This article explores the limitations of technology-focused teaching and online learning in 'widening participation' tertiary preparation programs, from the perspective of non-traditional university students, and in their own words. Specifically, the article draws on data derived from the "Life Literacies" academic preparation and action…

Immersive scheduling engages students in one or two subjects at a time over short teaching periods. While there is incipient evidence that immersive delivery can heighten academic outcomes in undergraduate education, much less is known about its effectiveness in pathways or access programs. This exploratory mixed-methods study investigated how a…

This practice report discusses the development of the Head Start Online MOOC. This initiative targeted flexible learners, defined as adults engaged in part-time or online distance learning, during the initial stages of the study life-cycle. Drawing on the literature, the experiences of major international Online and Distance Learning (ODL)…

This paper offers an interpretation of the role of emotions in understanding the transitions that young people make to university. I draw on qualitative research with a group of non-traditional students, entering elite universities, to argue that youth transitions are emotional as well instrumental affairs. I argue that choice-making processes…

New Horizons is a course offered by the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Continuing Education that is aimed at first-time returners to education. In the 20 years since New Horizons was developed for women returners to education and/or employment, it has retained its original developmental outcomes but broadened its target group in response to…

Describes the six-year-old British national educational access program which provides developmental/remedial education to academically underprepared adults. Looks at student characteristics and selection criteria for admission; program components; collaboration between the access program and universities/polytechnics; and lessons for U.S.…

This paper explores two interrelated dimensions of access--opportunities for progression and educational orientation, and offers various insights into what has been termed the "democratic imperative" in American higher education. It also addressed the responsiveness of institutions and faculty in access and other programs to the needs and…

This book about widening educational participation draws on an ethnographic study of 23 students returning to learning through access courses provided at their local further education college in suburban England. Chapter 1 explains how certain poststructural concepts (discourse, hegemony, deconstruction, and subjectivity) are used as analytical…