Internationalization of British Universities: Learning from the Experiences of International Counselling Students

This retrospective qualitative study investigated the experiences of 12 international students in a postgraduate counselling programme at a higher education (HE) institution in the UK. Results from an earlier empirical study on these students (Pattison, Counselling and Psychotherapy Research 3: 107–113, 2003) were mapped against concepts derived from a content analysis of Turner and Robson’s (2008) work on the internationalization of HE institutions. The focus is on what can be learned from the perceptions of participants when reframed and reviewed through an internationalization lens. The paper suggests ways in which British universities can enhance the development of academic and intercultural competencies and support the international counselling student to receive an internationalized HE experience.     

Students as epistemological agents: claiming life experience as real knowledge in health professional education

Higher Education - University teachers’ practices of resistance against dominant epistemological norms have been described in recent critical higher education literature, but comparatively...     

Investigating Engagement and Flow with a Placed-Based Immersive Virtual Reality Game

An immersive virtual reality (iVR) game for high school students to learn about locations in their watershed with a primary focus on their city was designed and developed, employing a design model that focuses on flow. An exploratory study with the iVR game was conducted in an urban school in the eastern USA with 57 adolescents ages 16–18 from a population that is economically disadvantaged and includes students who are typically unengaged in traditional school-based learning environments. After game completion, the participants completed a 10-item survey measuring elements of flow and a 12-item survey designed to measure perceptions toward learning with VR games, immersion and presence. Participant focus groups were conducted with an emphasis on features that promoted engagement, learning, immersion, and presence. The findings revealed that all students experienced a flow state when they played the iVR learning game. Almost all users (98.1%) had positive attitudes towards using the iVR game. Students experienced high immersion and presence. In addition, students had favorable attitudes towards learning with iVR games in school environments.

     

LEARNERS' EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHIC RESPONSES TO ENCOUNTERS WITH LEARNING SUPPORT IN FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

ABSTRACT:   This article investigates the experience of individual learners who have been allocated learning support in the further education system in England. The particular focus is on interviewees' constructions of their emotional and psychic experiences. Through the adoption of a psycho-social perspective, learners' tendency to 'idealise' their learning support workers is understood as a strategy for coping with the anxiety generated by a range of previous experiences. The implications for policy-makers are discussed.