Peer learning in international higher education: the experience of international students in an Irish university

Some of the main concerns in international higher education are the feeling of isolation among international students and their inability to adapt to the host environment, which may result in sub-optimal academic performance. Theoretically, peer learning can be an effective method to reduce these problems since it has the capacity to address isolation and adaptability issues among international students in a way that improves their learning experience and outcomes. Given the above, our study was designed to investigate this topic, focusing on the experience of international students. In this exploratory case study of a leading Irish university, we adopted a survey method via questionnaire to quantify and compare the experiences of a sample of international students at the said university. Five aspects of peer learning were explored, namely usage rate, current practices, outcomes, challenges, and coping strategies. We also included an open-ended section in the survey instrument for respondents to offer qualitative suggestions to the host institution. Through methodological triangulation of the quantitative and qualitative data, we discovered diverse practices, challenges, and outcomes of peer learning across different groups of international students in this university. The paper concludes with a discussion of research implications and suggestions for future studies.     

CAKES (Cultural Awareness and Knowledge Exchange Scheme): a holistic and inclusive approach to supporting international students

Transition support for international students has traditionally adopted deficit models which attempt to ‘fix’ assumed academic literacy problems. This study explores a more culturally inclusive initiative which supported international students at a UK university in a holistic and developmental way. The initiative was delivered across an academic year and a mix of focus groups and semi-structured interviews were undertaken for evaluation purposes. Although small-scale, the initiative emerged as a lively learning community which was highly successful in facilitating both academic and sociocultural transition. Qualitative data illuminate a number of fruitful methodological foci, including informality of the learning space and exploration of intercultural learning and teaching practices. Findings indicate that these cultural explorations were instrumental in helping students navigate the new learning and teaching system and forge a stronger sense of academic and social belonging. These outcomes were cultivated within an ethos that valued and enhanced the diverse skills, identities and attributes that students brought, rather than one that suppressed their previous learning practices. Findings thus demonstrate how transition and academic success can be facilitated in ways that do not problematize international students and highlight the need for more holistic and inclusive ways of supporting them.     

The international flow of third level lesser developed country students to developed countries: Determinants and implications

This study analyses the international flow of third level developing country students to advanced countries from the perspective of sending authorities in developing countries. The magnitude of this flow can hardly be overemphasized; on the basis of a conservative estimate made in the article, the annual loss of foreign exchange entailed by this flow amounted to 17 percent of the interest repayment on total external debts of the lesser developed countries (LDCs) in 1979, a sum which the developing countries themselves can hardly ignore.On an aggregate basis, our principal hypothesis is that the outflow of students is determined primarily by excess demand for third level education in developing countries. The empirical results support this hypothesis, while pointing to the importance of other factors. Excess demand for third level education in the developing countries is one of the most important determinants of the flow of developing country students to the advanced countries.On the whole, expansion of developing country tertiary education, at the national or regional levels, could effectively divert some of the flow to local institutions. Aside from this, expansion can also be argued on the basis of the high returns to third level education in developing countries compared to the returns to physical capital, as well as the considerable economies of scale associated with this level of instruction. Further, given the willingness/ability of the students to pay, as witnessed by the fact that the vast majority of developing country students finance privately their education abroad, the expansion of third level education in LDCs could be funded substantially via user charges and student loan schemes.     

Understanding academic performance of international students: the role of ethnicity,academic and social integration

More than 3 million students study outside their home country, primarily at a Western university. A common belief among educators is that international students are insufficiently adjusted to higher education in their host country, both academically and socially. Furthermore, several groups of international students experience considerable amounts of stress while adapting to the culture of the host-institute. Several researchers argue that studies on adaptation of international students should widen its focus to the underlying mechanisms that leads towards this “misalignment”. In a cross-institutional comparison among 958 students at five business schools in the Netherlands, differences in academic performance between local and international students were identified by focussing on their levels of academic and social integration. Students’ academic integration was measured with the Students’ Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ), while students’ social integration was measured with a newly developed and validated questionnaire. The results indicate that the degree of academic success of international students is multi-faceted. International students with a (mixed) western ethnic background perform well on both academic and social integration, and also attained higher study-performance in comparison to domestic students. In contrast, international students with a non-Western background are less integrated compared to other international students. Nevertheless, they have a similar study-performance. Finally, academic adjustment is the main predictor of study-performance for Dutch, Western and Mixed-Western students. Social adjustment was negatively related to study-performance. The lack of fit for predicting long-term study success of non-Western students indicates that their academic and social integration processes are more complex and non-linear.     

A distributed model for managing academic staff in an international online academic programme

Online delivery of programmes of Higher Education typically involves a distributed community of students interacting with a single university site, at which the teachers, learning resources and administration of the programme are located. The alternative model, of a fully “Virtual University”, which assumes no physical campus, poses problems of resource provision, recognition, and accreditation. We describe here an intermediate solution, based on an established on-ground university, but in which both students and teachers are distributed worldwide. We discuss the issues of management, communication, and quality assurance that are faced in implementing this fully distributed model. We describe the solutions we have applied in a wholly online programme of Higher Education which is delivered to over 2,000 graduate students in more than 100 countries by a worldwide pool of instructors.     

Unpacking academic requirements: international students in Management and Education disciplines

This paper reports the findings of a qualitative case study that explores how international students in different disciplines struggle to interpret their disciplinary requirements. The study shows the emergence of five main forms of unpacking academic expectations that individual students in the study employed. It will be argued that these international students appear to be active and capable of drawing on various strategies and problem‐solving skills in order to take control of their academic life and enable them to participate in the academic practices of their discipline. The students' experiences also indicate that the interaction and dialogue they establish with their lecturers plays a significant role in their success in the course.     

Pulled in many directions: tensions and complexity for academic staff responding to international students

This article reports on an interview-based study of the academic practices of staff members in a New Zealand university in response to international students in their classes and under their supervision. International students enter academic cultures which are inevitably different from those which have provided their academic preparation. Participant academics often revealed a tension between trying to support students adjusting to new demands and meeting their own expectations of tertiary teaching. Most had implemented some changes to their practices which they identified as enhancing international students’ ability to study successfully, but recognised the need for balance between support and an expectation of student autonomy. For some, however, adjustment of practice to reflect these students’ different expectations and skills violated their understanding of what higher education should be. Using the lens of different orientations that Fanghanel 2012 Fanghanel, Joelle. 2012. Being an Academic. London: Routledge. [Google Scholar]. Being an Academic. London: Routledge] identified among academic staff the article considers possible responses to the current situation.     

Academic literacies and e-learning: A critical approach to writing in the online university

This paper adopts an academic literacies perspective to argue for a critical approach to the writing practices of the online university classroom. It describes an on-going action research project in an online Masters in Online and Distance Education (MAODE) programme at the UK Open University, which aims to create an online writing resource to support distance learners in developing a critical awareness of the writing practices on the programme. The paper presents the results of an evaluation study of this resource during the 2005 presentation of the MAODE, and discusses the evidence from this study that such a resource can provide a space for students to critique the dominant literacies of the online university.     

Socio-cultural adaptation,academic adaptation and satisfaction of international higher degree research students in Australia

The number of international higher degree research students has grown at a significant rate in recent years, with Australia becoming a hub for attracting such students from around the world. However, research has identified that international higher degree research students often encounter a wide range of academic and socio-cultural challenges in adapting to their new environment, which can have a significant bearing on their levels of satisfaction with their studies. This paper outlines the findings of a mixed method study exploring the experiences and perceptions of international higher degree research students from five different countries in Australia. Findings revealed that the most important issues in terms of satisfaction were not directly related to academic studies. Instead, factors such as integration into the community, interacting with other students, relationships with supervisors, and the provision of adequate desk space were often given the greatest weight. Implications for how university policy can better support international doctoral students are discussed.     

Relationships between learning approach,procrastination and academic achievement amongst first-year university students

Individual differences in student learning influence academic performance, and two aspects influencing the learning process are the particular learning approach the students use and procrastination behaviour. We examined the relationships between learning approaches, procrastination and academic achievement (measured 1 year later as the grade point average (GPA)) amongst 428 first-year university students. Deep and strategic learning approaches positively predicted GPA, and a mediation analysis showed that the strategic learning approach also partly mediated the effect between deep learning approach and GPA. Less procrastination was associated with a strategic learning approach, but procrastination tendencies did not predict GPA. Recommendations are made for educating new students in cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies, helping reduce their procrastination and facilitating the use of deep and strategic learning approaches.     

Space allocation to academic departments in a high rise building of an Australian educational institution

This study examines an important aspect of the college space planning problem for an institution which has a high density development on the campus site. A model is developed which minimizes the vertical student pedestrian movements within the building. The optimal solution obtained from the model was adjusted marginally to alleviate space dispersal problems which tend to militate against departmental coordination and interaction. The resulting assignment of space was found to be better than the existing deployment of teaching department accommodation from the perspective of minimization of student pedestrian traffic and intradepartmental interaction and administration. The study is concluded by suggesting that future investigators should consider a multiobjective approach to the resolution of space allocation problems. It indicates that academic interaction should be maximized whilst costs of relocation of occupants from existing building floors should be minimized. The consideration of these goals, together with the objectives examined in this study, appear to be central to the solution of the college space allocation problem.     

Silent issues for international postgraduate research students: Emotion and agency in academic success

This study explores the emotional and social factors contributing to international students’ success in an Australian research university. We were particularly interested in these students’ sense of agency-what enables them to act with confidence as learners. We used memory work to focus on the social interactions and emotions involved in building successful self-identities as students, both at home and abroad. Seven international postgraduate research students participated in the study and raised issues that have affected their confidence and success in different academic contexts. Some of these have received little attention in the literature or in their induction programs. The issues include the high personal cost of competition; the weight of responsibility towards family, colleagues and workplaces at home; the need to maintain a successful self-image despite their self-doubt and lack of confidence; and the need for early academic validation in a foreign research culture. What the students had believed were individual and private issues, held in silence, came to be recognised by the group as common experiences. As a result of their participation in the study, the students set about changing private and public awareness of some of the socialisation processes that have inhibited their success.     

Cultural capital and academic achievement of first generation domestic and international students in Canadian universities

In Canada little research has been conducted on those who are the first in their families to attend university. Cultural reproduction theory suggests that such students would be less likely to engage in the type of activities that, according to the college impact model, contribute to academic achievement. In order to test these and other possibilities a longitudinal survey‐based study of domestic and international students was conducted at four Canadian universities. Overall it was found that university experiences did vary by the educational background of parents; however, such experiences were not always of consequence for academic achievement.     

A holistic approach to supporting distance learning using the Internet: transformation, nottranslation

This is the first of a series of papers describing how the Open University, a large distance education institution, has embraced the Internet as a medium for supporting its students, tutors, academics, and administrators throughout the education process. This paper reports on a holistic approach to integrating technology into the teaching process which addresses how to provide necessary functions in effective forms—some traditional, some new. It describes the development and structure of actual systems, which incorporate electronic student registration; electronic assignment submission, marking, and recording; electronic tutorials and other interaction; and electronic examinations. It describes and summarises some of the findings of the evaluation of those systems, including student, academic, and administrator feedback. Finally, this paper reflects on the benefits of an integrated holistic approach in exploiting the Internet's potential to support distance learning on a massive scale. Subsequent papers in this series will address specific areas in detail: the student experience, the role of the tutor in an electronic environment, and the institutional perspective.     

A holistic systems approach to addressing sustainability issues in the agri-food sector

Abstract

There is a need to inculcate an appreciation of sustainability concepts, issues and objectives in the minds of the next generations of landowners. A lingering feeling persists that farming is still to be viewed as a way of life, despite on-going technological advances that would make farming more of a science. Such a feeling is reinforced by the view that agriculture is more than just food production; it also involves the efficient use of scarce resources, stewardship of the natural resource base, the environment, and the ecological balance of species, sustaining rural communities, and maintaining the aesthetic appeal of the countryside.

How then should we proceed to educate future landowners in all these matters? It is posited that one ought to begin by defining the term sustainability. Because sustainability is likely to be interpreted quite differently by members of distinct disciplines engaged in higher agricultural education, a definition of sustainability should be offered from the perspective of each of those disciplines. The reconciliation of these differences and methods of accomplishing this should be a necessary part of the education process.

It is further posited that a deeper and more accurate understanding of sustainability in an agri-food sector context is likely to be best obtained by the student through a careful integration of curriculum content, the learning environment, and an effective delivery mechanism. Curriculum content should conjoin temporal and spatial perspectives with an inter-disciplinary perspective. A systemic learning praxis is suggested as an appropriate learning environment, and an effective delivery mechanism could be based on a team-teaching approach. Composition of the team should ideally encompass all disciplines, from the bio-physical sciences to the socio-economic sciences, plus engineering and medicine. A case-study approach is advocated as one effective means of teaching an appreciation of and need for a balanced interpretation of sustainability. The case-study setting affords adequate opportunity for evaluating sustainability issues in specific economic, environmental, biological, sociological, and/or other disciplinary contextual circumstances.     

Gender,student perceptions,institutional commitments and academic dishonesty: who reports in academic dishonesty cases?

The academic dishonesty literature generally focuses on the causes of academic dishonesty, and outlines deterrence strategies, as well as the punishment methods used in formal sanction. Student self-monitoring techniques are becoming a more visible alternative that places greater emphasis on proactive prevention methods as opposed to reactive punishment policies. Increasing the formal level of student responsibility in deterring academic dishonesty assumes that students will actively monitor the behavior of their classmates. Our findings indicate that student perceptions of campus climate and gender differences are important factors when explaining student reporting of suspected academic dishonesty and may illustrate important prerequisite conditions that must exist prior to the establish of a successful student self-monitoring programme.     

Comparative and international education in initial teacher education: an Irish case study

Since the late 1980s and early 1990s, Comparative and International Education (CIE) has almost disappeared from the curricula of teacher education colleges in Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Yet, CIE is experiencing a revival at postgraduate level. This article will explore the reasons for this dichotomy and the decline of CIE in initial teacher education. It will use findings from a research study in an Irish teacher education college to inform this exploration. The author initiated, developed, and offered a CIE course to final year BEd (n=24) students in 2003 and again in 2005. This article will use data gathered during the latter course to explore CIE for undergraduate trainee teachers, considering students’ motivation for choosing to study CIE, their perceptions of CIE, and their beliefs about how it may enhance their professional practice in classrooms. It will explore, in particular, a significant finding that emerged from the study – the potential of CIE in developing student teachers’ capacities to teach in multicultural classrooms.     

Adequacy of selected services to international students in an urban technical college

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the adequacy of selected academic and personal services to international students at New York City Technical College of the City University of New York. A population (137) of international students enrolled for one semester was surveyed via a self-developed questionnaire. Analysis of data was by mean weighted scores, chi squares at .05 level of significance, and percentage variances. The findings indicated that academic needs of international students were not satisfied even to minimum levels, and two areas of personal needs attained minimum satisfactory levels. Significant difference in opinions of respondents pertaining to satisfying academic needs was seen between or among the groups in the variables gender, national origin, and native language. In satisfying personal needs significant difference in opinions of respondents was seen among the groups in the variables proficiency in reading in English, proficiency in speaking in English, and proficiency in reading and speaking in one's native language.