Non-traditional students represent an important group of university students, and that is why their motivation to study is an important factor that affects current university education. This study investigates the academic motivation of Czech students who are considered non-traditional because of their age (they are older than 26) and at the same time have experienced a break of at least one year in their formal educational trajectory. The Czech version of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) has been used to measure academic motivation. The purpose of this study is to examine the factor structure of the Czech version of the AMS on a sample of 1,885 first-year students at Masaryk University and determine if this tool is functional even on a specific group of non-traditional students and to identify differences in particular types of academic motivation between traditional and non-traditional students. The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that the Czech version of the AMS is a valid scale with a factor structure corresponding to the original model, and based on measurement invariance analysis we can state that the Czech version of the AMS can be used to compare traditional and non-traditional students. The results of regression analyses suggest that non-traditional students had significantly higher values for all types of intrinsic motivation and lower values for most types of extrinsic motivation. In the case of amotivation, it was again the non-traditional students with significantly lower values, which suggests that the absence of a motivation to study tends to be more common in younger students who are continuously receiving formal education.
This article aims to identify, measure, and deeply understand the educational trajectories of non-traditional students (students over the age of 26 who are enrolled following a break in their formal educational trajectory) studying for education degrees in the Czech Republic. To fulfill the aims, we adapted previously identified types of educational trajectories that are traveled by non-traditional students to the circumstances of the Czech higher education system. We measured the distribution of three types (deferrers, returners, and recurrent learners) in a sample of 713 non-traditional students. We found that the types were nearly evenly distributed, with a slight prevalence of deferrers. For a deeper understanding of these types, we analyzed 30 narrative interviews. Qualitative data revealed each group's specific features, including their attitudes toward higher education studies, their academic enculturation, and their academic skills. We suggest that the returner type should be split into two categories for more specific quantitative analysis. On the basis of our research, we offer tailored recommendations for supporting particular groups of non-traditional students.
This article addresses a perceived gap in higher education literature: there is very little writing that successfully combines the issues of individual learners who dropped out and then returned to higher education – the adult returners. To address this problem, the article draws upon data from the qualitative part of a larger research project that deals with non-traditional students in the Czech Republic. This article analyzes data from eight subjects with drop-out experience chosen from the initial corpus of thirty non-traditional students. The results indicate that adult learners have to deal with three central identities and with potential identity struggles as they interact: student identity, work identity, and familial identity. The final result of the interaction between these identities can be either the integration or the disintegration of identities, whereby one of the possible consequences of identity disintegration is to drop out from higher education.
V této studii se zabýváme problémem tranzice od prezenční k distanční výuce ve vysokoškolském prostředí v době pandemie Covid-19. Vycházíme z analýz y 34 hloubkových polostrukturovaných rozhovorů s učiteli Filozofické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity, v nichž tito učitelé reflektovali svůj přístup k distanční online výuce v době pandemie Covid-19. Ukazujeme, že z působ, jakým učitelé k výuce přistoupili, silně souvisí s jejich pojetím výuky a tím, jak konstruují koncept dobré vysokoškolské výuky. Na základě analýz y rozhovorů rozlišujeme dva polární typy učitelů. Prvním typem jsou funkcionalisté, kteří se koncentrují na předání znalostí a dovedností studentům. V době pandemie s využitím uvážlivé pedagogické analýz y usilují o to, co nejlépe substituovat jednotlivé složky prezenční výuky pomocí digitálních nástrojů a aplikací. Domnívají se, že kvalitní online výuka je náročná, avšak proveditelná a potenciálně přinášející novou kvalitu do vysokoškolského vzdělávání. Druhým identifikovaným typem jsou autentisté, kteří výuku chápou jako vytváření znalostí a dovedností v procesu autentické komunikace mezi učitelem a studenty. Tito učitelé se domnívají, že pomocí online nástrojů není možné prezenční výuku adekvátně substituovat a tranzici k distanční výuce vnímají jako zásadní ohrožení kvality a obecně ohrožení poslání vysokoškolského vzdělávání. and In this study, we address the research problem of transitioning from face-to-face to distance teaching in a university setting during the COVID-19 pandemic. We based our study on an analysis of 34 in-depth semistructured interviews with teachers of the Faculty of Arts at Masaryk University, in which these teachers reflected on their approaches to online distance teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. We show that the way the teachers approached the teaching was strongly linked with their conception of teaching and the way they construct the concept of good higher education. According to the analysis of the interviews, we distinguish two polar types of teachers. The first type are functionalists, who focus on passing on knowledge and skills to students. During the pandemic, using judicious pedagogical analysis, they strove to best replace the various components of face-to-face teaching with digital tools and applications. They believe that quality online teaching is challenging, but feasible and potentially bringing new features to higher education. The second type identified were authenticators, who understand teaching as a creation of knowledge and skills in the process of authentic communication between teacher and students. These teachers believe that online tools do not make it possible to adequately replace face-to face classes and perceive the transition to distance learning as a major threat to quality and to the mission of higher education in general.