Adult Education Quarterly 1980 Clarke 92 100

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QuarterlyAdult Education

http://aeq.sagepub.com/content/30/2/92Theonline version of this article can be found at:

DOI: 10.1177/074171368003000203

1980 30: 92Adult Education QuarterlyJohn H. Clarke

Adults in the College Setting: Deciding To Develop Skills

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ADULTS IN THE COLLEGE SETTING: DECIDING TO DEVELOP SKILLS

JOHN H. CLARKE

ABSTRACT

Survey of Study Habits andAttitude Scores, age variables, and the decision to participate inremediation were examined among 261 academically deficient college freshmen.Analysis ofvariance revealed that older students scored higher than younger groups on three of four SSHA

subscales (p .001). Chi Square test of independence showed that the choice to attend remedia-tion activities was associated with high SSHA scores among members of the oldest group of par-ticipants and low SSHA scores among members of the youngest group (p .007). Discussion fo-cused on the need to study further possible implications of age and attitude differences amongremedial participants.

During the last decade, students increasingly have returned to formaleducation on college campuses after extensive exposure to adult roles and

responsibilities.Adult students on college campuses, unlike adult students innon-traditional

settings,enter an established

preserveof the

young,a

placewhere late adolescents receive &dquo;preparation&dquo; for adult roles.Adults returningfrom experience with motherhood, employment or military service (ordivorce, unemployment and civilian repatriation) do not need the same kindof &dquo;preparation&dquo; that adolescents need, particularly if the mode of instructionrestricts their sense of autonomy. How do traits of character that distinguishadults from adolescents affect their ability to benefit from the collegeexperience?

In several books and articles Malcolm Knowles (12) has identified the dif-

ferences between adult and adolescent learners, pressing for &dquo;andragogy,&dquo;11

which overturns most of the premises of pedagogy on which college instruc-tion is built. K. Patricia Cross (9) has called for adult education programmingthat responds to the needs and special skills of the adult learner. Cyril Houle

(11) has drawn a picture of the older student that emphasizes self directionand energetic pursuit of highly individual goals. But the effort of colleges toattract older students (16) may be drawing adults into an alien and hostile en-vironment where their talents for expression and self development may not beallowed to flourish.

As suggested in the research of Morstain and Smart (17), much of themotivation of adult learners may be inherently remedial. That is, adults mayreturn to college to eliminate deficiencies in their educational experience thathave reduced the range of choice in adult life. Returning students may be

JOHN H. CLARKE isAssociate Director of the Instructional Development Center, The Universityof Vermont.

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retreating now in order to advance later. But in returning to college, adult

students may be activating feelings of powerlessness and other negativeperceptions that Zahn (20) (21) has linked to failure and attrition and which

may help explain the link that Astin (2) found between age and collegewithdrawal. Deficiencies in prior schooling may contribute heavily to the in-clination toward failure or attrition (1).

Positive and negative forces apparently weigh strongly on adults returningto formal schooling. They may be moved to reduce the force of educational

deficiency in their lives, but the presence of the deficiency itself may undercut

their efforts to improve. Returning students may be distinguished from thenormal adult population by level of motivation, but the decision to seekremedial help itself has been linked with low levels of self-acceptance and a

self-derogating attitude (19). The present study aimed to test the propositionthat underprepared college students of different ages would view their defi-ciencies differently and take different steps in coping with the adjustment to

college life: How does the self-appraisal of adult and adolescent students in

college affect their willingness to directly confront their deficiencies throughremediation?

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Roger Boshier (3) (4) has developed a useful model for appraising theadults ability to participate successfully in education. Boshiers theory sug-gests that older students who are motivated by deficiencies and perceive intra-self incongruence and incongruence with the learning environment (whichcan be mediated by interactions of social, psychological and sub-environmental variables) incline toward non-participation. Conversely, older

students experiencing congruence withinthe

self and within the environment(mediated by social, psychological and subenvironmental factors) inclinetoward persistence in learning. Broadly, then, the congruence our in-

congruence with the self and environment largely determines participationand dropout in continuing education.

Success for the older student would thus depend upon the goodness of fit

(3:278) between psychological variables and institutional variables. Con-

gruence with the self and with the learning environment would allow the in-dividual to act positively in behalf of his own growth. Incongruence would im-

pel an individual to accentuate his deficiencies and move toward self-rejection. Boshier argues (3:261) that social variables themselves (age, marital

status, educational background) as catalogued by numerous investigators (11)(7) would not in themselves trigger non-participation. Instead, participationand non-participation would follow the individuals manifestation of con-

gruence or incongruence with his past and present self and with the environ-ment for learning.

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RATIONALE

In developing the present study, we reasoned that students with distinctdeficiencies in their preparation might be identified in a college freshmanclass and, that, when confronted by evidence of deficiency, some would ac-

tively seek remediation while others would avoid remediation and try to sur-

vive alone. We saw the decision to participate voluntarily in remedial pro-

grams as a &dquo;growth decision,&dquo; suggesting both a realistic appraisal of the selfand of the college setting. The rejection of help was seen as a correlate of self-

rejection, suggesting tenuous self-regard and suspicion of the college environ-

ment.

By employinga measure for

congruencebetween the self and the col-

lege setting, we hoped to identify relationships between self/other congruenceand the decision to engage in remediation.

We also reasoned that older skills-deficient students might differ fromadolescent skills-deficient students in their perceptions of self/other con-

gruence. Older college students, who take a non-conventional route throughadult experience back to a college campus, may be differently motivated from

adolescents, who follow a traditional track from high school to college. Dif-ferences in motivation associated with age among skills-deficient college

freshmen might contribute to the decision to improve academic survival skillsthrough remediation.The study aimed to test two hypotheses:

1) Older returning students would differ from adolescent, traditional,students in measures of self/other congruence;

2)Age-related congruence would be associated with participation inremediation.

METHODOLOGY

All 1200 entering freshmen at an urban non-residential Eastern universitywere required to attend an eight hour orientation day that included testing,advising, registration and enrollment in remedial activities if testing scores

suggested skills deficiency. The 261 (c.25%) persons who scored lowest onTheAcademic Skills SelfAssessment Survey (8) or whose writing samples were

found deficient by a team of English instructors received special advising,

following which eachwas

enrolled in a non-credit remedial course or assigneda tutor.Although all the skills-deficient students were led to recognize theiracademic problems through advising and all received a confirmation letterfrom the Deans Office, the students also were told that attendance at the

special programs was voluntary.For purposes of this study, the decision to attend remediation was defined

as actual class participation in at least one hour of instruction.Approximately



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on the subscales of the SSHA, with age and the decision to attend as the in-

dependent variables.Age was categorized in three levels, 19 and younger,20-22, and 23 and older. To test for differences in age and attitude among

participants in remediation, a Chi Square test of independence was

employed, with Study Orientation in two levels (median split) and age againin three levels.

A summary of the analyses of variance for the four subscales of the SSHA,with age in three levels and the decision to participate in two levels (yes/no), is

presented in Table 1.

TABLE 1

ANALYSES OF VARIANCE (3 x 2)-SSHA SUBSCALES BYAGEAND THE DECISION TO PARTICIPATE IN REMEDIALACTIVITY

On three of the SSHA subscales, DelayAvoidance, TeacherApproval andEducationApproval, there were significant differences between age groups(p .001). Surprisingly, however, there were no differences in attitudes or

study habits between those who chose to participate and those who did not,nor were there differences among those who decided on remediation from dif-

ferent age groups. SSHA subscale means for different age groups are

presented in Table 2.



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TABLE 2

MEANS COMPARED BYAGE FOR SSHA SUBSCALES

Multiple comparison tests were applied to the significant main effects

(Scheffe) DelayAvoidance scale. Middle group and older students scored

higher than the younger group (F= 14.78; p


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With p


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students entered college still frustrated by high school experience and in-

terestedin

protecting themselves from what they perceived as further vic-timization and degradation. While the adult students seemed to see their

skills-deficiency as a challenge, adolescent students seemed to see it as an ex-tension of prior failure.

In general, these findings seem to support Boshiers congruence model (3).In his terms, and Maslows (14), the adult students were better prepared touse the growth opportunities provided by the college than adolescentstudents. Adolescent students were prepared to see remediation as a

preliminary form of rejection by the college, consistent with their own ap-parent self-rejection (17). Faced with evidence of skills deficiency, adultstudents appeared to see remedial opportunities as congruent with their wishto grow within a formal instituion. Younger students appeared to see theirskills deficiency and remediation as further evidence of their inadequacy and

incongruence with college study. Further research may reveal whether per-sonal congruence and the availability of remediation differently affect risk offailure among skills-deficient students of different ages.

REFERENCES

1.Anderson, Darrell and Niemi, J.A.,Adult Education and the Disadvan-

tagedAdult. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 1970.2. Astin,A. W., PredictingAcademic Performance in College. New York:

Free Press, 1971.

3. Boshier, Roger. "Motivational Orientation ofAdult Education Par-

ticipants :A FactorAnalytic Exploration of Houles Typology."Adult

Education, 21 (1971), 3-26.4. Boshier, Roger. "Educational Participation and Dropout:A Theoretical

Model."Adult Education, 23 (1973), 255-282.

5. Brown, W. F. and Holtzman, W. H. Survey of Study Habits andAt-titudes, Form C. New York: The Psychological Corporation, 1966.

6. Brown, W. F. and Holtzman, W. H. "A StudyAttitudes Questionnairefor Predicting College Success."Journal of Educational Psychology, 46

(1955), 45-84.

7. Carp,Abraham, Peterson, Richard, and Roelfs, Pamela. "Adult Learn-

ing Interests and Experiences." In K. Patricia Cross and John R. Valley,Planning Non Traditional Programs. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 1974.

8. Clarke, J. H. and Wittes, Simon. Academic Skills SelfAssessment

Survey. San Rafael, CA:Academic Therapy Publications, 1978.9. Cross, K. Patricia. New Students and New Needs in Higher Education.

San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 1972.



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10. Dickinson, Gary. "AlienationAmong RuralAdults of Low Educational

Attainment."Adult Education, 21 (1970) 3-13.11. Houle, C. O. The Inquiring Mind. Madison, Wis.: University of Wiscon-

sin Press, 1961.

12. Knowles, Malcolm. The Modern Practice ofAdult Education. NewYork:Association Press, 1970.

13. Lavin, D. E. The Prediction of Academic Performance. New York: JohnWiley, 1965.

14. London, Jack. "The Influence of Social Class Behavior UponAdultEducation

Participation."Adult Education, 20 (1970), 140-153.

15. Maslow, A. H. Toward a Psychology of Being. New York: VanNostrand, 1962.

16. Martorana, S. V. and Kuhns, E. "Academic Programming," September,1978. ED 165 510.

17. Morstain, Barry and Smart, John. "Reasons for Participation inAdultEducation Programs:A Multivariate Analysis of Group Differences."

Adult Education, 24 (1974), 83-89.18. Rutkowski, K. and Domino, G. "Interrelationship of Study Skills and

Personality Variables in College Students." Journal of EducationalPsychology, 67 (1975), 784-789.

19. Treppa, J.A. "Personality Characteristics of Successful College StudentsWho Enroll in Study Skills Courses." Journal of Counseling Psychology,20 (1973), 549-552.

20. Zahn, J. C. "SomeAdultAttitudesAffecting Learning: Powerlessness,Conflicting Needs, and Role Transition."Adult Education, 19 (1969),91-97.

21. Zahn, J. C. "Differences inAdults and YouthAffecting Learning."Adult

Education, 17 (1967), 67-77.


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Adult Education Quarterly 1980 Clarke 92 100