| Summary: | Following discussions with staff (7), successive and
progressive individual interviews were held throughout
their course with a small group of undergraduates (8)
taking a combined studies degree in a college of higher
education. Data were not confined to the course but took
a broad view, including their formal and informal lives
and the interplay between them. What the informants
faced and how they changed are all clearly illustrated.
The students' experiences are described and analysed
using a concept of transformation as achievement and
process. This concept is compared with other theories of
transformation in the educational literature. It is
argued that the students faced three phases of exposure:
social exposure, the need to be accepted in a new
setting; academic exposure, having to take seriously the
formal judgements of tutors and sustain the will to
study; and the 'final' phase of personal exposure, self-
awareness and letting go of dependence. Commitment,
routine and support were central to success.
Although the concept of education which informs it must
reflect the values of the writer, the argument is firmly
grounded in the data. To obtain an authentic portrayal,
the critical incident technique was deployed in an
extended way, through a form of questioning, which, it
is suggested, could itself have a part to play in the
tutorial role.
The study contributes to a fuller understanding of
students' college careers by offering an holistic
perspective and filling a gap in higher education
research. It was based on data from a few informants in
a small distinctive college at a particular time, but
its possible wider relevance for theory and practice are
discussed.
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