Resumen de Mature Students in Part-time Higher Education – Perceptions of Skills
This paper explores the interface between skills used outside college, and those perceived as relevant to studies in college. A survey using Freepost reply questionnaires was therefore conducted among 299 students representative of the Birkbeck undergraduate population of circa 3,000 students. Respondents were also invited to rate certain personal abilities and characteristics of mature students, as well as some suggestions for integrating their skills and experience into the study programmes. One hundred and four replies were analysed. The aim of the survey was not to evaluate students' prior experiential learning in order to devise a scheme for giving credit for it. Rather, the aim was to reach a definition of the skill-base the students already possess (or perceive themselves to possess), which may enable teachers to devise improved strategies for course delivery, and students to devise improved strategies for learning.
