decided to take was important for my own personal development, but also professional development.
For Joe, placing school over work often means missing committee meetings in which he has little direct responsibility. However, for meetings in which he has a key role, Joe has dropped classes to accommodate his work schedule. Mike also stated concerns related to placing school over work. Mike’s colleagues expressed displeasure that he was absent from work-related events, events they felt he should have attended instead of class. Students such as Jane, a single mother, would let her studies suffer in order to meet work demands. Jane’s view was simply: “grad school didn’t pay my bills”.
Support
Having support is crucial to success as a non-traditional student, whether it is from faculty or family, or in the form of student support services (e.g. financial aid, childcare, etc.). All participants in this study expressed a need for more support. Nicole, a full-time employee of the university receives strong support from her supervisor, but still could use additional support. She states, “I would appreciate more funding…to pay my bills, but I think other than that a support group might be nice, you know, just some type of organization that…support people that work here”.
Recently, a non-traditional graduate student support group was created on campus. One participant sought out this group to expand upon her support network.
Ann states:
As far as aspirations for the group [Non-Traditional Graduate Student Group], my idea is just to have it to prevent what happened to me the first year that I came here, which was complete and utter burnout. I lost 15 pounds and went down to like 95 lbs. I was just sick at the end of the year. I went home to Texas because I was just out of control, but I didn’t have the resources. I didn’t have any knowledge about how to get, for example, the babysitters. I didn’t have any family here, so just if we [the Non-traditional Graduate Student Group] can offer, if the group can help other just to even see the resources that are available to prevent stuff like that from happening.
Supportive faculty can greatly enhance the non-traditional student’s experience. Julie, a student from the LEEP online program experienced technological challenges and has very little personal support. However, although participating in a distance-learning program, she has a strong sense of community and tie to the UIUC campus due to the friendly and supportive faculty members. Julie stated:
Well, I mean the faculty are incredibly supportive, I mean you know…everyone has been very understanding as far as I know you have hurricanes don’t worry you have extensions. All I can say is that they have been very flexible to my very difficult circumstance. They say that up front in the beginning in July. They say if life is happening then don’t vanish, tell us life is happened and we’ll do everything.
Jaleesa, another student of the LEEP program reiterates this point states:
… the LEEP program, they’ve provided access in terms of professors availability. They’re always there and willing to help, and willing to speak with you about certain things, and make sure that you understand. And just that alone has been a tremendous help.
Finding supportive faculty was also a challenge for Jane in one of her classes. Jane worked full-time and utilized the weekends to complete her assignments. Her professor requested all assignments from their Monday class be turned in on Thursdays by 5:00 p.m. Jane was able to discuss this with her professor and the professor changed the due date to Sundays by 3:00. Jane stated that the faculty did not always consider the type of students that were in their class.
In terms of familial support, the impact and amount of family responsibility on a non-traditional student appears to be gender related. Mike stated that his wife was a stay-at-home mother that assumed responsibility for the childcare. He stated that he missed class due to work obligations. However, when asked if he missed class due to family obligations, he said, “no, isn’t that horrible?”. Mike went on to say, “it is easier to blend family and school than it is to blend work and school”. Whereas Ann felt more impacted by the amount of family responsibilities she had. For instance, she states:
…as the mother of a son, I couldn’t just go and find a one-room apartment somewhere and live, and eat macaroni and cheese. You know? Things like that. I had to establish a decent home with at least two bedrooms, and have it in an area where my son could go to school and get a good education. I had to make sure that I had meals and food that were decent. So, it’s a little bit different from the “regular” situation.
Institutional support was also expressed as a concern to non-traditional graduate students. While Jane stated that her department was incredibly supportive, she contributed a lot of that to the autonomous nature of her position. However, Mike stated that when his department received new management, he felt no support for his education. Additionally, Mike felt that there was not an atmosphere conducive to promoting the continuation of his education, and he was appreciative of the faculty support provided in the absence of institutional support at work.
Other Barriers
In addition to the four issues above, some non-traditional students faced other issues. Participants that were involved with the online LEEP program had particular issues such as technology and communication. Jaleesa implied at one time that adapting to the technology was an issue, but that was a challenge she overcame. She states “I was one of those people that didn’t come into the program with a great deal of technical knowledge…That’s really a challenge….I’m better though. I mean, I understand things a little better than I did before”.
Other issues related to technology include the time barrier between students. Here Julie describes her experience communicating with her classmates:
You get difficulty because your posting stuff on the board and a lot of times it will cycle, it will take people 24hrs for people, cause read at different times of day there’s somebody in Hong Kong…you look at it and you take 24hrs and your respond. So there’s that delay, sometimes that’s good and sometimes it’s bad. It gives you a chance you know, think about something…
Financial Issues
In addition to the challenges presented by today’s technology, another challenge that many of the participants face is financial issues. Financial aid for non-traditional graduate students is limited and it is often very difficult to complete an advance degree without financial support, Ann expressed that:
With the money challenge, of course, it’s better this year because I have a full- time job with the university. But, before that, I mean, I racked up over $50,000 in student loans in the past two or three years. So, I don’t know how the money challenge is going to end up. Hopefully okay.
Financial support does not only apply to supporting education, but it also applies to other personal concerns as well. For parents, it is often difficult to find quality childcare that is also affordable. For Ann, a single mother it is often difficult to find affordable childcare and it can be especially difficult when one have to find childcare when there are group meetings and other academic commitments.
I think that just a regular daycare service would be wonderful. Or, even for something like, well, tonight I have to give a test and have to be here until approximately 9:00 p.m. Before my fiancé, I would have had to dig up someone who was willing to come and baby-sit my son for that. So, after-hours, kind of emergency daycare type stuff.
Personal and Family Concerns
Family concerns as well as interpersonal relationships also post a barrier to obtaining an advance degree. Susan’s father physical health has caused her problems because of the demands placed on her that took away from her education. In addition, It also interrupted her personal relationships. “I just had a relationship break-up because whoever the person was very dissatisfied that all of my time went with school.” Mike’s personal health was also an issue because he was diabetic. His blood sugar is affected by the stress of managing work and school. Additionally, his son is ill and, although his wife is the primary caregiver, it weighs on his mind. |
05-05-2005
Kindra
After receiving approval, we subsequently secured participants for the study. We receive 17 responses to our inquiry for participants, and have thus far received feedback from 8. Our return date for all questionnaires is this Saturday at noon, at that time, we plan to completely analyze all of the data from all of the participants for a more complete and thorough analysis.
05-01-2005
Kindra
We have received approval from Adam Fein, and anticipate sending our questionnaire out this afternoon. We hope that we will have a good enough response to warrant a comparison between our old subjects and the new ones.
04-27-2005
Kindra
We have received approval from Adam Fein (the coordinator of the HRE Online Programs) and we are now awaiting approval from the head of the department (Jim Leach). We have been assured by Adam that we will probably receive approval, and he doesn't anticipate us having any problems in that area.
We hope soon (once we've received approval and Adam has sent out our participant request) to complete the interview portion of our project, and add that to our final paper.
We have revised the questionnaire from our previous study and tailored it to online-degree seeking students.
Within the next 2 weeks, Shad and I plan to meet and synthesize our information, and hopefully, by that time, we will have completed our interviews with our participants.
We have every intention of finishing this project by May 11th, and hopefully, if all goes well, we will be able to do so.
04-12-2005
Shad
Kindra and I meet with the coordinator of the HRE Online Programs, Adam Fein. He indicated that there are several totally online students to in the HRD and CCL graduate programs. He indicated that if we would email him with the information he would forward it to prospective students and would help use get at least two potential respondents that fit the study description. We also will be observing the online classes that each of the respondents attend so we can observe the issues they face within the class setting as well as the socialization that takes place in the classroom.
We have also meet as a team to evaluate where we are on this project and what we need to do to start wrapping up. We plan to 1) find additional resources for the literature, 2) write the findings portion of the paper, 3) refine the sample description, 4) evaluate the citations and description of methodology, 5) observe totally online class, and 6) interview a total of two additional respondents that are enrolled in the HRE Online Program at the U of I.
I have also been looking at additional articles and found an interesting article by Scott E. Caplan titled “Preference for Online Social Interaction: A Theory of Problematic Internet Use and Psychosocial Well-Being.” Although the article is not directly about online education it covers the issues associated with the potential dangers of online socialization. Caplan includes an abstract, which is provided below.
The model introduced and tested in the current study suggests that lonely and depressed individuals may develop a preference for online social interaction, which, in turn, leads to negative outcomes associated with their Internet use. Participants completed measures of preference for online social interaction, depression, loneliness, problematic Internet use, and negative outcomes resulting from their Internet use. Results indicated that psychosocial health predicted levels of preference for online social interaction, which, in turn, predicted negative outcomes associated with problematic Internet use .In addition, the results indicated that the influence of psychosocial distress on negative outcomes due to Internet use is mediated by preference for online socialization and other symptoms of problematic Internet use. The results support the current hypothesis that that individuals’ preference for online, rather than face-to-face, social interaction plays an important role in the development of negative consequences associated with problematic Internet use.
03-29-2005
Shad
This I decided to continue with this project is because of the findings in the previous study. We found that graduate students have some issues with online socialization when they do not come to the site at least one a semester. The respondents that Kindra and I interviewed and observed indicated that they did not have any problems associated with the LEEP program, but the literature indicated that student generally find social issues when they partake in online education courses.
The socialization issues I am talking about are not necessarily what they are experiencing, but what they are not experiencing in a totally online education. The students do not have the social interaction that students that come to campus experience. Students that attend the campus setting have a much richer interaction with people that are different from what they have experience in their home town setting. These students that are enrolled in online programs may not have the cultural interaction that I have found to be very important and a large part of the university experience.
Several questions arise out of the previous research. How does totally online education programs affect the student’s total experience? Does the student suffer in terms of the rich socialization that takes place on campus or is there sufficient interaction in the online environment? Do students that come to campus have benefits that students that don’t come to campus? If so what are the student perceptions of these benefits and how do they differ from each other (on campus education, online one visit per semester, and totally online)? What do online programs need to do to help better socialize students in the online setting?
Many of these questions may no be answered by our project, but these questions must thought through and researched to provide a quality holistic education to every student, whether on campus or totally online.
03-16-2005
Kindra
We are in the process of collecting our participants. We decided that since our first set of students were in Library Sciences, we would stay in the area of Social Sciences and would like to interview students from the Community College Teaching and Learning (CCTL) program. This program has master's degree seeking students completing their degrees online, and we have contacted Jim Leach (Head of the Department) and Adam Fein (Coordinator for the Program) to obtain permission to use their students & in order to have better access to students that would be willing to participate in our study. We are scheduled to meet with Mr. Fein to discuss the specifics of our study with him.
I have also been doing some work to revise our original instrument and tailor it more to online students (as opposed to the original population of graduate students from different fields on campus).
03-10-2005
Shad
After looking at the HRE Online Program, the umbrella program for the CCLT, for the U o I Urbana-Champaign I found in the “Frequently Asked Questions” section what the program web site felt could be “potential disadvantages of taking this program online.” The Web Site indicated that the student “may discover that you miss some of the face-to-face socialization with classmates [and] [y]ou may find operating computer equipment and software can be frustrating at times.” The web site did not have any indication of how this was determined and gave no additional insight on how to combat this issue of missing some face-to-face socialization.
03-08-2005
Shad
Online education students (OLS) have problems because:
· They are older, have jobs, and families.
· They are interested in obtaining a degree for a better job or are retraining to retain employment with their present employer.
· Distance education often isolates the student. This isolation removes motivational factors that involving a peer group.
· They are usually of very diverse backgrounds.
· They are generally not computer literate and thus have to conquer the course work and the delivery vehicle.
All these barriers contribute to what Weissman (2002) calls an adult at-risk population. Weissman (2002) classifies this population to have several common characteristics:
· Graduates of urban high schools
· People who are being forced to work longer because of the change in retirement laws
· The recent plethora of immigrants from 3rd world countries
· People who have reentered the work force after years of child caring and/or elder care
· People who reside in remote areas where educational and research opportunities are limited
· Females
As we look at our potential population and the social issues that our population may encounter we can look for these characteristics and see how they correlate to our population.
03-03-2005
Shad
I have been looking at online resources that discuss social issues in online education programs and how the students are evaluating the programs. I have found that generally there is overall satisfaction with online programs. I also found some common criteria for evaluation that I feel will help with building a survey for the interview as well as any observations. They are broken down into three main topics, technology criteria, instructional criteria, and organizational criteria. Technology consists of 1) ease of use, 2) speed of access, 3) level of graphical realism, 4) audio/video output, and 5) flexibility. Instructional criteria includes 1) interactivity, 2) integrative capacity, 3) learner control, 4) learner/instructor attitude, and 5) learner achievement. Organizational criteria includes 1) technical maintenance, 2) space and time feasibility, 3) support systems availability, 4) staff development, and 5) community partnership. Although the above criteria are encompassing on all distant learning venues, I feel that this information will again help to guide what we should be looking for in the online education programs at the U of I.
02-28-2005
Shad
Information about the CCTL Ed.M. online program at the U of I.
Program URL: http://www.hre.uiuc.edu/online
Campus: Urbana-Champaign
Number of Required Campus Visits: 0
The number of visits is an very important component of this semesters study because I need information from a student that does not make on campus visits.
Program Type: Master's Degree
Award Conferred: Ed.M.
Admission Deadline: April 15
Description:
The CCTL Online curriculum is designed to increase the teaching effectiveness of community college faculty and build the instructional leadership of supervisory personnel. This curriculum is focused on the effective design and implementation of quality instruction, contemporary instructional technologies, and other instruction using innovations such as peer-based collaboration and active learning strategies. This sequence of courses will collectively provide participants with a foundation of instructional theories, skills, and practices to support existing professional development efforts in community colleges. The CCTL Online curriculum is a cost-effective model that is accessible to all faculty and instructional leaders in community colleges, irrespective of field of specialization or location. 8 Courses required for the Ed.M.
Program Cost(s):
Tuition: $932.00
Cost is per course.
Program Contact(s):
Adam D Fein
Online Programs Coordinator
Human Resource Education
351 Education Building
1310 S. Sixth Street
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 333-0807
Fax: (217) 244-5632
URL: http://www.hre.uiuc.edu/online
02-27-2005
Shad
After determining to interview a member of the Community College Teaching and Learning Ed.D online education program at the Urbana-Champaign campus at the U of I, I have not made contact with the program director. Contact is to be made through Kindra because she works within the distance-learning arena at the U of I.
02-24-2005
Shad
"Regardless of the delivery medium, students do not perceive differences on factors such as establishing positive interpersonal relationships, adapting to class learning needs, facilitating the learning process, providing for individual and social learning needs, and encouraging personal growth and responsibility" (Vakili, p. iii). This dissertation confirms what was found in the previous research interviews, but I would like to use this information to form a question for the new interview guide that asks if students that are in 100% online classes are having similar experiences.
02-22-2005
Shad
Met with Kindra to discuss findings and plan for direction. Plan to 1) expand literature review, 2) interview two subjects from online education programs at the U of I, 3) observe two online classes, and 4) reconstruct interview and observation instruments.
I plan to research the Community College Teaching and Learning Ed.D online education program at the Urbana-Champaign campus at the U of I. This online program meets the criteria set as being a graduate program at the U of I Urbana-Champaign campus and is a completely online program (no campus visits required).
02-15-2005
Shad
Searched Dissertation abstracts for On-line Education research. I found
ten dissertations that meet the topic requirement of social issues, assessment, and barriers in on-line higher education programs. |
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