{"id":{"repo_id":"westminster","oai_identifier":"oai:westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk:q7z4q"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/westminster/oai:westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk:q7z4q","repository":{"repo_id":"westminster","name":"University of Westminster","base_url":"https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/oai2"},"display":{"title":"The experience of part-time students in higher education: a direct comparison with full-time students","abstract":"Despite the fact that part-time students make up a significant proportion of the total number of students in higher education, their experience does not receive the same level of attention as full-time students. Furthermore, when research has been conducted into part-time higher education it has tended to consider part-time students as a discrete group. This study evaluates the experience of part-timers by comparing it directly with that of full-time students who are co-present on the same course. The study is based on a large undergraduate programme at an English university. An analytical framework is developed, based on the concept of student engagement. Key themes are identified to provide the basis for a comparison between part-time and full-time students and respective levels of student performance and student satisfaction are also compared. The findings suggest that part-time students have higher levels of confidence and a better sense of direction, but adopt a much more strategic approach to their studies. By some measures, this could be indicative of a lower level of engagement, but many part-time students would actually welcome a more intellectually challenging course of study. Their strategic approach may therefore simply be a response to a delivery mode which does not adequately distinguish between part-time and full-time students.","abstract_html":"Despite the fact that part-time students make up a significant proportion of the total number of students in higher education, their experience does not receive the same level of attention as full-time students. Furthermore, when research has been conducted into part-time higher education it has tended to consider part-time students as a discrete group. This study evaluates the experience of part-timers by comparing it directly with that of full-time students who are co-present on the same course. The study is based on a large undergraduate programme at an English university. An analytical framework is developed, based on the concept of student engagement. Key themes are identified to provide the basis for a comparison between part-time and full-time students and respective levels of student performance and student satisfaction are also compared. The findings suggest that part-time students have higher levels of confidence and a better sense of direction, but adopt a much more strategic approach to their studies. By some measures, this could be indicative of a lower level of engagement, but many part-time students would actually welcome a more intellectually challenging course of study. Their strategic approach may therefore simply be a response to a delivery mode which does not adequately distinguish between part-time and full-time students.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Burke, A."],"institution":"Lancaster University","degree_name":null,"degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017","date_published":"2017","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:01:41Z","subjects":["part time; full time; comparison; student experience; student engagement; co-present"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["oai:westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk:q7z4q"],"render_values":[{"text":"oai:westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk:q7z4q","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Burke, A."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2017"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2017"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Educational Research"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["Lancaster University"]},{"key":"dc:relation","label":"Dc Relation","values":["https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/q7z4q/the-experience-of-part-time-students-in-higher-education-a-direct-comparison-with-full-time-students"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby","values":["https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/q7z4q/the-experience-of-part-time-students-in-higher-education-a-direct-comparison-with-full-time-students"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis or dissertation"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["part time; full time; comparison; student experience; student engagement; co-present"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["oai:westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk:q7z4q"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Despite the fact that part-time students make up a significant proportion of the total number of students in higher education, their experience does not receive the same level of attention as full-time students. Furthermore, when research has been conducted into part-time higher education it has tended to consider part-time students as a discrete group. This study evaluates the experience of part-timers by comparing it directly with that of full-time students who are co-present on the same course. The study is based on a large undergraduate programme at an English university. An analytical framework is developed, based on the concept of student engagement. Key themes are identified to provide the basis for a comparison between part-time and full-time students and respective levels of student performance and student satisfaction are also compared. The findings suggest that part-time students have higher levels of confidence and a better sense of direction, but adopt a much more strategic approach to their studies. By some measures, this could be indicative of a lower level of engagement, but many part-time students would actually welcome a more intellectually challenging course of study. Their strategic approach may therefore simply be a response to a delivery mode which does not adequately distinguish between part-time and full-time students."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Despite the fact that part-time students make up a significant proportion of the total number of students in higher education, their experience does not receive the same level of attention as full-time students. Furthermore, when research has been conducted into part-time higher education it has tended to consider part-time students as a discrete group. This study evaluates the experience of part-timers by comparing it directly with that of full-time students who are co-present on the same course. The study is based on a large undergraduate programme at an English university. An analytical framework is developed, based on the concept of student engagement. Key themes are identified to provide the basis for a comparison between part-time and full-time students and respective levels of student performance and student satisfaction are also compared. The findings suggest that part-time students have higher levels of confidence and a better sense of direction, but adopt a much more strategic approach to their studies. By some measures, this could be indicative of a lower level of engagement, but many part-time students would actually welcome a more intellectually challenging course of study. Their strategic approach may therefore simply be a response to a delivery mode which does not adequately distinguish between part-time and full-time students."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The experience of part-time students in higher education: a direct comparison with full-time students"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Burke, A."],"dc:date":["2017"],"dc:date.issued":["2017"],"dc:description":["Despite the fact that part-time students make up a significant proportion of the total number of students in higher education, their experience does not receive the same level of attention as full-time students. Furthermore, when research has been conducted into part-time higher education it has tended to consider part-time students as a discrete group. This study evaluates the experience of part-timers by comparing it directly with that of full-time students who are co-present on the same course. 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