LibGuides: Reroute, Return and Redemption: Resources

Internet Resources

What Is a Nontraditional Student?
Being classified as "nontraditional" in college is more common than you might think.
A College Guide for Nontraditional Students
By Sarah Wood, U.S. News

Many college students balance family and work responsibilities with academics.

Equity indicators report reveals systemic barriers to college access and success for low-income and non-traditional students
These might be the most unique universities in the world
By Joy Hunter, Times Higher Education

Are you looking for something different from your university experience? Check out these unconventional universities around the world.
Association for Nontraditional Students in Higher Education (ANTSHE)
ANTSHE's mission is to provide academic resources, and motivational support for non-traditional students, and to celebrate, and to build on the network of faculty, administrators, and advisors that work with and inspire non-traditional students to succeed.
Higher education fails to support non-traditional students
By Lori Saxena, The Statesman

Journal Articles

Active Teaching Strategies and Student Engagement : A Comparison of Traditional and Non-traditional Business Students Using survey data, this paper presents a comprehensive analysis of student engagement for different groups of students, many of which may be classified as 'nontraditional'. The analysis presented in this paper is based on Kahu's framework for student engagement. Both the antecedents as well as consequences of engagement are incorporated in the framework used in this paper. The research highlights the role that active teaching strategies may play in this engagement framework. An important contribution of this research is to show that non- traditional students generally display greater engagement than traditional students. However, while there is a strong connection between active teaching strategies and engagement for traditional students, this link is weak for non-traditional students. The results presented in this paper highlight the need for greater inclusiveness in the design of active teaching strategies. [Author abstract]
Drivers of academic pathways in higher education: traditional vs. non-traditional students Dropout rates in higher education (HE) are particularly high for non-traditional students which may be due to unadjusted educational policies. Considering as non-traditional the students who are employed at the enrolment moment and using a longitudinal database containing information on 5351 students from a Portuguese HE institution, an event history analysis approach is employed to distinguish the main drivers of graduation and dropout risks for traditional and non-traditional students and to test a set of research hypotheses. The results show significant differences between the two types of students, confirming the need of discretionary policies. For non-traditional students, policies that assist them in an early stage are shown to be of critical importance, for example by offering pre-enrolment preparatory courses or by joining them, in the classroom, with students with similar characteristics. For traditional students, providing solutions for financial limitations and promoting academic integration seem to be more effective.
Differences in resilience between ‘traditional’ and ‘non-traditional’ university students Resilience is related to students’ well-being and academic success. While challenges associated with students who are from historically underrepresented backgrounds (i.e. ‘non-traditional students’) have been frequently reported, their resilience has received lesser attention. The primary purpose of this study was to compare levels of resilience between ‘traditional’ and ‘non-traditional’ students. First year students participated in an online mental health survey which included a standardised measure of resilience, demographic questions and an item exploring students’ own perception of being ‘non-traditional’. The results showed that students who considered themselves to be ‘non-traditional’ in life aspects, including age, employment and parenting responsibility, had significantly higher resilience compared to self-identified ‘traditional students’. However, resilience levels of students who deemed themselves to be ‘non-traditional’ in other domains (e.g. household income, cultural background) did not differ significantly from ‘traditional’ students. The findings show that life experiences commonly affiliated with being a mature-aged student, including work and being a carer, may contribute to higher resilience. Implications in relation to practice and future research were discussed.
Non-traditional students' preferences for learning technologies and impacts on academic self-efficacy Blended Learning (BL) as a pedagogical approach has increased in significance during the COVID-19 pandemic, with blended and online learning environments becoming the new digital norm for higher educational institutions around the globe. While BL has been discussed in the literature for thirty years, a common approach has been to categorise learner cohorts to support educators in better understanding students' relationships with learning technologies. This approach, largely unsupported by empirical evidence, has failed to adequately address the challenges of integrating learning technologies to fit with non-traditional students' preferences, their BL self-efficacy and the associated pedagogical implications. Focusing on student preference, our study presents findings from a pre-COVID survey of undergraduate students across four campuses of an Australian regional university where students shared their learning technology preferences and the self-regulated learning that influenced their academic self-efficacy in a BL context. Findings show students want consistency, relevance, and effectiveness with the use of BL tools, with a preference for lecture recordings and video resources to support their learning, while email and Facebook Messenger were preferred for communicating with peers and academic staff. Our study suggests a quality BL environment facilitates self-regulated learning using fit-for-purpose technological applications. Academic self-efficacy for BL can increase when students perceive the educational technologies used by their institution are sufficient for their learning needs.
Physical home-learning environments of traditional and non-traditional students during the COVID pandemic: exploring the impact of learning space on students’ motivation, stress and well-being When the COVID-19 pandemic forced higher education institutions to implement their programs in an online setting, different groups of students were influenced to different extents. In many cases, the main locus of learning moved to students' homes, and their learning experiences were suddenly contextualized in their residential situation and immediate physical learning environment. The present study consequently examines the role of physical learning environments on different factors influencing students’ learning when pursuing their study from at home. It contrasts the situation of traditional students in a higher education institution and non-traditional students in an academic continuing education institution, which address target groups with different living conditions and needs in learning support. Data were collected via an online survey sent to students enrolled in these two institutions, with a total of 353 students participating during a timeframe impacted by COVID-related lockdowns. We found that stress and well-being is strongly linked to the quality of the surrounding environment of the learning place, whereas perceived motivation is more strongly related to the quality of the learning place itself. How strongly students are affected by these factors is moderated by their overall socio-spatial context. Academic continuing education students are more resilient to sub-optimal physical learning environment than traditional students. Altering the design of the immediate learning environment consequently can help to mitigate factors that negatively impact students’ well-being and learning motivation, which is particularly important for traditional students, who primarily dedicate their time to pursuing their studies.
Three tips for creating an online course for nontraditional student populations In spring 2020, the University of Minnesota Erosion and Stormwater Management Certification Program temporarily ceased in‐person workshops due to the spread of COVID‐19. Twenty workshops were canceled, and the 1,233 attendees (all adult learners) were moved into asynchronous online course sections. These online workshops were the first remote courses that many of the attendees had ever attempted. Here, we provide tips for successfully creating online classes for nontraditional student populations. Due to the spread of COVID‐19 in the United States, the Erosion and Stormwater Management Program, a certification program for adult professionals, was required to migrate in‐person courses to an online format in Spring 2020. In this paper, we provide tips for successfully creating online classes for non‐traditional student populations.
I Want to Become a Registered Nurse as a Non-Traditional, Returning, Evening, and Adult Student in a Community College: A Study of Career-Changing Nursing Students The current significant human resource and workforce shortages of registered nurses (RNs) are impacting urban, suburban, and rural hospitals and healthcare facilities all over the globe, regardless of the entities' economic and financial backgrounds. The purpose of this research study is to understand why non-traditional, returning, evening, and adult (NTREA) students decided to enrol at the Associate Degree in Nursing programme during their mid-adulthood? 40 s-career nursing students who are pursuing their nursing programme were invited to individual interview sessions and focus group activities on sharing and expressing the motivations in the New England region in the United States. Based on the theoretical framework of Social Cognitive Career Theory, the researcher concluded that family consideration and higher social status were two of the major themes. The study provided a blueprint for human resource professionals, health and social caring leaders, government agencies, policymakers, and researchers to reform their current nursing curriculum and health workforce policy to attract potential second-career nursing joining the nursing profession.
A Leap of Academic Faith and Resilience: Nontraditional International Students Pursuing Higher Education in the United States International students pursuing higher education in the United States are faced with a multiplicity of challenges such as relocating to a new country, navigating an unfamiliar educational system, overcoming negative stereotypes associated with being an international student, and, in some instances, learning a foreign language. Despite such challenges, international students remain motivated to pursue higher education in the United States. This qualitative study, utilizing Schlossberg's adult transition model as a theoretical framework, explores the lived experiences of 16 international students pursuing higher education in the United States. Emphasis is placed on their transitional experiences in relation to their learning. The major theme that emerged is "major adjustment." Subthemes that emerged regarding these students' adjustments includes (a) diversity and cultural differences in the learning environment, (b) comparative differences in the learning environment, (c) language barriers, and (d) combatting stereotypes. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.
Educational Attainment Past the Traditional Age of Completion for Two Cohorts of US Adults: Inequalities by Gender and Race/Ethnicity The vast majority of studies investigating participation in, persistence through, and consequences of postsecondary education focus on educational attainment status among the so-called traditional population of collegegoers between the ages of 18 and 24. This narrow focus leaves largely invisible the role that an expanding set of educational trajectories throughout adulthood plays in shaping social stratification. Using 35-plus and 20 years of follow-up data from the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY)’s 1979 and 1997 cohorts, we find that a substantial share within each cohort is attaining education well into adulthood, and that these trajectories are patterned according to key social and demographic characteristics. In both cohorts, racial/ethnic differences in educational attainment grew over time and, for those attaining the same degree, members of historically disadvantaged groups did so at an older age. Cohort differences in trajectories emerged, however, when considering the intersection of race/ethnicity and socialized gender. Through careful descriptive analysis of two generational cohorts, our study makes clear the role of educational trajectories in the process of cumulative (dis)advantage across the life course, as well as across generations.

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