Factors Affecting International Students’ Decisions on Destination for Studying Abroad: A Case Study in China

This qualitative study explores how to better attract international students as perceived from the viewpoints of both international students and university administrators. The 7Ps marketing mix conceptual framework and thematic analysis were utilized to analyze qualitative data solicited from both focus group discussions involving 75 international students and in-depth interviews with four administrators at two public universities in Yunnan province, China. The results indicate that two factors mainly affect students’ decisions on an international education destination: geographical location (Place) and cost of study (Price). Furthermore, the study recommends applying the 7Ps as a totality in university recruitment practices.     

Mentoring Undergraduate Researchers: An Exploratory Study of Students’ and Professors’ Perceptions

Mentoring is believed to be one of the most influential factors in US efforts to encourage college‐aged students to seek careers in science, yet the role that mentoring plays in this process has not been elucidated. The researchers were interested in understanding whether the long‐held beliefs about the importance of mentoring would be revealed as what actually occurs in an undergraduate research program. They describe students’ perceptions of the mentoring process and students’ beliefs about how it impacted their experiences as undergraduate researchers and their development as scientists. Also described are professors’ perceptions of their roles and effectiveness as mentors in students’ development as scientists. A multi‐case narrative analysis was conducted of two groups, undergraduate science scholars (n=5) and mentoring professors (n=5), who were each interviewed on two occasions at the beginning and end of the first year of a funded research program. As this grounded research study shows, students and professors described student gains as increased technical expertise and communication skills. Professors suggested that they were available to students on a regular and frequent basis. However, students’ experiences suggested a contradiction. They were often mentored by postgraduates, technical assistants, and other students; their meetings with mentoring professors were infrequent and at times distant. With respect to mentoring, this finding highlights the differences between beliefs and the reality of what was delivered. Professors discussed the challenges associated with mentoring including the recruitment of and difficulty of working with students whose first language was not English and concerns about the quality of instruction from graduate students.     

Study Abroad Participation at Community Colleges: Students’ Decision and Influential Factors

This study aimed to better understand college students’ decisions to participate in short-term study abroad programs and to identify influential factors. Our constructive interview data with traditional and nontraditional students from three mid-Atlantic community colleges identified (a) the interplay between individual, social, and institutional factors, and (b) distinctive decision factors related to students attending community colleges. Notable factors included opportunity of a lifetime, academic transfer prospects, personal timing, cost affordability, faculty encouragement, family support, honors program, and group affinity. Moreover, students in this study shared how they were able to navigate and overcome their familial and vocational challenges (e.g., funding and concerns about academics–life balance) to engage in a study abroad program. Finally, we discuss the results with continuing applicability to educational practice at community colleges as well as policy implications for community college students.     

An Exploratory Study of Minority Students’ Technology Usage and Perceptions of Technology: Nontraditional Adult Students in Technology-Based Environments

Abstract

The study examines nontraditional, African-American adult students’ use of technologies and their perceptions toward this in technology-based environments. Technology perceptions included computer self-efficacy, Internet self-efficacy, user attitude, and computer anxiety. The effects of student characteristics on these factors and the relationships between these factors were examined throughout this study. Participants included minority students who participated in face-to-face or online undergraduate courses offered in continuing education. A quantitative approach was undertaken to analyze the collected data. Results indicated that nontraditional minority students utilized basic software tools more frequently than the advanced ones, suggesting that many of them may lack the knowledge or skills for advanced technologies. Age, hours spent online, and previous online course experiences influenced students’ technology perceptions. Gender did not have an impact on technology perceptions. Internet self-efficacy was affected by most of the student characteristics variables. Computer self-efficacy was found to be a good predictor for both user attitude and computer anxiety. (Keywords: technology usage, technology perceptions, student characteristics, computer and Internet self-efficacy, minority students)     

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.     

Assessment of Greek University Students’ Counselling Needs and Attitudes: An Exploratory Study

The present study is concerned with an exploration of counselling needs of students at two Greek universities as well as their attitudes to utilizing a university counselling centre. The sample consisted of 312 students who completed a Greek version of the Rutgers Needs Assessment Questionnaire as well as a subscale on Attitudes towards the Counselling Centre. The analysis of the data indicated that issues about relationships, goal setting and problem-solving were the main concerns of the participants. It was also found that students, especially those who faced some kind of psychological difficulties, held a negative attitude towards visiting a university counselling centre.     

An Analysis of Cultivation of College Students’Interpersonal Ability

In modern society,good communicative ability is very important;it plays an important part in communication.But as college students,who enter into the society newly,their interpersonal range is expanded constantly;to a certain extent,there are some communication disorders which many students’worries in life and study are relevant to.So this text will analyze the poor communicative ability from internal and external factors.And then give several suggestions about how to cultivate the college students’communicative ability.     

An Analysis of Students’Mistakes through Linguistic Relativity

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is controversial, but the Linguistic Relativity is universally accepted by scholars. Through ana-lyzing the causes of the mistakes that students often make during English learnin...     

A Longitudinal Correlational Study of Students’ Performance in Supervised Industrial Work Experience and Classroom Instruction

Scholars in technology education are of the view that there should be some relationship between supervised industrial work‐experience and classroom instruction in order that the theory learned at school would have relevance to practice at the work place, especially as supervised industrial work‐experience has become an important component of well‐planned technology education programmes.

This study was therefore designed to determine the nature and extent of the relationship between supervised industrial work‐experience and classroom instruction. A research sample of 64 (comprising of 30 mechanical, 20 electrical and 14 civil) engineering technology students were alternatively exposed for three years to classroom instruction and its consequent sessional examinations on the one hand and supervised industrial work‐experience and the consequent performance assessment process on the other. Performance scores‐‐in percentages‐‐were collected from the two research situations. Product moment correlation coefficients were computed for the pairs of performance scores; first all the students’ scores were analysed together and then they were analysed in each engineering specialty.

It was found that:

(1) generally there was no statistically significant relationship between the students’ performances in classroom instruction and supervised industrial work‐experience;

(2) additionally (a) statistically significant relationship did not exist between students’ performances during the different periods of supervised industrial work‐experience and (b) there was a statistically significant relationship between the students’ performances in the classroom‐instruction situation.

It was recommended that industries should participate in the preparation of curricula for technology education programmes; and should train students on projects that have educational value and practical utility while more industrial‐work‐related instructions should be provided in technology education programmes.     

An Empirical Study of Students’ Sight Translation Practice

Most of the studies on sight translation are related to analyzing effort models.Some scholars have established effort models for interpreting activities.However,the majority of the research published in English was conducted between English and European languages.Experiments written in English on interpreting between English and Chinese are limited.The purpose of this research is to explore the problems that occurred in students’performance of sight translation with a view to improving students’performance and the training method.The results of the experiment show that ST skills are composed of two parts:linguistic capacity and delivery skills.The problems that occurred in the case study were presented as delivery problems.However,the reason for the problems was lack of linguistic transfer capacity.This study recommends that students should be trained both on linguistic capacity and delivery skills.     

An Analysis of Mystical Experience in Sophy’ s Hysterical Hallucination in Darkness Visible

In William Golding’ s Darkness Visible,Sophy’ s experience of " hysterical hallucination" plays an important role in the the matic expression.They point directly to the evil nature of man.Although the specific content of hallucinations is different,they possess a common characteristic-mystical experience.They worth further research.This paper examines Sophy’ s mystical experience in her hyster ical hallucination,so as to find out the functions of mystical experience and its influences on the novel’ s thematic expression.     

The Role of Social Capital/Guanxi in Students’ Decision-Making about Postgraduate Education in China: An Explorative Case Study

This paper explores how the concept of social capital developed by Bourdieu and Coleman as well as the Chinese concept of guanxi (关系) or relationships facilitates students’ access to postgraduate education in a case study of a university in southeast China. The study comprises an initial survey of 381 first-year postgraduate students and a series of interviews with 30 participants. Social capital and guanxi inform analysis of the data. The results reveal that students from different social backgrounds employ different forms of social capital and guanxi networks in their decision-making about postgraduate education. They contribute to conceptualizations of how social capital is generated through guanxi in the Chinese educational context.     

An Exploratory Study of Teachers’ and Students’ Use of Multi‐modal Representations of Concepts in Primary Science

As part of a long‐term research study to enhance science learning, this paper reports on an exploratory study aimed at identifying initial beliefs and practices of a group of teachers and students (Years 4–6) in Australia when the students engaged with multiple representations of the same science concepts. There is growing recognition in science education research that students need to understand and link different representational modes, such as graphic and verbal modes, in learning to think and act scientifically. This exploratory study used a multi‐site case‐study approach employing qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings indicated that while teachers used various modes to engage students and assess learning, they were not systematic in their focus on student integration and translation across modes. The study found that various factors affected students’ understanding of different modes, and that students who recognised relationships between modes demonstrated better conceptual understandings than students who lacked this knowledge.     

Students’ Overuse of Linearity: An Exploration in Physics

In mathematics education, a vast amount of research has shown that students of different ages have a strong tendency to apply linear or proportional models anywhere, even in situations where they are not applicable. For example, in geometry it is known that many students believe that if the sides of a figure are doubled, the area is doubled too. However, also history of science provides several cases of thinkers who inadequately postulated linear relations to describe situations. This article focuses on secondary school students’ over-reliance on linearity in physics. Now and then, science educators report students’ tendency to assume and impose linear relations in physics, but—as far as we know—no substantial efforts were undertaken to study this phenomenon systematically. We conducted an empirical investigation aimed at identifying the competence of 8th- and 11th-graders—before and after being taught the relevant physical topics—to qualitatively grasp various situations in physics, as well as their tendency to quantify that qualitative insight linearly. The results provide an ambivalent picture of students’ overuse of linearity in physics: Although linear reasoning is sometimes used as a default strategy, even after instruction that addresses the relevant physical contents, this study also indicates that context is taken into account more often than is suggested by research on mathematical problem solving.     

Students’ Experience of Working with Socioscientific Issues - a Quantitative Study in Secondary School

This research project aims to investigate how students in lower secondary school experience work with socioscientific issues (SSI). The six socioscientific cases developed and used in this project are relevant according to characteristics of SSI and to the national curriculum. Approximately 1,500 students in Sweden have worked with one SSI case chosen by the teachers. A questionnaire-based instrument was used to measure the affective domain of students?? attitudes towards and interest in science before starting to work with the case and a second questionnaire after finishing a case. The second student questionnaire, measured the situational characteristics of the SSI work and perceived cognitive and affective outcomes. According to the students?? self-reported experience, all cases were interesting and related to a current issue. Most cases were equally interesting to boys and girls, the only exception was You are what you eat, which girls found more interesting than boys did. Almost all students claim that they learnt new facts, learnt to argue for their standpoint and to search and evaluate information during the work with the cases. The girls?? average scores were higher on several aspects of learning outcomes. Furthermore the students, especially the girls, perceived that the outcome of working with SSI had relevance for their future, with some cases more relevant than others. The more interesting the student found the case, the more they claimed they learnt. The students do not, however, claim that they learnt more science than during ordinary lessons.     

Embedded Mathematics in Chemistry: A Case Study of Students’ Attitudes and Mastery

There are many factors that shape students’ attitudes toward science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This exploratory study of high school students examined the effect of enriching chemistry with math on chemistry students’ attitudes toward math and careers involving math. To measure student attitudes, a survey was administered before and after the 18-week chemistry class; results from the chemistry class were compared to survey results from students in an elective science class that did not emphasize mathematics. At the end of the 18-week period, only the chemistry students exhibited more positive views toward their abilities in mathematics and careers that involve mathematics, as compared to their views at the outset of the course. To ensure that chemistry mastery was not hindered by the additional emphasis on math, and that mastery on state end-of-course examinations reflected knowledge acquired during the math-intensive chemistry class, a chemistry progress test was administered at the start and end of the term. This exploratory study suggests that emphasizing mathematical approaches in chemistry may positively influence attitudes toward math in general, as well as foster mastery of chemistry content.     

Characteristics and Levels of Sophistication: An Analysis of Chemistry Students’ Ability to Think with Mental Models

This study employed a case-study approach to reveal how an ability to think with mental models contributes to differences in students’ understanding of molecular geometry and polarity. We were interested in characterizing features and levels of sophistication regarding first-year university chemistry learners’ mental modeling behaviors while the learners were solving problems associated with spatial information. To serve this purpose, we conducted case studies on nine students who were sampled from high-scoring, moderate-scoring, and low-scoring students. Our findings point to five characteristics of mental modeling ability that distinguish students in the high-, moderate-, and low-ability groups from one another. Although the levels of mental modeling abilities have been described in categories (high, moderate, and low), they can be thought of as a continuum with the low-ability group reflecting students who have very limited ability to generate and use mental models whereas students in the high-ability group not only construct and use mental models as a thinking tool, but also analyze the problems to be solved, evaluate their mental models, and oversee entire mental modeling processes. Cross-case comparisons for students with different levels of mental modeling ability indicate that experiences of generating and manipulating a mental model based on imposed propositions are crucial for a learner’s efforts to incorporate content knowledge with visual-spatial thinking skills. This paper summarizes potential factors that undermine learners’ comprehension of molecular geometry and polarity and that influence mastery of this mental modeling ability.     

European Citizenship and Study Abroad: student teachers’ experiences and identities

Member states of the Council of Europe have acknowledged the importance of education for citizenship and have passed a number of resolutions concerning European citizenship and the need to promote democratic values, social justice and human rights. Yet there remains a degree of ambivalence over citizenship education and its relationship to the development of various identities, including personal and national identities. This paper examines the experiences of student teachers from a variety of European countries and the impact of a period of study abroad in another European country on their development of intercultural awareness, national identities and perceptions of how we might best educate young people for participation in democratic life. It considers the implications for teacher education.