Flipped classrooms: implications for K-12 students with learning and behavioural challenges from an international exploratory study of teacher educators

Flipped classrooms represent a new instructional paradigm for presenting K-12 instruction. Whereas in traditional classrooms new content is taught during the school day and application activities are assigned for homework, in flipped classrooms students are expected to acquire new content by working through assigned tasks at home prior to the next day’s class. Subsequently, class time is used for application activities. To date, limited, conflicting analyses of research about the efficacy of the flipped classroom paradigm have been reported. This lack of a clear consensus is of concern for students with serious learning and/or behavioural challenges who have not been the focus of these analyses and whose learning characteristics arguably run counter to what students must do to be successful in flipped classrooms. The investigation reported herein addresses one aspect of the aforementioned void in the literature. Data from an international survey of teacher educators from 33 countries that ascertained their thoughts about the appropriateness of the flipped classroom paradigm for students with serious learning and/or behavioural challenges are reported. Results indicate that teacher educators have reservations about the appropriateness of flipped classrooms, but that their opinions are not fully informed by knowledge about, and experience with, these classrooms.     

Multicultural influences on group learning: a qualitative higher education study

Although the literature examining the usefulness of group projects is extensive, the link between cooperative learning, group performance and skills transfer in multicultural contexts remains unclear. Focus groups were conducted with a sample of 107 international and domestic postgraduate and undergraduate marketing students to investigate this link. Results confirm that group work facilitates the development of interpersonal skills, cross‐cultural collaboration and higher‐level learning. While there is the promise of transfer of learning to other situations, group learning effectiveness appears conditional on instructors preparing, coaching and debriefing students as to the expected benefits associated with participation in group projects throughout the semester. In addition, limited differences were observed between how international and domestic students responded to group activities, although this may (in part) be due to subtle differences in preconceived attitudes to group learning activities from the outset.     

沙特阿拉伯学生习得汉语辅音偏误探析

沙特阿拉伯学生在学习汉语初级阶段常出现一些语音偏误,这种偏误有一定的普遍性和规律性,且具有别于其他国别留学生语音偏误的特殊性。由于篇幅所限,文章仅选取了沙特阿拉伯学生的汉语辅音偏误为调查对象,进行了语音测试,测试分为听辨和朗读汉语辅音两个方面。根据测试结果,文章主要从学生母语即阿拉伯语对其习得汉语辅音的影响方面,分析了产生偏误的原因。最后提出针对沙特阿拉伯学生汉语辅音教学的建议。以期对来自阿拉伯国家、母语为阿拉伯语的留学生的语音教学,特别是初级阶段的语音教学有所帮助。     

Understanding social learning relations of international students in a large classroom using social network analysis

A common assumption in higher education is that international students find it difficult to develop learning and friendship relations with host students. When students are placed in a student-centred environment, international students from different cultural backgrounds are “forced” to work together with other students, which allows students to learn from different perspectives. However, large lecture rooms may provide fewer opportunities for students to work together in small groups. The purpose of this article is to understand how 191 international students from 34 cultural backgrounds and 16 host students build learning and friendship relations in a large classroom of 207 students. We have used an innovative mixed-method design of social network analysis in a pre- and post-test manner combined with two sets of focus groups. Using multiple regression quadratic assignment procedures, the results indicate that learning ties after 11 weeks were significantly predicted by the friendship and learning ties established at the beginning of the module, (sub)specialisation, and whether students were Chinese or not. Contrary to previous findings, team divisions played only a marginal role in building (new) learning relations. A substantial segregation between Confucian Asian, European international and UK students was present. Follow-up qualitative data highlighted that international students made a conscious effort to build friendship and learning relations primarily outside the formal team, which for some were along co-national lines, while others were pro-actively looking for new perspectives from multi-national students. These results indicate that the instructional design might have a strong influence on how international and host students work and learn together. We believe that this study is the first to provide an in-depth and unique understanding of how international students from different cultural backgrounds build friendship and learning-relationships with other students in- and outside their classroom over time in a large classroom of 200+ students.     

Understanding international students’ in-class learning experiences in Chinese higher education institutions

Despite the dramatic rise in international student enrolment in Chinese higher education institutions, the classroom learning experiences of these students are not adequately reflected in the international literature. The present qualitative study explores the learning experiences of 33 international students in different types of classroom arrangements at Chinese universities. The findings show that the international students’ perceptions of teaching and learning approaches, their language difficulties, the type of classroom arrangement, the origin of the international students in the class, the more relaxed academic requirements for international students and the international students’ learning motivation all shaped their in-class experiences. Furthermore, the findings reveal that the international students’ personal traits and cross-cultural environment interacted with their psychological mechanisms to produce and influence their learning experiences. The article highlights the need to make sense of these complexities in order to understand international students’ in-class learning experiences. The implications of improving these experiences are discussed.     

‘I have no English friends’: some observations on the practice of action learning with international business students

This account reports on some experiences of facilitating action learning with international business students. Interest in international student learning and the international student experience is significant and increasing with a considerable range of literature on the subject. Some of this literature is concerned with the perceived ‘problems’ or ‘deficits’ which international learners are said to bring to the UK university experience. Elsewhere the benefits which international students bring to the learning process are more positively highlighted. This paper describes some of the experiences derived from implementing action learning with a number of sets of international postgraduate business and management students in an HE business school setting. Specifically, it considers how educational, learning and cultural differences, expectations and assumptions influence the student experience, and how collaborative learning can be developed.     

应用SP表对在线学习（E—learning）的诊断

以了解学生对在线学习之使用情况，与使用学生自行拟定测验题题库的适当性与否为目标，采用课堂学习搭配在线学习作为课程学习的方式，且由每位学生自行拟定课程最后阶段的测验试题，探讨学生的学习态度、适应情况与此教学策略是否合宜。用S-P表分析等研究表明，在此整个学习过程中，学生的学习态度从被动学习转换成了主动学习，学生对于将传统的课堂教学搭配在线学习的方式感到新奇，对于平时少数有缺课的同学亦可利用在线学习的平台将其在课堂上的不足加以弥补，整体对于学习情况为提升且有成效的。     

Challenges to Stereotypes of International Students’ Prior Educational Experience: undergraduate education in India

The discourse concerning teaching and learning for international students in Australia has been dominated by a cultural‐deficit approach. Proponents of this perspective argue that many international students bring with them learning experiences which are inadequate in the Australian context. These experiences have favoured rote, reproductive, surface, teacher‐centred and dependent approaches to learning; which lack analytical and critical perspectives; and which have occurred in contexts dominated by examinations and substantially lacking in educational resources. More recently, other research has challenged these stereotypes of international students, particularly regarding students from Confucian‐heritage cultures. This paper examines these stereotypes in relation to international students from India, through the use of a review of the available literature on Indian higher education and the analysis of the undergraduate learning experiences of a group of postgraduate students studying at a large Australian metropolitan university. It concludes that while some aspects of the stereotype may apply to Indian undergraduate education, most aspects of the cultural‐deficit perspective are problematic in that context, and a more contextualised approach is of greater use in understanding and describing the diversity of undergraduate learning in India.     

提升英语学习成效的课堂参与教学策略探析

课堂教学的主体是学生,而课堂学习成效的关键是教学策略运用的得当与否。英语课堂的有效教学策略有很多,其中的参与教学策略强调教师要善于调动学生参与课堂学习的积极性,激发学生学习的主动性。本文将借助案例探析参与教学策略在英语课堂教学中的具体实施。     

倡议联盟框架视角下美国吸引留学生政策变迁研究——以《富布赖特法》为例

美国《富布赖特法》自实施以来历经多次修订和完善,已成为美国吸引留学生政策的典型代表。而倡议联盟框架对分析《富布赖特法》的变迁具有适切性。在梳理《富布赖特法》发展历程的基础上,运用倡议联盟框架对该政策子系统内的联盟构成和信念体系、以政策为导向的学习、政策子系统外的外部事件变量进行了深入研究,发现深层核心信念的稳定是富布赖特计划经久不衰的根本原因,以政策为导向的学习是引发政策次要变迁的重要机制,外部事件变量为其发展提供直接动力。     

Racism,Equity, and Quality of Education for International Students in South Korean Higher Education Institutes

This study aims to understand equity issues of international students’ learning in Korean higher education institutions by engaging with the issue of racism and identifies how international students in Korea reshape their learning trajectory and how we could provide equitable and quality education for international students. Espousing a qualitative case study design, six students from different background were interviewed to examine features of perceived institutional racism based on their learning experience in Korea. Major findings showed that internationalization has not been fulfilled in terms of engaging with international students although Korean government and higher education institutions have developed relevant policy to attract international students. This study indicates that Korean universities need to reconstruct their social, cultural, and institutional systems to embrace equity, diversity and inclusiveness to empower international students’ capacity.     

Inequalities and Agencies in Workplace Learning Experiences: International Student Perspectives

National systems of vocational education and training around the globe are facing reform driven by quality, international mobility, and equity. Evidence suggests that there are qualitatively distinctive challenges in providing and sustaining workplace learning experiences to international students. However, despite growing conceptual and empirical work, there is little evidence of the experiences of these students undertaking workplace learning opportunities as part of vocational education courses. This paper draws on a four-year study funded by the Australian Research Council that involved 105 in depth interviews with international students undertaking work integrated learning placements as part of vocational education courses in Australia. The results indicate that international students can experience different forms of discrimination and deskilling, and that these were legitimised by students in relation to their understanding of themselves as being an ‘international student’ (with fewer rights). However, the results also demonstrated the ways in which international students exercised their agency towards navigating or even disrupting these circumstances, which often included developing their social and cultural capital. This study, therefore, calls for more proactively inclusive induction and support practices that promote reciprocal understandings and navigational capacities for all involved in the provision of work integrated learning. This, it is argued, would not only expand and enrich the learning opportunities for international students, their tutors, employers, and employees involved in the provision of workplace learning opportunities, but it could also be a catalyst to promote greater mutual appreciation of diversity in the workplace.     

Assessment for community service types of experiential learning in the engineering discipline

While experential learning has been increasingly explored and adopted by higher education institutions, few have researched the appropriate assessment methods that can be aligned with the learning outcomes of experential learning. A literature review on the diverse forms of assessment currently used for community service types of experiential learning in higher education is presented in this paper to review their appropriateness in assessing experential learning. The paper also describes the assessment framework of the University of Hong Kong Sichuan Reconstruction Community Service Project, which is incorporated into a multidisciplinary community service learning project. Feedback from students and teachers are reviewed to gauge their preferences towards these assessments, as well as their opinions on assigning academic credits to experential learning projects.     

Four narratives about online international students: a critical literature review

In the current higher education context, offering online programmes is seen as an effective means to recruit more international students. However, supporting online international students studying at a distance is not a simple task for both universities and tutors. The problem mainly stems from a lack of theoretical understanding of online international students and their learning experiences. The present article, therefore, aims to address the gap, by systematically, yet critically reviewing relevant academic narratives about online international students. Our review reveals four types of narratives presented in the literature, describing online international students in particular ways: unspecified others with a rapid increase in their numbers, specific others with deficits, specific others as pedagogical resources and active participants in international learning communities. We discuss the merits and the drawbacks of each type of narratives for online educators seeking pedagogical suggestions about supporting online international students.     

Influences of the learning environment of a Regional University Campus on its international graduates

Staff and students at small regional campuses often consider them to be a learning environment with many advantages. Students can benefit from the opportunities for enhanced access to staff provided by factors such as small classes and a compact campus. International students from non-English-speaking backgrounds are one group for whom these factors can be particularly helpful in their adjustment to a new society as well as in their continuing study program. This belief is tested in the study described in this paper. Factors identified by international students as influencing their learning at a small campus situated a considerable distance from the state capital indicate strengths to be built on and celebrated and areas that call for the development of strategies to improve the quality of that learning environment. Former international student graduates were surveyed concerning their perceptions of their regional Australian university experience and the professional preparation it provided. Other Australian higher education institutions, particularly those with regional campuses, can make use of the insights gained through the study: as well as having implications for the provision of a quality learning experience and environment for all students, not only international students, they also have a bearing on international marketing strategies.     

自主出题模式在高校遗传学双语教学中的应用

遗传学是生物类专业的一门重要专业基础课,学科内容发展迅速,开展双语教学对学生紧跟国际发展趋势和学科前沿,提升国际竞争力具有重要意义。然而,学生在学习过程中面临教学内容难和英语学习难的两大问题,如何在教学中激发学生的学习兴趣,发挥学生的主体地位,提高教学效果是课程改革需要考虑的问题。可在多元化评价方式中采用学生自主出题的模式,并在两届本科生中试验教学,取得了良好的效果,极大地激发了学生学习的兴趣,培养了学生的自主学习能力和创新能力以及双语学习能力。     

提高植物保护学科调剂生的专业认同感和学习动力

植物保护学科是冷门学科,地方农业高校的植物保护学科招生中有很大比例的调剂生。这些调剂生对植物保护学科缺乏了解,表现出缺乏专业认同感,学习动力不足。本文分析了植物保护学科调剂生存在的问题,并提出了提高大学生专业认同感和学习动力的对策。     

Oral communication skills assessment in a synchronous hybrid MBA programme: does attending face-to-face matter for US and international students?

The ability to communicate effectively is an essential skill for graduates of Masters of Business Administration (MBA) programmes; however, as synchronous hybrid learning becomes more common, business schools may find it challenging to assess students’ proficiency in this core area. An additional layer of complexity is added by the burgeoning enrolment of international students in this technology-enriched learning environment. The objective of this exploratory study was to examine the relationships among attendance mode (online vs. on-campus), student nationality (domestic vs. international) and oral communication assessment scores in a synchronous hybrid MBA programme. Quantitative data from 202 hybrid MBA students collected over 12 semesters revealed domestic students were rated as more proficient orators than international students when assessed face-to-face. These results, however, were not replicated when students were assessed in a synchronous online environment. Furthermore, the results indicated that international students received higher scores when their oral communication skills were assessed online compared to face-to-face. Conversely, domestic students who were assessed face-to-face had higher mean scores than the domestic students who were assessed online. The findings are discussed with respect to teaching and learning in hybrid environments, technology-mediated assessment design and accreditation practices in non-traditional programme delivery modes.     

"一带一路"沿线国家来华留学生就读经验研究

"一带一路"沿线国家具有巨大的来华留学需求,"一带一路"沿线国家是我国来华留学生主要生源国.本研究采用扎根理论的研究策略,对26位"一带一路"沿线国家来华留学生进行深度访谈,通过对其留学动因、人际互动、学习投入、留学变化的探讨,获得"一带一路"沿线国家来华留学生就读经验图景.留学生就读经验包括四个维度,即行动选择性经验、互动性经验、实践性经验和反思性经验.提升来华留学生就读经验,需要国家、高校、教师多方通力合作.