Goals and Objectives of Successful Adult-Degree-Completion Students in the School of Continuing Studies at East Tennessee State University.

<p>In this study the researcher's intent was to examine the initial academic goals and objectives of successful adult-degree completers in 4 baccalaureate-degree programs at East Tennessee State University. Although there has been much written about adult motivation to re-enter formal education, there have been few studies of adult students' goals as they entered degree-completion programs. The purpose of this study was to provide a framework for the understanding of the academic goals and objectives expressed by adult students as they were starting to return to college. Research questions that guided the study included exploration of student goals and objectives, an examination of differences among adult students' statements with regard to age, ethnicity, or gender, and an examination of differences in those statements of goals and objectives written over a range of years. An open an axial coding method was developed to analyze 637 statements written by degree-completion students who graduated between 1999 and 2008. Seven themes emerged among students' essays that describe those students' motivations to re-enter the university and their goals at the point of entry to those degree programs. First, students indicated they wanted to earn degrees. Second, some students identified trigger events that had prompted their return to the university. The third theme included professional goals and motivators that were included in students' statements of goals and objectives. Fourth, students cited personal motivators and goals for completing their undergraduate degrees. Fifth, students wrote about institutional barriers that led them to choose a degree-completion program over a more traditional model. Sixth, students wrote about attractive features of their respective adult-degree-completion programs. Seventh, students placed their learning in the context of a broader commitment to lifelong learning.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

EdD (Doctor of Education)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation - restricted

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Johnson, Amy Denise

• Degree-Completion
• Adult Students
• Goal Setting
• Lifelong Learning
• Educational Sociology
• Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Sociology

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright by the authors.

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1724

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-3079