Exploring student perceptions and experiences of different teaching and learning approaches in architectural history education: a comparative case study

Learning Environments Research - The purpose of the current research was to investigate the perceptions and experiences of university students regarding three different teaching and learning...     

“I Want to Feel That I Live in China”: Imaginaries and Hospitality in International Students’ (mis-)Encounters at a Top Chinese University

Research on international students’ experiences abroad has tended to rely on models of adjustment, integration and/or acculturation to describe their (mis-)encounters with different kinds of people (e.g., co-nationals, locals and other international students). This paper proposes to use the more fluid concepts of imaginaries and hospitality, leaving behind stages and phases of adaption and acculturation, and focusing on the influence of the Structure on their experiences. Based on a discursive pragmatic analysis of interview data with 20 international students at a top Chinese university, the authors review how the students describe the kind of hospitality experienced at this institution and the influence that it has on their (mis-)encounters. Culturalist, differentialist and essentialist imaginaries (static and fixed views of Chineseness) are often used to justify the lack of encounters and the “segregation” and somewhat “positive discrimination” that they experienced. However, the paper shows that, amongst others, the institutional hospitality management for international students leads to closed contexts of encounters and feelings of exclusion. Although the study serves as a case study and cannot be generalized to the many and varied experiences of international students in other universities in China, some recommendations are made to solve, at least in part, misconceptions about what interculturality and hospitality entail in the internationalization of higher education.     

Student perceptions of successful learning support for an international high school programme: a comparative case study in Turkey

Abstract

This study used comparative case study methodology to investigate student perceptions of different programmes that prepare them for a challenging high school education programme: the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). Given the benefits and challenges of the programme, educators and stakeholders want to ensure students feel ready to participate. In the literature, studies support that programmes such as the International General Certificate of Secondary Education and the International Baccalaureate Organisation’s Middle Years Programme prepare students for the IBDP; however, there is a need for students’ voices on how they perceive they are prepared through these programmes. This study investigated three different approaches to IBDP preparation by gaining student insights through a scaled-item questionnaire and interviews. Students identified experiences that gave them skills to monitor their learning and resources that motivated them to participate in an advanced upper-high school programme.     

Characterizing Reading Comprehension of Mathematical Texts

This study compares reading comprehension of three different texts: two mathematical texts and one historical text. The two mathematical texts both present basic concepts of group theory, but one does it using mathematical symbols and the other only uses natural language. A total of 95 upper secondary and university students read one of the mathematical texts and the historical text. Before reading the texts, a test of prior knowledge for both mathematics and history was given and after reading each text, a test of reading comprehension was given. The results reveal a similarity in reading comprehension between the mathematical text without symbols and the historical text, and also a difference in reading comprehension between the two mathematical texts. This result suggests that mathematics in itself is not the most dominant aspect affecting the reading comprehension process, but the use of symbols in the text is a more relevant factor. Although the university students had studied more mathematics courses than the upper secondary students, there was only a small and insignificant difference between these groups regarding reading comprehension of the mathematical text with symbols. This finding suggests that there is a need for more explicit teaching of reading comprehension for texts including symbols.     

Running a TEMPUS Project: First Experiences

This paper describes the experiences gathered at Aachen University's computer science department while running one of the first TEMPUS projects. An outline of the historical background is followed by a brief introduction to the TEMPUS programme as such. The aims and goals of our project, BASCULE, are then described in more detail. Finally, we discuss the lessons we have learned.     

The effect of extended UTAUT model on EFLs’ adaptation to flipped classroom

Education and Information Technologies - The educational transformation of flipped classroom continues to be the important approach to increasing students’ readiness for flipped learning. To...     

Learning (abroad) mobility in the European Union: A comparison of youth in and out of higher education

In the European Union (EU) context, learning abroad mobility (LAM) also includes non-formal learning activities. Young people can participate in LAM whether they are in tertiary education or not. Nevertheless, studies focusing on the participation of out-of-higher-education (Out-HE) youth in LAM are often scarce. The current study aims to explore the role of several sociodemographic factors in participation in LAM among Out-HE youth, based on the analysis of a large-scale survey conducted across EU member countries. Findings show that Out-HE youth is less likely to participate in LAM than the youth in higher education as expected. However, some socioeconomic factors, such as gender and age, play different roles among Out-HE youth and the youth in higher education in old (EU15) and new member countries (NMS) of the EU.