Exploring the experience of ten Australian Honours students

Abstract

Honours study is viewed as a transition from undergraduate to postgraduate study and/or to enhanced career prospects. In Australia, Honours is usually an adjunct to the standard undergraduate degree. This paper provides an ethnographic study of 10 Australian Honours students. Seeing their experience through their reflections, in their own voices, reveals that Honours may be more than transitional – these students were transformed personally. Such emotionally charged transformations require academics to reflect on the best forms of support for Honours students.

Keywords:

• honours
• transformational learning
• undergraduate research

Acknowledgements

Thanks are extended to each of the 10 Honours students, and to the anonymous reviewers who greatly improved this paper. This research was supported by the Charles Sturt University Scholarship in Teaching Fund.