Topic > Experience with non-traditional methods and benefits…

There are only a few times in my college experience that I remember being in a class with much older students. At the time, most older students audited their classes because they could do so without tuition. Therefore, they would be present at lessons except on exam days and were not expected to hand in any of the homework. This bothered me a little at the time because it seemed like they were getting preferential treatment, even though that wasn't the case. The most salient memory I have of a nontraditional student was a course called Comparative Government in which we studied the government structures of the United States, Great Britain, Russia, China, and West Germany. There was a student in his seventies in this class. He was talkative and, unlike all of us, remembered many of the things that happened in the history of these countries. It might, for example, recall the division of Germany and the communist takeover of China. I remember one day in class when he became particularly talkative. Three things strike me on this occasion: (a) the annoyed expression on the professor's face; (b) the irritation I felt at its endless, irrelevant buzz; and (c) the comment made by a classmate in the room: “Someone should put that poor old fool out of his misery.” In another German history lesson, a classmate was a veteran of the Vietnam conflict and naturally had strong feelings about communism in general. Although this student was only 10-15 years older than the rest of us, he had experienced things that the traditional student had only read and heard. One day during the discussion the topic of the division of Germany came up. This sparked a lively and im...... middle of paper ......ices, 43-51. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=ea53e279-aa56-41c9-8269-edc2077884f5%40sessionmgr10&vid= 5&hid=25Ross-Gordon, J.M. (2011). Adult student research: Supporting the needs of a no longer nontraditional student population. Peer Review, 13(1), 26-29. Retrieved from http://www.aacu.org/peerreview/pr-wi11/prwi11_RossGordon.cfmSkopek, T., & Schuhmann, R. A. (2008). Traditional and non-traditional students in the same classroom? Additional challenges of the distance learning environment. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, X1(1). Retrieved from www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring111/skopek111.htmlWlodkowski, R. J. (2008). Improving adult motivation to learn: A guide to improving instruction and increasing student achievement (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.