Mature-age students' feelings of enjoying learning in a further education context

Mature-age students' feelings of enjoying learning in a further education contextAuthor(s): John Ferris and Rod GerberSource: European Journal of Psychology of Education, Vol. 11, No. 1 (MARCH 1996), pp. 79-96Published by: SpringerStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23420215 .

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European Journal of Psychology of Education 1996, Vol. XI, n'l. 79-96 © 1996.1.S.P.A.

Mature-age students' feelings of enjoying learning in a further education context

John Ferris

Ithaca College of Technical and Further Education, Australia

Rod Gerber

Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Students' enjoyment in learning is an aspect of the quality of learn

ing which has not been a focus for educational researchers despite its obvious relationship to success in learning. This study adopts a non dualistic approach to investigate the reflected experience of their enjoy ment in learning of sixteen mature-age students in an Australian insti tution for further education. Through a phenomenographic analysis of interview transcripts, the researchers discerned six qualitatively differ ent ways in which the students experienced enjoyment in their learning in further education. These conceptions of enjoying learning in further education are structurally related in terms of the personal experience, the institution's perceived approach to learning, the relevance of the

learning to the students '

careers, the nature of the learning environ ment, the presence of learning stimuli and the intellectual challenge involved in the learning itself.

Introduction

Psychologists and educational theorists have invested vast efforts in the investigation of the learning process. Extensive studies have been conducted into what people learn, how they learn and when they learn. As a result, a range of learning theories were developed and

described throughout the literature. In the last decade, this literature has been augmented by a

growing emphasis on the quality of learning. Studies on the quality of learning have considered the standard of the learning environ

ment, the motivations of people to pursue educational activities (Bova, 1981; Lowe, 1991), competencies developed during the learning process (Mayer, 1992), the teaching delivery modes and strategies used in the learning experience (Bagnall, 1987; Bown, 1989)), gender differences in adult learning (Kaye & Frazee, 1979; Mohney & Anderson, 1988), student

adaptation to higher education (Martin, Bowden, & Ramsden, 1989), the impact of policy doc -

uments and other institutional aspects on learning outcomes, and value of learning for career

development.



80 J. FERRIS & R. GERBER

In higher education, student learning has been a central consideration. Entwistle and

Ramsden (1982), for example, have summarised descriptions of student learning as having a

meaning orientation, a reproducing orientation, a non-academic orientation and a strategic ori

entation. Entwistle (1987) defined the features of approaches to learning in higher education

as a deep approach, a surface approach and a strategic approach. These studies built on earlier

studies on the learning styles of students and the study strategies which they adopted in natu

ralistic settings (Marton & Saljo, 1976; Pask, 1976). This has led to the consideration of levels

of intellectual development. Aside from the work of Piaget in the area of general intellectual

development, the notable models include those by Perry (1970) and Biggs and Collis (1982). The importance of self-concept as a psychological phenomenon has been of general inter

est in the cognitive development of people and its relevance to education has been empha sised. The multi-dimensional and hierarchical nature of this concept, the socio-structural vari -

ations of it in terms of gender, socio-economic status and race, and the impact of age on self

concept have been highlighted in extensive reviews of the literature (e.g. Marsh, 1989; Wylie,

1979). Students' self-concepts could well influence their feelings toward the act of learning in

higher education.

One aspect of quality of learning which has not been a focus of researchers is the concept of enjoyment in learning. Although researchers such as Annesley and Clark (1989) include

enjoyment in learning in their analysis of the affective domain of learning there is very limited

evidence of attempts to analyse student understandings of enjoyment in learning. In fact, the

research literature is dominated by studies that attempt to analyse student enjoyment in learn

ing as perceived by others. These are typified by studies of: teachers as facilitators of enjoy ment in learning through their own love of a subject (Dunkin, 1991) and as direct motivators

of the students to learn their subjects (UTS, 1992); the development of empathy between

teachers and their students (Dunkin, 1991); the use of humour in learning to provide images to

gain the students' attention (Irish, 1980); stimulating teaching strategies (Knox, 1980) and the

development of a positive learning environment (Billington, 1990; Sexton, 1980). The concept of enjoyment in learning, according to the literature, may be understood to

possess the following attributes:

1. Internalised, personal characteristics that include: the personal preference of learning content (Ghazzali, 1979; Reid, 1987); self-concept (Hattie, 1992); self-esteem

(Watkins & Dhawan, 1989); personal lifestyle behaviours (Bown, 1989); the love of a

particular subject (Dunkin, 1991); the acquisition of skills and self-confidence (Reid,

1987); the development of self-satisfaction (Bagnall,1987; TAFE NSDC, 1992); the

creative use of one's leisure time (Holmlov, 1982); and meeting personal challenges

(Delahaye,1987). 2. Motivational factors including: motivation to enrol in a course of study (Sewall,

1982); intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Fordham, 1980; Linke, 1992; Pierce, 1978; Telfer & Swan, 1986); motivation to persist with and to learn course content and skills

(Bova, 1981; Clarke & Boshier, 1981); enthusiastic support and encouragement from

teachers (Gilpin, 1989); and motivation generated by the subject itself (Ghazzali, 1979). 3. A good climate for learning that includes: an educative climate that is supportive,

friendly, spontaneous, informal, open, challenging and non-threatening (Billington, 1990; Sexton, 1980); a group atmosphere that is conducive to socialisation (Balkin,

1992; Sewall, 1982); and group fellowship (Hynes, 1989). 4. The influence of teacher qualities that include: the development of teacher/student

empathy (Dunkin, 1991); personal qualities that include warmth, humour, caring,

understanding and being approachable (Neville, 1979; TAFE NSDC, 1992); and will ingness to offer positive encouragement and feedback (Penland, 1981).

5. The effects of teaching delivery modes and strategies that include: portraying real life

experiences; providing entertainment during the learning experiences; being student

centred; challenging the learners through problem-solving situations; reducing the



MATURE-AGE STUDENTS' FEELINGS OF ENJOYING LEARNING 81

emotion, stress and anxiety of the students during the learning process (Clark, 1985;

Penland,1981;Polak,1977). 6. The extent of the learners' commitment to the institution in which they are learning

which includes the learners' identification with the institution through the exhibition of a strong institutional spirit and positive morale (Lowe, 1991; Houle, 1961).

7. The evidence of rewards for learning which include: gaining or expanding one's

career; obtaining a qualification or some other material reward (Tough, Abbey &

Orton, 1980); gaining pleasure through learning (Warnat,1980); and developing the

ability to solve problems.

As helpful as these outcomes are in clarifying the nature of the concept of enjoyment in

learning, most of the research that has been conducted has focussed on the object (the prob

lem) of the experience rather than the subject (the learner) of such an experience. There is a

growing body of evidence that it is not possible to separate the object from the subject in the

study of human experience. Marton, for example, states that:

... the subject's experience of the object is a relation between the two. In this view, there is no "problem as such for instance. A problem is always understood by someone in some way: it does hot have an independent existence. From a non-dual -

istic ontological perspective there are not two worlds: a real, objective world on the

one hand and a subjective world of mental representations, on the other hand. There

is only one world, a real existing world which is experienced and understood in dif

ferent-ways by human beings. It is both objective and subjective at the same time. An

experience is a relationship between object and subject and encompasses both

(Marton, 1993, pp. 3-4).

Therefore, it is desirable to understand the experience of enjoyment in learning by

focussing on the "subject" aspect of this experience. This will enable the focus of the research

to be on learners' experience of enjoyment in learning in relation to their experience of other

things in their life-worlds. This focus on the totality of people's simultaneous experiences is

what Marton has termed their awareness of a phenomenon (Marton, 1993). The main purpose of this study is to investigate mature-age students' feelings of enjoying learning in a further

education context. The study will take the non-dualistic approach that has been developed by Marton and others and demonstrate the relational nature of the variations in the students' con -

ceptions of the phenomenon of enjoyment in learning in the context of their living and their formal educational experiences.

Research approach and method

Conceptions of enjoyment in learning in further education were investigated using a phe

nomenographic approach. The aim of the research was to determine qualitative differences in students' experience of enjoyment in their learning. A phenomenographic approach was

appropriate for this study as it enabled the collection, description and interpretation of empiri -

cal data that reflect differing individual conceptions of a phenomenon, in this case enjoyment in learning in further education (Dahlgren & Fallsberg, 1991; Dahlgren & Pramling, 1985; Marton, 1981, 1986, 1988, 1992; Saljo, 1979; Spinelli, 1989; Svensson,1985).

Sixteen students from an Australian College for Technical and Further Education (TAFE) were chosen for participation in the study. These students all had some industrial experience and were resuming their studies after a break from full-time study, i.e. they were mature-age students. It was expected, therefore, that these students would have experience of learning in an institution of further education, in the work place and in everyday living. Each student par ticipated in the study on a voluntary basis.




Data for the study were obtained by conducting a Pilot Study to finalise the non-technical

research question (Marton, 1998:193), using an open-ended interview with each student using

phenomenological principles as proposed by Kvale (1983) and following the technique devel

oped by Marton and Saljo (1984). The Pilot Study consisted of the students in another further

education class writing an answer to the question: "What do understand by enjoyment in

learning in TAFE (Technical and Further Education)?" The interview consisted of a thirty

forty minute activity in which the researcher commenced by asking each student the following

introductory question: "From your experience, what do you understand by enjoyment in learn

ing in TAFE?" The interview was designed to obtain the participants' experience of their enjoyment in

learning at TAFE. The researchers achieved this goal by employing phenomenological princi

ples such as: bracketing (i.e. suspending personal judgment about the phenomenon during the

process of the interview), reduction (i.e. assisting participants to refine their understanding of

the phenomenon of enjoyment in learning), seeking the external horizons of the participants'

experience of enjoyment in learning (i.e. encouraging participants through discourse to share

their fullest recollections of their experience of enjoyment in learning), and intentionality (i.e.

investigating the extent of human consciousness in the relevant experiences of enjoyment in

learning in TAFE) (Spinelli, 1989). Each interview was recorded on audiotape as evidence of the discourse and transcribed

verbatim for analysis. The analysis consisted of the use of the nonalgorithmic "discovery" pro cedure developed by Marton and Saljo (1984). An iterative process of data interpretation was

employed by the researchers to discern the qualitatively different ways in which these TAFE

students experienced enjoyment in their learning. This process has been described by

Dahlgren and Fallsberg (1991) as the following sequence of activities: familiarisation with the

data in the transcripts; condensation of the dialogue; comparison of dialogue extracts to find

sources of variation; grouping similar answers; articulating/describing the essence of the simi

larity within each group of answers; labelling the different categories of description; and con

trasting the resulting categories in describing the interrelationships amongst them. In order to

maximise the consistency and the truthfulness of the results, two actions occurred: (a) the two researchers were involved in the process of data analysis and interpretation, initially and sepa

rately and then collectively, and (b) the above-mentioned phenomenological principles were

applied at all stages of the research process, viz. formulating the research question, gathering the data, analysing the qualitatively different variations and making the relevant interpreta tions of the outcomes of the research.

Students' conceptions of enjoying learning in TAFE colleges

The analyses of the transcripts of the interviews with the sixteen students are presented in

the form of qualitatively different categories of description of their feelings about their enjoy ment in learning in their TAFE college. Wherever possible, the students' direct statements are

used to highlight the second-order perspective employed in this research. The students' expe riences are then related to the research literature to identify correlations.

Six qualitatively different outcomes to enjoyment in learning in further education were

revealed in the analysis. They represent a set of "horizontal" variations in the experience of

the phenomenon rather than the more conventional variation in depth, complexity and com

pleteness. These are related to: internalised, personal characteristics of the students; motiva

tional aspects; rewards for learning; the learning environment; the teachers; and the learners'

commitment to the institution. The first variation relates to the nature of the phenomenon, the

second to its function and the remaining four to its differing origins.

Internalised, personalised characteristics of the students

Students in further education indicate that their enjoyment in learning is grounded in their




personal feelings, beliefs and interests in education. The development of a positive self-con

cept was seen to enhance their enjoyment in learning in the TAFE college environment.

Personal interests, such as interest in a particular subject or in specific subject types, are understood as part of enjoyment in learning, while personal accomplishments are experienced as a provocation for the students to succeed through enjoyment of this accomplishment. Even

personal anticipations of subjects yet to come within the course, are seen to be linked with

enjoyment in learning.

Enjoyment in learning, here, applies both to TAFE college as well as to other activities, at work, and socially. It enables the students to apply learning to their overall personal lifestyles. It applies to the student's personal freedom of choice, both to come to college, and

then, to continue to attend. It relates to personal enjoyment in particular subjects, and to per sonal dislike of subjects that have heavy workloads. Enjoyment in learning also includes feel -

ings of personal accomplishment, personal development, self- satisfaction, self-esteem and self-confidence.

The scope of this experience includes a whole personal lifestyle, everything from college, to work life, social life and personal home and family life as well. TAFE is one part of this

personal lifestyle:

... that's my whole lifestyle, evolves around the school and work, and then there is

my family commitment... it is a lifestyle you either get in with the lifestyle or you don't, because you have got to put time into your school (study) as well as running here (to TAFE), your work and everything, unlike, if you go to uni., ... that's your job going to university.

Enjoyment is also emphasised as the most important influence in a personal choice to continue college attendance despite other pressures in life:

Enjoyment is one element, but I think it is the most important element, because if I cannot enjoy it, I think I'd be virtually be wasting my time after a hard day's work, and... it could... quite easily... put me off if it was not enjoyable.

Enjoyment in learning is seen, above all else, as a personal experience. This personal approach exhibits satisfaction through enjoying particular subject types, which in turn, further

encourages students to put additional effort into the subject:

The enjoyment you get out of learning at TAFE is firstly personal... It is just some

thing I enjoy. I enjoy drawing and the concepts... If someone enjoys a subject they do it and they will do it to the best of their ability and they will put a lot of time into it.

Enjoyment in learning as an essential part of a personal lifestyle, is that personal feeling of accomplishment. This accomplishment leads to the student feeling good about the success that is attained, and enables enjoyment in learning to take place, as a matter of course:

Enjoyment in learning, in itself is a feeling of accomplishment. (If) you accomplish something, you feel good about it. (If) you feel good about something, you have got to enjoy it.

The personal reward and satisfaction from the gains and benefits attained from learning are seen as enjoyment in their own right. Understanding of enjoyment in learning relates to personal self satisfaction, self esteem and confidence building:

My enjoyment is a reward. It is self satisfaction from gain and benefiting in areas of learning... there is a reward there of self-satisfaction, probably self-esteem.

This conception includes enjoying a personal challenge itself, and the satisfaction which comes from meeting it. The challenge can be either for its own sake, or in learning about new things. It includes the challenge to go one better, to do better with results gained throughout




the course, but, it is most commonly seen as the challenge in doing or fulfilling something which is either difficult, or has a degree of difficulty.

Enjoyment in learning is experienced as a challenge for is own sake above all else:

Me personally?, enjoyment? I enjoy the challenge more than anything!

The enjoyment of learning is seen as the challenge of being able to learn things that are

new to the student:

Enjoyment in learning in TAFE,... I see that as learning something and enjoying

really enjoying learning about new things and of course at the moment in my situa

tion, I'm learning things at TAFE in the course I'm doing.

Students understand that enjoyment in learning is not just all fun and games. The person al challenge of doing something that is a bit difficult, makes students try a little harder, as this

is part of the challenge that has a rewarding outcome:

It can't all be just a great fun and games, but at the back of my mind, I know, there

is something to be gained through it, doing something that is a bit difficult, and you have got to try a little bit harder. I think, that to me, yes, as representing enjoyment in learning... I can see the end outcome.

What these extracts indicate is that the personal characteristics of the TAFE students

which they believe are relevant to enjoying learning in their studies do not occur in isolation

from their life-worlds. The close linkage between their learning, their work and social life

reflect their view that learning in further education should not be treated as apart of living on

its own. It is related to the other experiences that these students have and the personal chai -

lenges that are involved. The extent to which these personal experiences of enjoyment in

learning contribute to the development of their self-concept and self-esteem is related to the

students' development of self-confidence. The building of self-confidence is also related to the

challenging that these mature-age students experience as they attempt to learn some work

which is quite difficult to them. The personal satisfaction from achieving an understanding of

this knowledge is rated highly as a means for promoting their enjoyment in their learning.

Motivational aspects

These mature-age students are generally self-motivated people who exhibit a determina

tion to learn and hope to enjoy what they are doing in the process. The enjoyment that these

TAFE students derived from their learning was definitely related to several identifiable moti

vational aspects. These include: interest in the work that was being learned, a yearning for

new knowledge, enthusiastic support from the teachers, the intrinsic wish to know more and

become a more knowledgeable person and a conscious desire not to become bored with the

learning since most of the learning was occurring after normal working hours.

These forms of motivation encouraged the students to become involved in what was

occurring in the course; helped lock out distractions; kept them coming back to classes; played an important role in their staying alert in class; and made it easier for students to learn. As one

student noted:

From my experience, enjoyment in learning helps you to understand what's going on

within the course, and helps you to become more involved in what's going on

because, you 're happy to be there...

The stimulus derived from enjoying the learning that is occurring in the lessons is

believed to help the students to pay attention. If the students are enjoying what they doing then

it is more likely that they will be focused on what is being learned. One student stated that:




... if you are enjoying what you are doing... locking out any distractions around you or whatever and you sort of honing in on what's going on.

The students left no doubt that if the teachers were enthusiastic and they presented the

learning in an interesting and motivational manner then the students would be closely interest

ed in what was happening in the lesson. They went as far as to indicate that if the learning was

experienced as being enjoyable it would stimulate learning and reduce boredom. One student

declared:

Just straight forward learning from a book or talking about it all the time, becomes

a bit boring. If it has got that bit of enjoyment in it, or bit offun, or whatever you are

going to call it, it eases out boredom. It is easier to learn.

The motivation that comes from a yearning for knowledge for its own sake was evident

in the students' responses. It includes an understanding of getting used to studying after some

years away from formal study and perhaps including some thoughts about progressing to uni

versity upon completion of their current studies. Also, it involves the experience of studying as a means of learning. Enjoying learning is seen as an important ingredient in the act of learn

ing. Some students believed that one had to want to learn if one was to enjoy the experience. This yearning for knowledge is seen as part of the lifelong educative experience that people undertake as they become more intelligent human beings.

Enjoyment in learning is seen as an intellectual experience which enables students to feel

good about how they learn, and gives them intellectual ambitions that they could not have had

before, such as advancing to university. One student said:

I'm getting used to studying, so, because I am looking at going ahead with it, going to uni, and such, afterwards, so, I'm learning to enjoy it, enjoying being,... I'm get

ting back to feeling good about how I do things, because I have never actually been

a good learner... studying, is one way of getting to learn things. Enjoying it, is, basi

cally, part of study.

In addition, enjoyment in learning is believed to offer future overall benefits to students' careers. Intellectual experiences such as further education; becoming a more intellectual per son; and being able to converse with people on various subjects are seen as important. One student observed:

... it offers me something else for the future: advancement, probably a more satisfy ing career, well, just, further education. It makes me a more, I suppose, intellectual

person, sort of, able to talk with people on various subjects.

In most instances, the motivation that these students talked about was something that they generated rather than being something that was imposed upon them from outside agencies. The forms of motivation that were mentioned by the students are closely integrated to their own life-worlds. For example, the ones that expressed a yearning for new knowledge indicated how this knowledge could improve their knowledge of the world and increase their effective ness as they operated in it. On the other hand, the students who adopted a much shorter-term view of enjoyment in learning noted its importance for: minimising boredom, increasing atten tion in class after a day's work in their normal jobs and for increasing the opportunities for effective learning. The relevance of these forms of motivation to the learning process itself in the TAFE college became very important as one read and reread the transcripts.

Rewards for learning

The earlier research reported in this article indicated that the rewards for learning which researchers had detected included gaining or improving one's career, obtaining a qualification, gaining pleasure from learning and developing the ability to solve problems. In this study, the




main rewards that the TAFE students perceived were: gaining improved career opportunities and developing a positive relationship between learning and work practice.

Enjoyment in learning is experienced by the TAFE students as enhancing their gaining of

improved career opportunities through helping them to perform tasks better within their

careers in the building industry, and giving students the opportunity to understand their jobs more fully. They are likely to be rewarded for their learning with promotion in their present work situations or within the building industry generally. Avenues into other jobs may open

up and the students expect to obtain jobs that require these additional qualifications. These

opportunities may lead away from manual jobs and into administrative positions. Gaining these opportunities, is expected to yield a better lifestyle and a better standard of living, yet students expect to work hard to gain these career opportunities.

Enjoyment in learning is experienced as an interest in the building industry which leads

to further advancement in the students' careers. The interest in different building techniques, essential to a career in building, is also seen as important:

I think, at first you must have a common interest in the subject that you 're at TAFE

for, such as my interest in the building industry. As an apprentice carpenter, I find it

a further step in my career, as well as an interest I have in different building tech -

niques and furthering my studies in the career.

Enjoyment in learning may be gained by looking forward to learning the things that the

students feel can open doors into bigger career opportunities in their working lives:

... I was really looking forward to learning the things that I feel... could get me

somewhere or could give me a bigger opening in employment opportunities and

whatever comes available on the way.

This view includes an expectation that a considerable amount of hard work is required to

attain career advancement. This may eventually yield a better job, improved lifestyle, and a

higher standard of living:

I think, being given the opportunity to help yourself to be able to become something better in life. Or through, maybe, doing a course of study, getting a better job, enjoy

ing a better lifestyle, better standard of living, and in a hard sort of a way, that, there is enjoyment... in that... There is a lot of hard work in it to be able to get

through a particular course of study and to enjoy the benefits that come with that.

Enjoyment in learning, here, is seen also as promoting a positive relationship between

learning and work practice. It is experienced as enabling students to understand certain work

practices, and assists them to see how their study and work life fits together. As a result, a bal -

anee between the knowledge base of education and the associated work practice may be estab

lished. Enjoyment in learning at TAFE is seen as helping students in their jobs by assisting them to comprehend the implications of what is being constructed on the job site, as the result

of the learning that takes place through TAFE, and it can give the student a feeling of being more educated and skilled to cope with work life.

Enjoyment in learning is associated with learning in the TAFE course, while the student

is gaining experience at work. There is a beneficial balance between learning and work prac tice for the student:

... you are going through and you are out in the field as well, getting the practical and getting the knowledge...

Students see the relationship between learning and work practice as helping them to

advance both in the course, and at work, at the same time:

It helps me at work. From doing the course, they put me into the position of as fore man for a while now, and it has helped me at work as well.




Enjoyment in learning through the association of learning and work practice, allows stu

dents to understand what is happening on the work site, because of the knowledge that is

being gained through the TAFE course. This gives the student a feeling of reward, and subse

quently, self satisfaction:

You know, I find enjoyment, all my first year of TAFE, I found that Construction has

been fairly enjoyable... because being on the work site, on the construction site, for so many years now, and not knowing what was going on, and then, all of a sudden in

one year realising, "Oh yeah! That's why they do this. That's why they do that!" It

just... all clicks in, and you get some... self satisfaction out of it as well as enjoyment.

That is enjoyment! Getting something back out of something. Self satisfaction, I

think, is enjoyment!

The willingness by the students to link enjoyment in learning with the possibility of career advancement indicates that they have a strong utilitarian interest in obtaining tangible benefits from their learning. For these students the close linkage between learning and work

has come about because they are already employed in the building industry and the incentive

for further study is that of job improvement that may include promotion. There is little subtle -

ty in their desire to climb the career ladder and to be rewarded for the qualifications which

they hope to acquire through their studies at a TAFE college. Such desires are also related to

the students' desires to improve their self-concept through promotion in their workplace. The

mechanism for this to occur is an academic qualification. Such a qualification will be obtained from their studies at the TAFE college.

The learning environment

The aspect of the learning environment which was seen to be important to some TAFE students consisted of a comfortable classroom atmosphere. For these mature-age students a desirable classroom atmosphere includes the students expecting the teacher to tell some jokes to the class. A positive classroom atmosphere is viewed as a motivation for the students to attend college regularly, and leads to students helping others in class. It encourages students to ask more questions, enables them to feel more relaxed, and allows them to express themselves

freely in class.

This atmosphere includes students not only enjoying being in the classes, but also enjoy ing the lessons, and enjoying being with other members of the class group as well:

...and the enjoyment is like being in the lectures and enjoying the lectures and the

people around you.

Enjoyment allows individual students to create a positive classroom atmosphere which

includes, themselves, the teacher and companions within the group. This atmosphere leads to students helping others; encourages them to ask more questions; enables them to feel more

relaxed; and permits them to feel free to express themselves in class:

You create a good (classroom) atmosphere amongst yourself the lecturer, and your class mates.

... if you are enjoying what you are doing you can help other people, you ask more

questions, you feel more relaxed and you are able to open up, and take in as much as you can and also, say how you feel and express yourself...

From the experience of a comfortable classroom atmosphere, students are unafraid to ask

questions, as they believe that they learn through asking questions:

Because the atmosphere you are in, is a comfortable atmosphere. You are not afraid of asking questions. And that's the way you learn, by asking questions.



J. FERRIS & R. GERBER

Classroom atmosphere includes the teacher telling some jokes in class. Jokes are seen by students as a desirable element within the class lesson and are sometimes expected:

Class atmosphere... Crack (i.e. crack a joke) as we call it! How about a joke, you know... more... (jokes on request).

Also, classroom atmosphere is considered a very important facet of learning and a high

priority for any teacher's classroom. It keeps students attending, helps them learn more

because students are more in tune with what is going on, and prevents boredom:

If it is not enjoyable, I find I'm getting easily bored. I'm not learning what I should

be learning, because my mind is not tuned in to what the lecturer is saying, because

I'm bored. I think, for those reasons alone, that enjoyment should be a high priority in any lecturer's classroom, just to achieve a high success rate with his students, I

feel.

There is little doubt that these students' view of a positive classroom atmosphere relates

closely to the concept of a good climate for learning. It involves the integration of a friendly,

non-threatening learning context in which the atmosphere is conducive to socialisation and

there is evidence of group fellowship. For mature-age students who have normally completed a day's work before they come to their evening class, such an atmosphere is essential as

another form of intrinsic motivation.

Teachers ' actions in the classroom

This conception focuses on the students' feelings about their teachers. It includes opin ions about the way that they teach and the way they relate to their students. Enjoyment in

learning is influenced through the teacher's approach to the subject, and the teacher's ability to relate to the teaching methods that students need. Teachers are enjoyed if they make their lessons interesting through the use of a range of strategies, encourage feedback, and consider the students' feelings in the way they teach.

Enjoyment in learning as experienced by these TAFE students is influenced by the

teacher's approach to the subject and his/her ability to use teaching methods that the students believe that they need. They believe that the teacher should try to make the subject interesting for the students as this also affects the students' attitude toward the teacher. Teacher empathy with the students can also reverse negative attitudes that students have toward a subject. The

following dialogue illustrates these points:

Yes! Subjects you like. If you are interested in learning, and even if it is in a subject that you don 7 like, (it) would have (something) to do with the way it is taught as

well. You (the teacher) have to try and make it interesting for them. I don't know, I'm not a teacher, but, you (teacher's name) try and make it interesting for them.

Researcher: So you think the teacher... can try to make it interesting for people?

Respondent:... try and do a few things to keep the interest of a subject, not just drum

it in... all the time... (if) somebody drums it into you all the time, you don't like it.

But if you tell a few stories or something like that, referring to that makes a lot (of

students) interested.

For these students, student/teacher empathy includes teachers relating to the students and

encouraging feedback from their students. These students want their feelings considered by the teacher, and require class participation in the lessons. Teachers with old-fashioned and

detached attitudes toward teaching are viewed negatively by students who want more relaxed

teaching approaches. These mature-age students want to be treated as adults, and enjoy com

ing to class when teachers with positive attitudes are teaching. The following two extracts

demonstrate what these students think about their teachers' approaches and attitudes:




Well, I think, that if a teacher just... stands up there during class and rambles on and

is not interesting, I think if there is no feedback in general communication where

students are allowed to have their say, what they want to put in, whether it be right or wrong, I think there has to be some sort of class participation where students are

allowed to interact with each other as well as the teacher's (own participation).

...Teachers who have a more relaxed attitude, rather than... the old fashioned way... this is adult learning, but teachers usually treat you as adults and not just students.

Naturally, you get on better with some teachers more than others. I think you enjoy

coming to class when you when you have that teacher on who is teaching that

night....

These comments indicate that TAFE students, like other students in post-secondary edu

cation, do value the development of strong a student/teacher empathy in which teacher attrib -

utes of humour, warmth, caring and understanding are exhibited. While not explicit, one

would expect that such a relationship would include the willingness by the teacher to offer

positive encouragement and constructive feedback to the students during lessons.

A further aspect of teaching which was noted by the TAFE students related to the deliv

ery of the actual lessons. It emphasised the use of teaching methods that involved regular

opportunities for class participation through both individual oral work and group discussions.

Enjoyment in learning is experienced as class participation where students are called

upon to answer questions in class, or to talk from their previous experiences and relate to

aspects of the lesson that are intriguing to the group:

Also to enjoy oneself,... there must be a certain level of class participation, student

participation, and the fact that (students) must be called upon to answer queries or

talk from previous experiences or bring up (an) aspect which (others) might find

intriguing itself.

Class participation is associated with the oral activities and group discussions that are

found to be enjoyable, and result in the students learning as they participate:

I think that oral activities during class where you might do group discussion, group

participation is important... personally, I find that enjoyable. If you, or the group might have to organise, or decide on something, or put something together, those

sort of activities certainly make the time pass quicker, while you are at college, any

way, not only will the time pass quicker but you must be learning something. You

must be enjoying it as well as learning something.

Participation in the class is also experienced through mixing and working with others, and achieving goals with others through both co-operating as a group and socialising at the

same time:

... by mixing with others,... working with others you gain enjoyment through working with others, and achieving things with others, which happens in the class some

times,... for example, in the Communications class, all the subjects, you... get togeth er and work... in group... schemes in class, and you achieve goals in your class, by

working as a group, and that... relates back to that socialisation, and again enjoy ment in learning.

These views from the TAFE students do relate to previous research (e.g. Clark, 1985; Penland, 1981; Polak, 1977) that conclude that students in their learning should encounter the

portrayal of real-life experiences. These learning experiences should also be student-centred; be entertaining and should reduce the students' anxiety during the learning process because most of these TAFE students are returning to formal study after a considerable absence from an educational institution. Quite often, they had a low regard for such institutions in their




youth. Therefore, the teaching methods used in their classes need to promote enjoyment in

learning more than the knowledge to be learned.

The learners ' commitment to the institution

The extent to which learners associate with the institution in which they are studying has

been shown to be an influence on the extent to which they enjoy their learning experiences

(Houle, 1961; Lowe, 1991). The nature and extent of their commitment to the respective insti

tution is seen as a direct result of the way in which it mediates the students' experience of

learning. This commitment emanates from factors external to the student. The students feel that

their TAFE college has been formed by relevant government policies about further education.

It is also grounded in the students' beliefs that : people come to TAFE because of the enjoy able surrounds; the Government has geared TAFE for the mature age student; and it has

designed the place to entice the students to study there. It is seen as enjoyment in the TAFE

system which is of benefit to students. TAFE is seen as being better than universities in teach

ing, since the students are both attending college and are working during the day as well. There is a perception of comfort in the way that the TAFE courses are conducted because of

the relaxed atmosphere and the appreciation that knowledge may be learned more easily at TAFE colleges. The following statement from a student illustrates these beliefs:

... enjoyment in learning in TAFE, I think the... Department (the State government

department) has geared TAFE for the mature age student, well, the courses we are

undertaking, anyway, and to entice the mature age student into TAFE courses and

expanding their own knowledge, the surrounds must be enjoyable, there must be a

little bit of a relaxed (atmosphere) yet serious enough to grasp the knowledge which

we have been fed. Without this enjoyment... you wouldn't have the mature age per son undertaking these studies and being able to learn more easily, because, it is a

long time between schooling for lots of us, therefore, the TAFE system and the

enjoyment the TAFE system brings in learning, is very beneficial to people such as

myself. And, without wanting to come here week after week, and, well, I just simply wouldn't be here if the premises, lecturers, and other such people weren 't helping me by wanting me to come, and making this place seem attractive.

Understandings of enjoyment in learning emanating from the institution, demonstrate a

student-based belief that TAFE is better than a university in its teaching, because students in the part-time course can work and study at the same time:

Where I think TAFE is ahead of university is (in) teaching as you are going through and you are out in the field as well.

Students express feelings of comfort with TAFE courses. Emanating from this, they feel

better about what they are being taught, and are comfortable in the institution itself:

I'm comfortable with the way the TAFE courses are conducted. I feel better about

what I am being taught, andjust the different aspects of learning.. in the college, are

becoming second nature. So, it is not such a confusing place to be.

Based on their experiences of learning in a TAFE college, these mature-age students

express a commitment to their institution. They believe that it is the from of commitment that enhances the enjoyment that they experience when learning there. It is questionable if, on the basis of their expressed experiences, that one could claim, along with Houle and Lowe, that this commitment is exhibited through a strong institutional spirit and positive morale.

However, their comments do suggest the beginnings of such a commitment. What is certain is that these students do not see a university as a more desirable institution in which to study.




Discussion

The results of this study have been derived from a second-order perspective unlike most

of the reported studies in the literature which are from a first-order perspective. This is impor tant to note because the researchers who adopted a first-order perspective did so using "objec -

tive" research methods such as traditional experimental/clinical approaches, surveys, observa

tional studies and meta-analyses. The results, here, are distinctive for they represent the stu

dents' experiences in as a strong a form as possible, i.e. in their own words as they reflect on

their own experience. The researchers have stepped back from interfering in the reporting of

this data by adhering to previously-stated phenomenological principles, especially through the

bracketing of their beliefs on the topic and their focus on the intentionality of the students as

they reported their experiences. Therefore, the interpretation that the researchers have placed on this data has been couched in the words of the participants. This approach offers increased

power to the statements of the students' experience of enjoyment in learning in further educa

tion. As such, the results of this study may be used to provide a different perspective to the

study of enjoyment in learning - the students' perspective through the eyes of the student.

As summarised early in this article, the concept of enjoyment in learning may be deemed

to include: internalised, personal characteristics; motivational factors; rewards for learning; elements of the learning environment; attributes from the teachers' approaches and the learn

ers' commitment to their educational institution. The extensive list of studies reported in this

summary have generally concentrated on a single aspect of enjoyment in learning and have

adopted one of these "objective" research methods. The non-dualistic method used in this

study sought to reveal the students' understanding of the concept of enjoyment in learning in

further education by considering the qualitatively different ways in which a group of mature

age students experienced such enjoyment. Careful analyses of the transcripts of interviews with these students that searched for

variations on the basis of the content of the reported experience and how it is approached or

organised provide the bases for these results. The resultant six variations indicate that within

this group of mature-age Australian TAFE students the concept of enjoyment in learning in

further education has been experienced quite broadly and that it can be correlated quite closely with reported research studies. Therefore, it may be concluded that the students' experiences do match to a large extent the results of the previous "objective" studies.

Interpreting the interrelationships amongst the six variations is an important component of a phenomenographic analysis. One way to conduct such an interpretation is to think of the con

cept of enjoyment in learning in terms of the relations between those attributes that are internal

to the learner and those that are external to the learner. Both sets of attributes are considered

within the context of the further education college in which the students conduct their learning. Two of the variations may be described as internal - the internalised, personal character

istics of the learners and their commitment their educational institution. What the students feel

toward the learning experience and how they think about it emanate from within themselves as a result of their experience in the TAFE college, their work and their social lives. The personal choices that they make about their studies are influenced by the extent of the satisfaction that

is derived from such decisions. The extent to which the students experience a growth in their

self-concept or in their self-esteem depends to some extent on these choices, but also on some

influences that are external to them which will be discussed later.

Their commitment toward their institution was a highly personalised aspect of their expe rience. Even though this commitment was influenced by external forces such as advertising from different educational institutions, the views of other students and the media, it is essen

tially a personal outcome of their experience. These students have not experienced other post

secondary educational institutions and so their commitment to their current institution is

grounded in their actual experiences and their images of other places of which they know little. The variations of enjoyment in learning in further education that are external to the learn

er consist of the learning environment and the teachers who manipulate this environment to

promote learning. While researchers such as Billington (1990), Hynes (1989) and Sewall




(1982) conducted detailed studies of aspects of a good learning climate, the students in this

study placed most emphasis on the atmosphere in the classroom as the basis for such a cli

mate. They agreed with the previous researchers of the need for a friendly, supportive atmos

phere that is conducive to socialisation and group fellowship. For the students, the idea of

enjoyment meant not only being pleased to be in the classroom, but also enjoying what they were learning.

The effect of the teacher on the learning process has been widely investigated. Extensive

studies were reported of the investigations of teachers' qualities and delivery modes. These

studies emphasised the qualities and the teaching approaches as separate elements in the learn

ing process. In this study, they were interwoven as the students reflected on the ways in which

their teachers used their qualities to enhance enjoyment in their learning through a variety of

teaching approaches in their TAFE context. The students' focus on the importance of a posi tive student/teacher empathy being developed in the learning process was a means for achiev

ing this integration. Additionally, the emphasis placed by the students on the use of teaching

approaches that focused on group participation rather than individualised learning was seen to

be of importance in improving their enjoyment of learning in their TAFE college. The two variations that extended across the internal-external divide were motivation and

rewards for learning. The intrinsic and extrinsic nature of motivation, which has been widely

accepted in previous research studies has also been experienced by the students in their learn

ing activities. The students acknowledged that if they enjoyed their learning it was because

they were been driven by intrinsic goals such as a personal desire to know more and be able to

converse effectively with others. Also, they were being spurred on by extrinsic goals such as

the chance for a better job and for developing a positive relationship between learning and

work practices. The distribution of the categories amongst the participants reflects the belief held in phe

nomenography that a person may hold more than a single variation about a phenomenon. No

one participant held a single conception of the phenomenon. A count of the frequency of the

variations amongst the participants revealed that evidence of the internalised, personalised characteristics of enjoyment in learning was found in 9 participants; aspects of motivation in

the responses of 10 participants; the idea of rewards in 8 cases; aspects of the actions of influ

ential teachers in 7 cases; a focus on the learning environment in 6 cases; and the learners'

commitment to their institution in 5 cases. No one participant exhibited more than three differ

ent variations in their experience of enjoyment in learning. This spread of combinations in the

students' experience reflects the value of engaging in an analysis of collective data rather than

a focus on the individual in phenomenographic studies.

Experience of enjoyment in learning is an element of the students' affective domain. It is

a challenge for a researcher to understand the content of such an experience as well as to

appreciate the students' feelings of the experience. The interviews did provide the substance

for the six qualitative variations and they also provided some indication of the students' feel

ings and attitudes towards the phenomenon of enjoyment in learning. These feelings were gen

erally quite positive when enjoyment in learning was experienced in the TAFE environment.

If the teachers were using traditional expository methods the students generally reported feel

ings of boredom and disinterest. If the classroom atmosphere didn't encourage group interac

tion then the students expressed negative attitudes toward learning. Consequently, their level

of enjoyment diminished considerably. The outcomes from the present study do produce non-dualistic results and they indicate

how a series of variations cannot only be described, but they can also be related structurally in

order to produce coherence to the meaning of the experience of the phenomenon of enjoyment in learning. In addition, this approach revealed one variation which has not been a focus of

previous research studies. This was that enjoyment in learning is seen to be an intellectual

experience that could lead to the thirst for more education and the associated knowledge and

competence development. All of the other variations have been researched in some ways, but

not using the second-order perspective that was used in this study. On the basis of this initial study, further research could be undertaken to investigate:




1. conceptions of other affective aspects in the learning process, e.g. the learners' expe rience of success;

2. the different qualitative voices that learners use when they are engaged in the actual

process of learning;

3. a broader understanding of the experience of quality in learning; 4. closer investigations of the teacher-learner relationship from the experiences of both

teachers and learners; and

5. conceptions of enjoyment of learning in different educational and community con

texts.

Research in these areas have prospect for improving our wholistic understanding of the

teaching-learning process, informing curricular and policy development associated with learn

ing experiences and will ensure that the learners actually acquire a voice in educational

process.

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Key words: Adults, Enjoyment, Learning, Non-dualism, Phenomenography.

Received: March 1994

Revision received: June 1994




John Ferris. Ithaca College of Technical and Further Education, Fulcher Road, Red Hill, Brisbane, 4059, Australia.

Current theme of research:

Quality in learning. Learning Graphics. Wayfinding. Self-directed learning in the workplace.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Gerber, R., Boulton-Lewis, G., & Bruce, C. (1994). Children's understandingof graphic representations of quantitive data. In H. Haubrich (Ed.), Europe and the Worl in Geography Education (pp. 217-242). Nurnberg:

Geograaphiedidaktische Forschungen (in press).

Gerber, R. (1991). Chieldren's understanding of size and shape on small scale maps. Cartography, 1-18.

Gerber, R. (1992). How do students in higher education perceive maps? Nederlandse Geographische Studies, 142, 115

-133.

Gerber, R., Kwan, T., & Bruce, C. (in press). Young adolescents uses of maps whilst wayfinding in a suburban enviro

ment. Journal of environmental Psychology.

Rod Gerber. Ithaca College of Technical and Further Education, Fulcher Road, Red Hill, Brisbane, 4059, Australia.

Current theme of research:

Quality in learning. Learning Graphics. Wayfinding. Self-directed learning in the workplace.

Most relevant publications in the field ofPsychology of Education:

Gerber, R., Boulton-Lewis, G., & Bruce, C. (1994). Children's understandingof graphic representations of quantitive data. In H. Haubrich (Ed.), Europe and the Worl in Geography Education (pp. 217-242). Nurnberg:

Geograaphiedidaktische Forschungen (in press).

Gerber, R. (1991). Chieldren's understanding of size and shape on small scale maps. Cartography, 1-18.

Gerber, R. (1992). How do students in higher education perceive maps? Nederlandse Geographische Studies, 142, 115

-133.

Gerber, R., Kwan, T., & Bruce, C. (in press). Young adolescents uses of maps whilst wayfinding in a suburban enviro

ment. Journal of environmental Psychology.



Documents

Mature-age students' feelings of enjoying learning in a further education context