The Nontraditional Student at Illinois State

Richard, Carol; Dunn, Carrie; Price, Kyle

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Description

Title

The Nontraditional Student at Illinois State

Author(s)

Richard, Carol; Dunn, Carrie; Price, Kyle

Issue Date

2009

Keyword(s)

• Nontraditional Students
• Traditional Students
• ANT 285; Fall 2009

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discover the meaning of the term “nontraditional” student at Illinois State University and how the meaning affects the policies directed towards this segment of the student body. We will compare the university’s definition with a national definition, interview nontraditional students and university officials on what the term means to them, and look at university programs and documents of the present and past to see if there has been a change in meaning through time. By discovering how Illinois State defines the term and how its different groups choose to use the term, it will allow the university to better serve this varied group.

Series/Report Name or Number

The objective of this course is to provide students with hands-on training in ethnographic methods and writing and to help students become critical readers of ethnographic research. Instead of attempting to present a whole smorgasbord of research methods or to survey the vast literature on ethnographic fieldwork, we focus on a small selection of techniques that are central to much anthropological fieldwork (field note taking, participant observation, interviewing, mapping) and that are most useful and relevant for students' semester projects. Other techniques and issues are discussed and incorporated as they emerge from students' own research inquiries. Students will not conduct a full-blown research project but instead will get “a taste” of ethnographic research through a series of ethnographic exercises and students' own mini-project. At the end of the semester, students write an ethnographic research report based on their findings and reflections on the research process. This course is affiliated with the EUI and, as a part of this initiative, students are asked to try their hand at ethnographic research about their own institution, Illinois State University.

Type of Resource

text

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