The course was more about the project brief and the theories we are going to stand up for in our research project. We are a group of students who are having a common purpose in finding solutions for part-time studies to become more beneficial in the future. We aim to develop a method that will help the academic institutions to restructure the course in a way that will revolutionise part-time studies and will guide the part-time students to balance work and studies better. Furthermore, we are searching for some fundamental questions and hypothesis that will guide us to improved understanding of a part-time student’s lives and the compromises they have to make to benefit from both worlds, work and studies. In our search for clues and answers, we placed ourselves in their position with the purpose of seeing what is the most important for us and related to other part-time students. Moreover, we discovered that the most critical vulnerabilities and challenges of our daily basis routine based on premises that would start to unravel what are the most influential points and weaknesses of each part-time student experience and how it can be managed to work through the part-time studies.
In our search for critical elements, we discovered four fundamental categories:
After analysing these aspects, we all agreed that it requires multi-tasking skills, commitment, time and a level of understanding on how to prioritise all the workload revealing that part-time student life can be a burden.
Furthermore, we discovered some of the causes that are affecting part-time students and their studies. It has been taken into account not just the student life, but also the work outside the university, which came out being more stressful and engaging than expected. It was brought to our attention that one of the causes might be the employer’s pressure on part-time students. This point of view, which many of us share, where being a part-time student and working at the same time does not leave much of a choice when it comes to responsibilities in the current job and personal life. The part-time student can’t neglect his duties at work or their studies.
Choosing to study part-time is a decision made based on different circumstances. These circumstances vary from one and another. Some might prefer part-time studies because their need of working and pursuing the architectural career and other might have picked it because of long distances or any other aspect of their lives. There are many causes, and we aim to identify all of these and address it adequately to come up with a system that would help any part-time student pursue their dreamed career without being too affected in their daily basis routine. Moreover, in this first session, we started drafting some critical questions that will help us map other part-time students experience such as;
- How competent are you in managing your workload?
- How often do you turn down the opportunity for a social event?
- How often do you cook?
- Sleep patterns
- Travel ( usefulness- activities)
- How often do you go on holiday
- Do your module relate to your interests?
- Is the work you’re producing beneficial?
- Is your family/ partner affected by your studies?
- How repetitive is your daily routine?
MP
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