Productivity Strategies for Non-traditional Students
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Date
2018-07-18
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Interaction Design and Information Architecture
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Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States
This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by the University of Baltimore for non-commercial research and educational purposes.
This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by the University of Baltimore for non-commercial research and educational purposes.
Subjects
non-traditional students
adult students
returning students
academic attrition - low rates of persistence and degree attainment
juggling busy lifestyle
demand overload and role conflict
productivity strategies
leverage a finite amount of time, attention, and energy across competing areas of life in pursuit of academic goals
adult students
returning students
academic attrition - low rates of persistence and degree attainment
juggling busy lifestyle
demand overload and role conflict
productivity strategies
leverage a finite amount of time, attention, and energy across competing areas of life in pursuit of academic goals
Abstract
Becoming an adult involves taking on additional roles and responsibilities, and with these come the inevitable challenge of facing competing commitments. One extreme and common case of this is the returning student, and because their needs are particularly dire, they are the primary focus of my research. Balancing areas of the returning students’ busy lifestyle is crucial to their success, and at the core of competency lies a strategy for allocating efficient use of their time, attention, and energy. Moreover, although time management and productivity tools abound, no single tool specifically addresses the obstacles returning students confront in managing their limited time, energy, and attention across sometimes conflicting and seemingly incompatible areas of life. As a proposed solution, I created a prototype of a mobile app chock full of productivity strategies that will benefit this target demographic—non-traditional students—among others. This paper presents key findings obtained from a usability research study testing the proposed solution with participants representative of the audience.