Abstrakt
Factors affecting the motivation to study natural sciences are intensively researched. However, most authors focus on younger age groups of the population, especially primary and secondary school students.
In this study, in contrast, we focused on seniors. Their interest-based education at retirement age is becoming more and more important, as the population in the Czech Republic is aging overall.
Our main aim was to discover what motivates seniors to begin studying at university, which we did by conducting semi-structured interviews with eight participants in University of the Third Age (U3A) science-oriented courses at the Faculty of Science, Charles University. In the first part of the study, we look at how the seniors view their lives, including their school years, which helps us understand why they want to begin university studies now.
The majority of respondents reported that they were very happy and positive during their school years. In the second part, we take a look at their current studies of Third Age university courses.
Among the most frequently-mentioned factors that motivated participants to study U3A courses were: an active way of spending free time, interest in current information, expanding what is already known (hobbies), creating new communication topics, a reason to leave the comfort of home, the opportunity to visit interesting places (excursions), the pleasant atmosphere at U3A, and home preparation for courses.