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1
Hedges, Pamela Mary. "Antecedents and outcomes of international student adjustment." University of Western Australia. Graduate School of Management, 2003. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2003.0027.
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This study considered the adjustment of international students to their life in a new country and their work in the business faculty of a large Australian university. Prior research into expatriate adjustment was used as the study’s basis and a model for analysis was developed from that research literature. Although some aspects of the relationships found with expatriate employees were not demonstrated, generally the similarities were strong and the features of an expatriate employee’s experience and that of an international student were seen to be very alike. Over 500 international students completed a survey based on well-validated measures from the research literature. The results were analysed using structural equation modelling. The hypothesised model did not fit very well in its original form and alternative models were suggested and tested in order to identify a better-fitting model. Cultural novelty, personal abilities in interpersonal interactions and communication skills, self-esteem, self-efficacy and general adjustment were found to be the most significant variables in explaining the outcomes of academic achievement, workrelated and general wellbeing and work-related and general satisfaction, with selfesteem, self-efficacy and general adjustment having the greatest influence on successful outcomes. Adjustment was found not to be a mediating construct, as suggested in the expatriate literature, but an antecedent influence upon the outcomes. Relationships between the constructs were complex, as had been suggested by previous research, making generalisations about causes and consequences of adjustment very difficult. This complexity emphasised that, for international students, the experience of living and working in an international location needs to be regarded in a holistic fashion and that there are many and varied contributors to its success. Several potentially fruitful avenues for future research, concerning both international students and expatriate employees, were identified and discussed. The implications of the present study were considered, both from an academic perspective and in terms of usefulness within a university. A number of possible practical strategies were suggested, relevant to students, lecturers and university administrators that might assist in improving the experience of ‘expatriation’ for international students.
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Pacey, Robyn Lyn. "Coming Ready or Not: Chinese Students in Australia, Their Motivations, Language Proficiency and Impact on Australia's Tertiary Environment." Thesis, Griffith University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367970.
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Around one in five of Australia’s tertiary students comes from overseas, with the largest proportion from the People’s Republic of China. Despite needing the revenue from international students to fund domestic tertiary places, there is continuing disquiet over the language preparedness of overseas students, the willingness of universities to allow them to bypass language entry standards, and the subsequent impact on the academics responsible for teaching them.
To gauge the experience of typical Chinese students at Australian universities, this study followed a group of five for almost nine years, from when they enrolled in a foundation program in northern China to the present, to establish their motivations for wanting an Australian education, whether their language was sufficient to enable them to participate fully, and whether they were able to integrate into the academic and broader communities.
The research had a secondary focus; to examine the impact of large cohorts of international students on Australia’s tertiary environment, and whether international education can be better delivered to achieve a more rewarding experience for all participants.
The study began in 2005 with classroom reports and observations of the students during their foundation year, followed by annual interviews and personal contact after their arrival in Australia. To address the secondary focus of the study, data were collected from the Academic Language and Learning (ALL) advisers who assist tertiary students with language development, from the discipline academics who teach them, and from pro-vice chancellors (international) who are responsible within universities for the international education policy framework.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Shool of Education and Professional Studies
Arts, Education and Law
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Rueckert, Caroline M. "Conceptions of care in international higher education in Australia." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2017. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/107901/1/Caroline_Rueckert_Thesis.pdf.
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This thesis analyses conceptions of care within the public discourse about international higher education in Australia from 2002-2013. It examines a series of public texts from the period that specifically addressed questions about the 'care' and 'duty of care' that government and institutions afforded to international students studying in Australia. I trace through the conceptions of care that are articulated within these documents, analyse how they both constitute and are constitutive of wider social practices within the period, and posit a new critical model of care to provide a way forward for how we might practice care more effectively within international higher education, both in Australia and elsewhere.
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Orth, Ashley Mark. "International students' perceptions of their experience of higher education in Australia: A focus on Saudi Arabian students in their first year of a business course in a major Australian university." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2015. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/84623/4/Ashley_Orth_Thesis.pdf.
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This study examined perceptions of international students from Saudi Arabia living and studying in Australia. As a qualitative study that featured case study methodology, the thesis discusses the experiences of Saudi Arabian students in the light of two important factors: students' expectations prior to coming to Australia and the impact of intercultural competency on students' experiences. The study found that while study participants reported mostly positive experiences, there were challenges faced such as coping with English language and culture shock. The thesis culminates in a comprehensive list of implications for educators in the light of the study's findings.
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Dooey, Patricia. "Issues of English language proficiency for international students." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2005. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/628.
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In the last 20 years or so, there has been a phenomenal increase in the number of international full-fee paying students applying to study in Australian universities, The revenue provided in this way has helped to address the problems faced by cash-starved universities facing recurring funding cuts over the same period. Furthermore, the presence of such students on any university campus provides immeasurable enrichment to the student body in terms of cultural diversity and research potential, and indeed it is very tempting in an ever,-increasing global market, to be as flexible as possible with prospective international students. However, the process of admission also demands careful consideration on the part of the various stakeholders involved. Although several factors need to be taken into account, the most obvious and certainly of primary importance would be the need to prove proficiency in the English language, Given that English is the dominant means of communication in the university, all students are required to draw from a complex web of linguistic resources to construct meaning and to complete the range of tasks required of them during their tertiary studies, This volume deals :with the overarching theme of issues of English language proficiency for overseas students studying in an Australian university. This focus can be viewed from many angles, and there are certainly many key facets involved, a selection of which is explored in the papers of the portfolio. These include the following broad areas: recruitment and admissions, language testing and technology, curriculum and inclusivity, English language support, academic conduct and finally the specific needs of international students, as viewed from their own perspective.
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Hidaka, Tomoko. "International students from Japan in higher education in South Australia /." Title page, contents and introduction only, 2002. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09AR/09arh6321.pdf.
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Park, Eunjae. "Social and Educational Challenges of International Students Caused by Accented English in the Australian Context: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Linguistic Experience." Thesis, Griffith University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365371.
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This study investigates the issues that international students studying at tertiary institutions in Australia face due to their accented English. While studies in the field of international education have clearly established the impact of these students’ language difficulties, limited attention has been directed at the issue of the effects of accentedness on L2 tertiary students. International students have to deal with difficulties caused by accented English at two different levels: 1) their own foreign accent or that of their conversation partner, which can result in loss of confidence in their linguistic skills: and 2) negative societal attitudes towards foreign accents. This study adopted a sociolinguistic lens when viewing this issue, providing a richer level of understanding of accent-associated linguistic experience of these students in both social and educational settings. A mixed-methods approach was employed to access the views of international students. This combined a survey of international students, followed by group interviews, in order to explore the students’ views of their difficulties associated with accentedness, and strategies they used to mitigate those challenges. While the survey captured an overall pattern of the experiences of accentedness and the strategies used to address these issues, the follow-up group interviews added in-depth perspectives on accent-related experiences, beliefs, perceptions and concerns of the students. The results reported the linguistic experiences of 182 L2 students who were enrolled at three major universities in South East Queensland. Descriptive analysis was used to capture the interesting and unexpected responses of the majority of the participating L2 students. Thematic analysis was employed to account for the issues arising from the survey and achieve a richness in understanding the experiences of these students.Thesis (Masters)
Master of Higher Education (MHigherEd)
School of Education and Professional stuidies
Arts, Education and Law
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Townsend, Peter 1952. "The development of intercultural capability : a comparative analysis of the student international education experience." Monash University, Faculty of Education, 2004. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/5442.
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Glew, Paul J. "Learning and teaching in ESL perspectives on educating international students in Australia /." View Vol. 1 (Vol. 2 restricted access), 2008. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/41785.
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Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2008.A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, Centre for Educational Research, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. Includes bibliographies.
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McLeod, Beth Lauren. "International students and social connectedness : The role sport can play." Thesis, Federation University Australia, 2015. http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/97158.
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Whilst it is well known that international education is a lucrative industry, what is not so well known is how to continue attracting prospective higher education students to Australia in what has become a competitive global market. Adding concern to Australia’s reputation as an international education provider is the recent research which indicated that international students are dissatisfied with their social experiences while in Australia. This research highlights that international students in Australia are not getting the most value out of their educational sojourn, in part, because of their less than engaging experiences with Australians. As a consequence, one of the main challenges faced by Australia’s international education sector is to create and sustain a positive student experience in order to enhance Australia’s reputation as an education provider, be fair to the students and remain competitive in this valuable industry. Developing stronger social connections appears to be an important factor for creating a positive international student experience, and a case can be made to consider the role of sport as a potential strategy for enhancing the international student experience. In particular, sports participation and spectatorship may be possible vectors for enhancing international students’ social connections with Australians because of the opportunity provided for personal interaction. To date, there is a relative lack of research that has investigated this relationship. This Australian-based study aimed to bridge this knowledge gap by focusing on three key areas: (1) to determine whether there was a relationship between sports participation and social connectedness, and if this relationship was influenced by the students’ type and level of sports participation; (2) to determine whether there was a relationship between sport spectatorship and social connectedness, and if the context of sport spectatorship influenced this relationship; and, (3) to determine whether there was a relationship between sport spectatorship and sports participation, particularly from the perspective of international students in Australia. ii The investigation used a mixed methods approach, which combined quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, in a sequential manner. The first phase involved the collection of questionnaire data. Subsequently, these quantitative findings were used to frame the qualitative interview themes and foci. Through this process, greater depth and personal perspectives were added to the initial findings to enrich understanding of various elements of the investigation. Qualitatively the overarching premise as to why a quantitative relationship existed between sports participation and social connectedness (p<0.0001) was that sporting involvement enabled close proximity to the Australian people, who the students perceived to be highly active in sport. The qualitative findings also supported the quantitative finding for the second research sub-question indicating that spectatorship was related to social connectedness (p<0.0001). According to the qualitative results spectatorship was deemed to be one of the best ways for students to connect with Australian people. The students explained this was possible because spectatorship provided them with an easy and relaxed way to connect to people, particularly Australian people and in a casual environment. Three underlying themes explained why spectatorship was perceived to provide this unique environment and connection opportunity. These were (1) spectatorship is a universal and inclusive leisure activity; (2) spectatorship connects people; and (3) Australia has a strong sporting culture. The quantitative results from the third research sub-question revealed a relationship between spectatorship and sports participation (p<0.0001) and the qualitative interview data enriched this finding. The interview data indicated that students considered spectatorship as a driver for their sports participation. Students revealed that spectatorship helped them increase their level of sports participation, and to feel included in sport even without physical involvement. The qualitative results from this study suggest spectatorship plays a more important role than sports participation for international students in developing social connections with Australian people. Results revealed that increased involvement in sports participation and spectatorship enhanced students’ understanding of the Australian language and culture, assisting them iii to develop and maintain meaningful friendships in their host country. This finding indicates that sport may be a unique way for international students to achieve the connections they desire with Australians. The value of both sports participation and spectatorship for international students is evident. Accordingly it is recommended that Australian educational institutions offer sporting opportunities specifically for international students, and thus contribute positively to a rewarding and lasting educational experience.Doctor of Philosophy
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Burke, Rachel Jean. "Casualties, contributors, competitors or commodities? : images of the Asian international student population in Australia : reflecting notions of 'national identity' /." [St. Lucia, Qld.], 2004. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe18916.pdf.
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McWhinnie, Louise J. I. Art History & Art Education College of Fine Arts UNSW. "An inquiry into the study of visual communication by international asian students within the context of an Australian university." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. Art History & Art Education, 2008. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/43574.
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Extant bodies of research identify the dilemmas encountered by, and adaptive strategies of international Asian students (IAS) undertaking second language undergraduate study. However no substantive research has explored the existence of subject specific dilemmas that such students encounter in the study of design within a western setting. Doctoral work exploring design education is rare. This study addresses the gap in the research record by investigating the specifics of the study of visual communication by IAS attending an Australian university. Through the voices of the IAS and academics, the specific nature of the manifestation, understanding and misunderstanding of such dilemmas is explored. Together with the investigation of visual communication, the author discloses the nature of perception and misconception between a group of design academics and a cohort of IAS. The study uses complementary methodologies, synthesising quantitative and qualitative data. The study's statistical data was generated from 460 first and second year student surveys. This was undertaken over a three-year period, with resultant data sub-categorised to enable a representation of the IAS to emerge through identification of their particular motivations, expectations and actualisation of dilemmas within the context of the wider undergraduate cohort. The author develops and utilises an explanatory framework after Pierre Bourdieu, to analyse data emanating from interviews with multiple participants of an established population of academics and IAS. She explores the perceptions of their realities and the construction of their representations, as located through both their convergence and divergence. The study's paradigm is constructed by the field of design, as an objective world and site of the inquiry. Viewing the study's data through this conceptual framework, the author constructs a representation of the field and educational site using socio-cultural structures and the populations' multiple realities. The study reports on the layers and contradictions of communication, miscommunication, myth and fiction, constructed through the educational field. This is further interrogated to reveal the arbitrary structure of the field, its pedagogy and creation of its internal logic by which the field is perpetuated and student performances reproduced. The outcomes of the investigation include a detailed identification of lA design students' disclosures of the dilemmas of expectation versus experience, and the systematic misperception of paradoxes within the pedagogy of visual communication, presented as convergent and divergent expectations of the IAS and academics.
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Kumar, Margaret Kamla Wati Singh. "The discursive representation of international undergraduate students a case study of a higher education institutional site." [Adelaide : M. Kumar,], 2004. http://arrow.unisa.edu.au:8081/1959.8/24983.
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This dissertation addresses the discursive representation of international undergraduate students from the areas of South East Asia and Africa. The central question is: how are international students discursively represented in an Australian university setting? The study considers the university's teaching and learning practices and cultures as well as wider matters of policy. The study draws on postcolonial theory particularly on selected aspects of the work of Edward Said, Homi Bhabha and Gayatri Spivak and in so doing demonstrates the usefulness of postcolonial theory for exploring issues associated with international students in universities.thesis (PhDEducation)--University of South Australia, 2004.
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Cohen, Steven. "International postgraduate students and their reasons for choosing to study at public universities in Perth, Western Australia." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2017. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2043.
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The global higher education sector has become increasingly competitive. A large segment of that market now consists of attracting international students. Understanding why these students are motivated to study overseas is crucial for universities seeking to attract the transnational students as well as for the host country. Trading education is now Australia’s third largest export. As the international market for students becomes more crowded, it is imperative that thorough and concise research occurs to assist local universities within Australia to maintain their competitive advantage.
Perth, Western Australia (WA) comprises a small segment of the international Australian tertiary education market. An insufficient evidence base exists to aid local universities with strategic planning to maintain their competitive advantage in attracting international students. The current literature is sparse in analysing Australian state based international student decision-making. Most research focuses upon a generalised understanding of international student motivations concentrating on specific motivational factors.
To enrich and contribute to the current research literature, a comprehensive qualitative study was undertaken to explore the decision-making processes of postgraduate international students who chose to study in Perth. The research explored how and why these students chose Perth as their study destination. The study employed a variety of decision-making theories, most importantly the Push-Pull Theory of international student decision-making to test the applicability of a generalised model of international student flows on the local market.
Data sources included international postgraduate students who are currently or have completed their studies at a public university in Perth. Data were collected using a variety of qualitative instruments including semi structured open-ended interviews and a focus group.
The findings suggested that postgraduate students in Perth are sensitive to course price, with those on scholarships submitting such an undertaking would otherwise be impossible. Students, particularly from countries suffering economic or political disruptions considered international study as a pathway to immigration. These participants viewed Australia as a stable and prosperous nation, which offered them a ‘good life’ without the problems of their home countries. Most participants also considered WA as a culturally pluralistic destination, with a relaxed and outdoor lifestyle, without the pressures and costs of larger Australian cities like Sydney and Melbourne. Participants also sought to choose their preferred university on the recommendation of family or friends.
The study has implications for how Australian universities market their courses to international students. The study contributes to the growing literature on international student decision-making. This knowledge is critical to both recruitment strategies and government policies to continue to attract international students.
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Saunders, Owen. "10 Days in 2009 : An auto-ethnographical study of "Communical Resistance" taken by international students in Australia." Thesis, Federation University Australia, 2017. http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/169202.
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The early millennium saw the rise of an educational system in Australia where unchartered private educational provider institutions teach degree courses via contractual arrangements with parent universities. This study examines an incident where students at several such institutions collectively declined to submit a required online assessment piece to the possible detriment of the successful completion of their degrees. The research questions that arose from this incident were; what went wrong; how can we understand what happened here; and, what does this mean for me personally? Students’ perceptions of an online assessment piece are examined in the study of this incident. The study covers identical units offered at six private providers in three different Australian cities and the parent university. The students at the private institutions were all international students; those at the parent were a mix of international and domestic students. The assessment piece, a mandatory requirement for completion of the degree, was given to a collective cohort of approximately 400 students. The majority of students from four of the private institutions declined to submit the assessment piece. Initial research indicated that the students were uncomfortable with the format of a new blended-learning delivery introduced that year (2009). Upon deeper investigation, it was revealed that the declination to submit was, in fact, a complex situation involving conflicts, cultural clashes, social upheaval, and legislative misunderstandings that combined to create an environment where the students felt they had no option but to openly protest against perceived injustices. The author of this work is also the educator at the centre of this event, thus the thesis has been written in an auto-ethnographical method, viewed through the educator’s lens. To protect sensitive information, pseudonyms have been used and identifying details removed. The parent university at the centre of the event, named Newgarth University, is fictitious. Auto-ethnography has been used to present the empirical data (quantitative and qualitative), and the reader will be taken through a “detective story” that reveals various characters, plots, and protest. The study documents a previously unrecorded incident in the international student education industry in Australia. The study offers explanations as to why this incident occurred and adds to the cumulative knowledge of the international student education industry in Australia by offering suggestions to prevent such incidents occurring again. The study demonstrates that when a group of students are placed in an unfamiliar uncomfortable environment with little or no access to pastoral care or welfare services, they will create support groups of allegiance to protect their interests. These allegiance groups will employ tried and tested methods of communal resistance practised by the dominant culture of that field of endeavour.Doctor of Philosophy
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Malik, Ranbir Singh. "Influence of home and school environments on the academic performance of Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian students studying at an academically-oriented high school in Perth, Western Australia." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2000. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1390.
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Although minority status has been associated with low academic achievement, the “high Asian achieving syndrome" remains as one of the unresolved sociological puzzles. Consistent evidence suggests that regardless of the family status, children from the Asian migrant families, settled in the industrialised countries, tend to perform academically better than their counterparts from the dominant group. This disparity is attributed to a number of factors, which taken separately, do not address this complex issue. In Australia little research has been done to compare the home environment and school experiences of children coming from Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian families even though the number of children from the Southeast Asian region has steadily increased. This thesis investigates the influence of home and school on the academic performance of high school students coming from Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian families who resided in a predominantly middle class suburb and their children attended one particular state school in Perth, Western Australia. By studying children in their homes and classrooms I have attempted in this ethnographic study to construct some theoretically coherent explanations to understand the disparity in academic performance of Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian high school students. In order to capture what teachers, parents, and children say and do as a product of how they interpret the complexity of their world this study explores how macro and micro processes are linked to children's academic performance. As this study aims to understand social events from each individual's point of view it assumes that human behaviour is the result of indispensable and continuous interactions between persons and the situations they encounter. The findings of this study, with no claim to generalise beyond these families, suggest that the reason why Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian children have different educational outcomes is that these families socialise their children differently. From this study emerge two different models: and academic oriented Chinese-Australian model and a sports oriented Anglo-Australian model. At the start of high school there was no marked difference in ability and performance based on ethnicity. By the time they completed lower secondary school all Chinese-Australian students had improved in English and enrolled in a normal stream in English. Except for one student, they had selected TEE subjects with a university education as their main goal. At this stage, Anglo-Australians, with the exception of two students (who had selected TEE subjects), had decided to study either a mixture of TEE and TAFE subjects or easier TEE subjects. At the end of Year 12 all Chinese-Australian, except for one, had qualified to study at university. From Anglo-Australian group, only two students had qualified to study at university. This pattern of performance is consistent with the high Asian achieving syndrome and lack lustre performance of Anglo-Australian students. However, this study serves some sober reminder about the narrow focus by Chinese-Australians and lack of effort by Anglo-Australian students.
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Zhang, Wei. "Home and away: The effects of patriotic education on Chinese international students in Australia through a critique of identity theories and policy myth making." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2022. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2545.
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As a Chinese student in Australia, I designed this research study to investigate the historical experiences of Chinese female international students (CFIS), who have been studying post-graduate courses in Australian universities, following a lifetime of loyalty and state-based patriotic education in China. The key research question, framed by Bourdieu’s habitus and field concepts, asks: What happens to these students’ identity after studying and living in Australia? The study is grounded in the critical education discipline and draws on literature relating to Moral Education, International Education, and Identity-forming to provide a novel understanding of identity-transitioning for Chinese international students within the intercultural context of Australian higher education.
I adopted a critical and cross-cultural approach in this study, as socio-political research of this nature exists in a complicated web of power, neo-liberalism and meritocracy. Through a critical lens, I am able to distinguish and address implicit power dynamics that constitute dominating educational discourses that highly influence the process of identity-transitioning. I conducted thirty-nine interviews with thirteen Chinese international students, who were all females born after the 1980s and who were enrolled in post-graduate programmes in four universities in Western Australia. I used a thematic analysis for data processing and analysis.
The study identified the key drivers behind the exhibited loyalty and patriotism of Chinese students as originating from a long-term exposure to Moral Education content and learning in China. The main result revealed that personal and national identity of the Chinese are consolidated prior to Chinese students’ visiting Western societies. Thus, despite government goals to promote and instill a more cosmopolitan identity through international education, this rarely eventuates. Thus, the study established an argument that there may be a discordant note in the traditions of teaching and promoting national belonging and loyalty (Osler, 2011) where nationalism and identity-loyalty toward the mother country of China is more often than not maintained despite international educational experiences.
The findings presented in this study contribute to a greater understanding of the identity development process of CFIS in a broader social and political context. It also provides valuable insights into the factors and causes that lead to CFIS’ identification with the country they reside in and the country they came from. This research may also be used to facilitate better understanding of and expectations of CFIS in Australia’s higher education sector.
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AMMIGAN, RAVICHANDRAN. "THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT EXPERIENCE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF STUDENT SATISFACTION ACROSS INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA, THE UK, AND THE US." Doctoral thesis, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10280/56067.
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Negli ultimi dieci anni, il numero di studenti internazionali è aumentato drasticamente presso istituzioni universitarie di tutto il mondo. Questo aumento della presenza di studenti
internazionali nei campus universitari ha portato nuove responsabilità e sfide nel fornire servizi di supporto efficaci per la comunità internazionale. Mentre molte istituzioni hanno sviluppato programmi curriculari ed extra-curriculari per supportare gli studenti in modo generico, non tutti i servizi vengono pianificati per soddisfare specificamente le esigenze degli studenti internazionali. Questa tesi valuta il grado in cui gli studenti internazionali sono soddisfatti con i servizi di supporto ed altri aspetti della loro esperienza universitaria, in particolare nel loro arrivo, nell’apprendimento e negli ambienti di vita. Contemporanemente, la tesi produce una ricerca
sulla relazione tra le aspettative degli studenti e i consigli e raccomandazioni delle loro università. Utilizzando i dati dell’ International Student Barometer di i-graduate, i metodi di ricerca
valutativa e quantitativa hanno esaminato l'esperienza di oltre 45.000 studenti universitari internazionali in 96 diverse università e istituzioni in Australia, nel Regno Unito (UK) e negli Stati Uniti (USA). I risultati di numerose analisi statistiche hanno dimostrato che tutti i quattro parametri della soddisfazione sono stati positivamente associati all'esperienza universitaria complessiva degli studenti e ai consigli della loro attuale università. Ulteriori analisi hanno confermato quali variabili di soddisfazione sono risultate negli aspetti più significativi dell'esperienza universitaria di studenti internazionali e quali variabili hanno influenzato maggiormente i consigli universitari. Questo studio empirico fornisce considerazioni chiave per amministratori universitari, professionisti e ricercatori su come allocare al meglio le risorse per sostenere e, allo stesso tempo, migliorare l'esperienza degli studenti internazionali, facendo in modo di sviluppare strategie di iscrizioni e mantenimento sempre più efficaci.The number of international students has increased dramatically over the last decade at institutions of higher education around the world. This added presence of international students on university campuses has evidently brought a whole new set of responsibilities and challenges for providing effective support services to that community. While many institutions have developed curricular and extracurricular programs to support students in general, not all services are designed to specifically cover the needs of international students. This study evaluates the degree to which international students are satisfied with support services as well as other aspects of their university experience, namely in their arrival, learning, and living environments, while also investigating the relationship between student satisfaction and institutional recommendation for prospective applicants. Using data from i-graduate’s International Student Barometer, quantitative survey research methods evaluated the experience of over 45,000 degree-seeking, undergraduate international students at 96 different institutions in Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US). Multiple regression analyses indicated that all four dimensions of satisfaction were positively associated with students' overall university experience and the recommendation of their current institution. Further analyses revealed which satisfaction variables were the most significant aspects of the international student experience, and which ones influenced institutional recommendation the most. This empirical study provides key considerations for university administrators, practitioners, and researchers on how resources might best be allocated to support and enhance the experience of international students, leading to more effective institutional recruitment and retention strategies.
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Delahunty, Susan. "Portraits of Middle Eastern Gulf female students in Australian universities." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2013. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/585.
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This research explores the experiences and insights of ten Middle Eastern Gulf women as they cross international borders to study in Australian universities. The literature indicates that international students in Australia establish their identity within the context of their overseas existence. This is particularly important as Muslims may feel they are being placed in a precarious situation due to, more often than not, terrorism being linked to Islam. Also, when Muslim women wear Islamic or traditional attire, the general public tends to look upon them with curiosity. With this in mind, the complex and changed contexts faced by ten Middle Eastern Gulf female post-graduate students are investigated using qualitative research methods. Utilising a grounded theory approach to interpret data and identify themes from two online questionnaires and personal interviews, individual portraits are created to illuminate their experiences. The research findings reveal new knowledge indicating that education is a structured mechanism for the participants, resulting in the creation of a new hybrid self as a key instrument for survival. This enables them to better understand cultural contexts and barriers arising from class, tradition, religion and learning. The participants indicate that a two-way agreement between educators and learners is paramount to a smooth transition into the Australian education system and a positive return to their home communities.
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Kho, Jimmy P. "International student perceptions of the quality of learning experiences in vocational education and training." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2014. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1286.
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The private VET education industry has done well to maintain a high self-concept among the students, and perhaps the overall high praise of the teaching staff have contributed to maintaining high self-concepts among the students. Most international students treasured the social cultural, environment and lifestyles aspects of their stay in Australia and these items are also among the easy items of the linear scale produced in this present study.
The Rasch self-concept findings were consistent with the qualitative findings where students related much of their positive self-concept through their non-academic activities. Importantly, when the student’s Self-Concept is high they are able to benefit beyond just passing the units, they are able to find value and purpose in their study. The sub-group Standards which form part of the measure of Motivation to Achieve Academically seems to be rated harder by the students than was predicted, this may be due to the students not being familiar with the standard of the Australian VET system. Students may not have had sufficient understanding of the academic requirements of VET courses. This may have caused the students to be insufficiently prepared for their academic study and not fully informed of the standards expected of them. Some students perceive VET courses to be easier and can lead to good employment opportunities. Many international students do rate positively the opportunity to work and this could have provided the motivation for their courses.
Looking at the qualitative messages from the students, the colleges could do more to assist the students by assessing the language and study skills of the students and provide appropriate training to upgrade their skills accordingly. The colleges could also provide a more adequate explanation of the VET system to the students so as to better prepare the students with the necessary skills to pursue their academic studies. The negative responses were mainly about lack of resources and facilities among educational service providers and highlight the negative impacts when such expectations were not met. The colleges should be more aware that international students need more opportunities and facilities for these social, cultural and recreational activities
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Hattingh, Sherene Jane. "A case study of pedagogical responses to internationalisation at a faith-based secondary school in Australia." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2013. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/62443/1/Sherene_Hattingh_Thesis.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
This case study investigated pedagogical responses to internationalisation by a faith-based secondary school in Australia. Using social constructivism as the theoretical framework the study examined teaching and learning for culturally and linguistically diverse students. Data generated through questionnaires, focus groups, individual interviews and document archives were analysed and interpreted using thematic analysis. The findings showed that teachers believed themselves to be ill-equipped to teach international students. Their concerns centred on a lack of explicit pedagogical, cultural and linguistic knowledge to help the students acculturate and learn. Recommendations include the dissemination of school policies to teachers, intentional staff collaboration and professional development to address the teachers’ needs for internationalisation.
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Li, Tingting. "An Analysis of the 4:2:1 Documentary." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2014. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500078/.
Full textAbstract:
As a Chinese filmmaker, I feel obligated to reveal a true story about Chinese international students. Through my subjects and my stories, I am planning to express the messages that both adapting to a new culture and paying the financial cost of a foreign education have never been simple, but we will never give up our dreams.
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DiFante, Louis. "Americans Abroad in Spain and Australia : A Comparative Study of University Students' Study Abroad Outcomes." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för pedagogik och didaktik, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-131269.
Full textAbstract:
The study abroad field has progressed into an innovative and exciting stage given the high- rise of interest throughout the last twenty years. Study abroad is not showing signs of losing momentum concerning student interest or academic research. Numerous variables affect the direction the field is heading. This study intends to illuminate some of those variables through classifying study abroad results. This research study is part of the 21st century phenomena regarding increased travel through study abroad programs. It investigates the results of U.S. students’ study abroad experiences in Spain and Australia, through identifying aspects of the knowledge outcomes, changes in perspective, and the social, professional, and personal implications on a U.S. student after returning home from such an endeavor. It is critical to recognize and comprehend student results from the study abroad perspective to provide higher education institutions, study abroad companies, educators, students, and researchers with a contextual, first-hand encounter through the eyes of the student. This student analysis provides a greater framework for various stakeholders to continue the promotion of studying abroad, while enriching study abroad programs, and to continue the provision of breadth of opportunity for upcoming students interested.
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Parsons, Rebecca Lindsey. "The Effects of the Internationalisation of Universities on Domestic Students." Thesis, Griffith University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365867.
Full textAbstract:
The internationalisation of universities is currently a very common goal for both educators and politicians. However, few universities look beyond increasing participation in the typical activities of internationalisation, (including study abroad, the presence of international students, and internationalisation of the curriculum), to specifying the desired outcomes. Furthermore, no current and complete instrument exists to measure whether students are achieving these outcomes.
Through a review of the theoretical an empirical literature, a list of the potential outcomes of internationalisation was composed and refined into three knowledge areas:
Foreign Language Proficiency, Knowledge of a Specific Region or Country, and International Knowledge, and three affective areas: International Attitudes and Perceptions, Cross-Cultural Skills, and International Behaviours. Questions in each area were taken from previous instruments or composed by the researcher, then refined and selected by content area experts who judged new questions for sampling and item validity. Pilot testing was conducted on the majority of the scales in order to establish construct and internal consistency reliability. The final instrument consisted of six scales representing the different areas of the desired outcomes of internationalisation. Thirteen hundred and two students (from Griffith University in Australia and Kennesaw State University and University College at Buffalo State in the U.S.) completed these scales and a background information questionnaire. Factor analysis was conducted on the three affective scales, resulting in 10 subscales. The scale of International Attitudes and Perceptions consisted of three subscales: Global Interdependence and Cooperation, Cultural Pluralism, and Cultural and National Self-Awareness. The scale of Cross-Cultural Skills consisted of three subscales: Intercultural Communication and Teamwork, Intercultural Friendship, and Behavioural Flexibility. The scale of International Behaviours consisted of four subscales: Academic Involvement, Intercultural Curiosity and Involvement, Charitable Involvement, and Political Involvement.
MANOVAs were used to assess the relationship between background and internationalisation variables, and the scale and subscale scores. The results confirmed that the primary components of an internationalised education (study abroad, contact with international students, and an internationalised curriculum) and frequent attendance at international events, were significantly correlated with higher scores on almost all of the scales and subscales. Other international variables were also significantly correlated, but with fewer scales. In addition, a number of background variables were found to be significantly correlated with one or more scale scores: age, gender, being born or having parents born outside the country, speaking a second language at home, level of parental education, GPA, course of study, religion, frequency of attendance at religious services, political beliefs, exposure to international news media, and source of television news.
This study supports the hypothesis that an internationalised education is effective in bringing about change in students. Students who have had greater participation in the components of internationalisation during their education were shown to have greater foreign language skills, higher levels of general and region- and country-specific international knowledge, more worldminded attitudes, behaviours that reflected those attitudes, and higher levels of cross-cultural skills. These findings offer renewed support and scientific vigour to the claims made by international educators, which should help fuel the effort to bring internationalisation to the forefront of university strategic plans. They also shed greater light on the areas of internationalisation that are correlated with various outcomes so that internationalisation strategies can better target specific outcomes. An additional side benefit of this study is the creation of an instrument that with some changes, can serve as an up-to-date, valid, and reliable instrument to measure a wide-ranging set of outcomes of an internationalised education and to track a university’s progress in achieving these outcomes.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Education and Professional Studies
Faculty of Education
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Hadwen, Kate Margaret. "Leaving home: Investigating transitioning challenges faced by boarding students and their families." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2015. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1628.
Full textAbstract:
Transitioning to boarding school during the middle years of childhood impacts upon the social, emotional and academic wellbeing of young people (Bramston & Patrick, 2007; Connell & Wellborn, 1991; Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier, & Ryan, 1991; Earls & Carlson, 2001). Students who live at school as boarders, may experience greater transitional changes in all three components of wellbeing due to the extent of change experienced during this transition. While research addressing transitioning to school has indicated the importance of connectedness to school, bonding, friendships and a sense of autonomy (Eccles et al., 1993), there is limited research addressing the transitioning experiences of boarding students and their families.
This mixed methodology study sought to understand how boarding students experience transitioning into boarding school, its possible association with connectedness to the boarding house, reported levels of staff support, loneliness, homesickness and help-seeking for homesickness. Focus groups and interviews were used to better understand how parents experience the transitioning of their children into boarding school.
This thesis used data collected from a Healthway funded Starter Grant. The research was cross-sectional by design involving a purposeful sample of 267 students, 59% male and 41% female, aged 12 - 15 years, who lived in one of eight metropolitan and regional boarding settings in Western Australia (WA) in 2011, and 37 of their parents. Data for this project were collected from October, 2010 to September, 2011
The first research question used qualitative data to explore the experiences of boarding parents. Findings suggested parents appeared to be more affected by their children leaving home than did the majority of boarding students. The following strategies were suggested as helpful to support positive transitions: preparing both parents and their children effectively for the move; making contact with other boarding parents at least six months prior to the transition; having meaningful connections with the staff caring for their children communicating and visiting their children regularly; co-developing with their children communication and visiting plans; and, keeping busy.
Research questions two to five analysed quantitative data collected through a student survey. The following transitioning activities were found to be either very helpful and / or associated with other benefits (as listed above): tour of the boarding house; sleepover with or without parents; separate information targeting students and parents sent or given to boarding families, up to date information on the Internet; Orientation Day; peer mentors; staff telephoning students prior to transition; and, boarding staff meeting with each family individually on or following Orientation Day.
Homesickness was most commonly experienced during the first two weeks of boarding and when students returned after their holidays. Girls, younger students and International students reported experiencing more homesickness. Three factors: psychosomatic symptoms; separation distress; and, grief and loss, best explained how students in this study experienced homesickness.
Help-seeking behaviours comprised the factors contacting parents, keeping busy and conversing with staff and students. A number of activities were associated with reductions in both psychosomatic symptoms and separation distress; however, for those students who experienced grief and loss, going on leave with their parents and knowing when their parents would next be visiting or taking them on leave appeared to be the only activities that reduced students’ grief response.
Help-seeking was most evident for students who experienced psychosomatic symptoms or feelings of separation distress. Students who experienced grief and loss were less likely to report seeking help. Girls and younger students reported utilising the most help-seeking strategies.
The findings of this study and the subsequent recommendations will assist families and staff to better understand the experiences of boarding students and their families as students transition into boarding.
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Li, Boli. "Approaches to learning : perceptions about Chinese international undergraduates in Australian Universities." Thesis, Federation University Australia, 2021. http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/181912.
Full textAbstract:
Chinese students constitute the largest cohort of international undergraduates in Australian universities, comprising 37.3% in 2019. However, there is a scarcity of research examining perceptions of how Chinese international students (CIS) learn in Australian universities, from the broader context of the students themselves, their Australian teachers and Australian domestic student (ADS) counterparts. Drawing on the 3P (Presage-Process-Product) framework by Biggs, Kember, and Leung (2001), this thesis explored the perceptions of CIS, and their lecturers and classmates regarding their approaches to learning in Australian universities. Utilising a mixed methods approach (Creswell, 2014), surveys were conducted with 156 CIS and 212 ADS incorporating a validated survey by Biggs et al. (2001) called the R-SPQ-2F. Interviews were also conducted with 10 CIS and 10 Australian academics from two Australian universities, one regional and the other metropolitan. The findings demonstrated that perceptions of CIS were characterised by a unique learning structure that differed from ADS in a number of ways, particularly in relation to group learning, the use of understanding and memorisation strategies, and classroom engagement. It was noted that these disparities did not support the generally held view of CIS as mainly surface oriented learners who preferred rote-learning techniques (Grimshaw, 2007). While adopting similar levels to ADS of deep approach strategies in their learning, CIS also used more surface and achieving approaches than ADS, and tended to incorporate memorising with understanding in their learning process. However, it was also evident that the approaches used by CIS in Australia were often more complex than what was easily observed. For instance, their reticence in class was not necessarily indicative of passive learning, but instead, suggestive of the complexity of context that needs to encompass the ‘whole being’ of these students, i.e., their personality, culture, and most of all, the dynamics of their perceived approaches to their learning. This study also investigated negotiations that occurred between CIS and their Australian lecturers. While CIS’ learning approaches were greatly shaped and determined by academics’ instructional decisions involving curriculum, teaching patterns and assessment procedures, it was also found that academics’ instructional activities were reshaped and counter-determined by CIS’ learning approaches. As a result, a Co-constructed Model of Learning and Teaching (CMLT) for CIS in Australian universities, based on the 3P framework (Biggs et al., 2001), was developed to assist future education experiences for international students. This study is significant in that it has given voice to Chinese students, enabling a greater understanding of their experiences in Australian universities to emerge, in conjunction with and supplemented by insights provided by their Australian student counterparts and educators. It has enabled both international and domestic students the opportunity to reflect on possible cultural impacts on learning, hopefully improving their capacities to act as effective global citizens. It has also afforded an opportunity for academics to reflect on their beliefs and practices in relation to teaching diverse student cohorts, which will hopefully deepen their understanding of the complexities that come with the increasing globalisation of education.Doctor of Philosophy
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Harryba, Sophia A. "Key stakeholders’ experiences of international education at one Australian university." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2013. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/561.
Full textAbstract:
Aim: This study aimed to explore the experiences which influenced the perceptions of three key groups of stakeholders: academic and support staff, international students, and their domestic peers, when engaging in International Education at one Australian university. The original research questions for this study were:
1. What experiences influence staff members’ perceptions of International Education at one Australian university?
2. What experiences influence international students’ perception of their education at one Australian university? As directed by theoretical sampling, the views of domestic students were then also sought, to shed light on the following research question:
3. What experiences influence domestic students’ perceptions of International Education at one Australian university?
Conceptual Framework: A Social Constructivist theoretical framework was employed within a Case Study approach for a number of reasons. First, institutions have their own specific characteristics, budgets and student populations and so can be studied separately in order that the researcher might develop a detailed critical understanding of the intricacies of the single case. Since International Education is a complex phenomenon, the researcher also needed to include the multiple realities of the different stakeholders involved. The researcher’s personal philosophy aligned with Social Constructivism, which argues that perceptions of reality are subjective to the person experiencing them. As such, Social Constructivist Grounded Theory allowed for the interpretation of both the participants’ views of reality as well as the researcher’s. Finally, this approach allowed for a co-construction of reality through the interactions of the participants and the researcher during the data collection process. This was important since the researcher, too, is an international student. Data collection strategies associated with Grounded Theory (GT) were used to obtain a more holistic understanding of the complex issues at play, and allowed for theoretical sampling, such that the researcher could follow up new directions as they arose during data analysis.
Methodology: The study evolved in three interwoven stages, during which 25 international students, 38 staff members (academic and non-academic) and 10 domestic students were interviewed using semi-structured, face-to-face interview techniques. Theoretical sampling allowed new issues to be addressed in subsequent interviews as the study progressed.
Participants: Data collection ceased after 38 interviews for staff members. This group comprised of 28 females and 10 males, most over 45 years of age, and an approximately equal mix of academic and non- academic staff. For international students, data collection ceased after 25 interviews. This group included both undergraduates and postgraduates, with only two having English as their first language. Length of stay in Australia varied from 2 months to 9 years. Data collection for the third group of participants, the domestic students, ceased after ten interviews, due to the difficulty of recruiting more students. There was an important gap in the sample of staff members, with no representatives from the SSC (Student Services Centre) responding to the numerous invitations to participate in the research. Ironically, SSC staff reported there was a policy based deterrent by which any staff working in the SCC were technically unable to participate in this (or any) research within the course of working hours.
Procedure: The sampling process was carried out using snowball and volunteering techniques. Invitational emails, flyers and website posts were used to inform staff members, international and domestic students about the research. The participants then contacted the researcher to arrange for an interview date and time suitable for all parties. Interviews ranged from 30 to 45 minutes in length and data were transcribed immediately after each interview, so that a constant comparison with previous data could be carried out. Data were analysed using Constructivist Grounded Theory techniques.
Findings: Perceptions of the key stakeholders were influenced by experiences both at the university level as well as at student and staff levels. It was observed that experiences of International Education depended on staff members’ roles and how much experience they had had with international students; how they perceived their international students; questions about the motivation of some students; and concerns about some students’ communication skills. At the university level, staff experiences were influenced by frustration with existing services and multi-level miscommunication across the university. These factors led to a number of implications for the staff, the students and the university. Issues such as lack of time to work with students, heavy workloads, lack of training or incentives to participate in training, and tensions around student assessment led to some staff members feeling “frustrated” or “resentful” about working with international students. International students’ perceptions of their education were influenced by concerns about the adequacy of their own communication skills, a lack of confidence in participating fully in the academic and social life of the university; and their perceptions of staff roles and responsibilities. Their broad experiences of their education were also affected by concerns about the services provided, which were either not specific enough, not familiar enough, or poorly coordinated. They also perceived some negative responses from their domestic peers. These combined factors resulted in a reluctance to access available services; some level of withdrawal from full participation in classroom activities, and feelings of being treated as the ‘other’ by some staff and students. Domestic students were recruited to the study using theoretical sampling after issues surrounding culturally-mixed group work were raised in the interviews with staff members and international students. Domestic students’ perceptions of International Education were influenced by concerns about some international students’ communication skills; in-group favouritism; and their belief that teachers did not facilitate group work to the extent required. At the university level, some commented that limited promotion of both the benefits of diversity, and of a sense of community on campus, influenced their experiences of working with individuals who were culturally and/or linguistically different.
Conclusions: The study highlighted the importance of the university’s Value Position in influencing the International Education experiences of staff and students. The findings of the study supported the view that the model of service provision did not acknowledge that different student cohorts had, to some extent, different needs. This stance then influenced how staff and students responded to those they deemed as different. The contributions of the current study, its limitations and directions for future research are also discussed, along with a set of recommendations for the current Case aimed at enhancing the key stakeholders’ experiences of International Education.
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Roberts, Pamela A. "Support services for international university students : an Australian case study." Thesis, Curtin University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/1607.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this study was to contribute to an improved understanding of international students’ support needs by identifying the issues that are significant to students in terms of their study experience, the services they consider as valuable and the factors that contribute to the degree to which those services are taken up. Included within the parameters of this study is a review of the background development of international education from a global and national perspective and the legislative and governing frameworks which impact on educational institutions that provide courses of study to international students. This is followed by a review of the literature in relation to international student experiences as regard the culture of support, adjustment issues and support service provision and utilisation.The research was undertaken in one university with a long history of enrolling international students in courses of study in Australia. The university has a corporatised model of operations with a strong emphasis on meeting strategic targets and ‘balanced scorecard’ outcomes. In 2010 10, 702 international students were enrolled onshore in the education institution across various programs of study and these students account for close to 25% of the institution’s total onshore student population. Within the setting, support services are provided in accordance with the legislated requirements for education providers in Australia. Utilisation of services within the university is variable and no research exists which had examined in any depth the culture of support service provision, student awareness, use, access, perceived importance and barriers to use of services.A three stage research process was used to examine the phenomena, involving interviews with key support service providers in the university, focus groups with international students and a subsequent survey, to which 395 international students responded. The majority of international students were of the view that the range of support services provided was appropriate and met their needs. There was clear evidence however that the current services needed to be improved and that a more student centred focus was crucial to ensure services were provided in a way which was useful. Issues raised as influencing use of services by international students included the culture, importance, awareness, quality of information, access, timeliness and cost.One overarching recommendation is made and associated implementation strategies proposed, both related to the future management and direction of support and support services delivery in the university. Central to the recommendation is the need to implement a student centred model of support and support service delivery within the university. As set out in the conceptual model developed, the critical elements needed to support this approach include the need to: conduct a review of the current services to ensure they are provided in a way which is useful to students, design a quality framework for the delivery of services which includes the coordination, delivery and ongoing management and monitoring of services, review strategic plans and identify organisational learning needs to facilitate development of the student centred model of support service delivery.
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Wood, Simon. "The Impact of Sociocultural Factors on the Behaviour, Learning Expectations, and Attitudes to Learning of Australian Primary School Students with Chinese-Born Parents." Thesis, Griffith University, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/413001.
Full textAbstract:
The educational systems of many Asian countries, and in the context of this project China in particular, are widely perceived by governments and their citizens as superior to the Australian educational system. This perception is due in part to the analysis of successive studies undertaken by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA publish performance tables which demonstrate that the performance of students who took the test in China appears higher than that of students who took the test in Australia. Included in the PISA report is a direct comparison of the levels of Mathematics achievement between non-immigrant students and immigrant students who completed the PISA Mathematics test in several countries, including Australia. The PISA comparison of mathematics test results reveals that students in Australian schools who have Chinese-born parents outperform Chinese students studying in China; the analysis would therefore seem to contradict the perception that the educational system of China is superior to the educational system in Australia. Previous research into the specific practices and involvement of Chinese-born parents in Australia is very limited. Research has also been mainly quantitative with many studies relying on mass PISA data or using data from high school students or older. This study makes a key contribution by focusing on primary age students at the earliest stage of their formal education. Using sociocultural theory as a framework, the purpose of this research study was to examine the attitudes and behaviour of Chinese students and their parents in Australia, to test whether these may be responsible in some part for the comparatively high achievement levels of students with Chinese-born parents. By using an exploratory qualitative case study approach, it aimed to provide an understanding of the nature of the possible social-cultural influences. Data were collected by way of semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with individual participants, including parents, students, and a specialist tutor of Chinese students. This study also establishes that the families in this study express what might be considered traditional culturally Chinese attitudes and beliefs. As a result of these cultural influences it is perhaps the key finding from this study that even primary school students at the earliest stage of their formal education engage in the types of behaviour, and express attitudes, which have been demonstrated to impact most on student achievement. The findings support the Cultural-Historical Assumption which posits that cultural values and beliefs are responsible for student behaviour and performance. The Policies and Structures Assumption, which suggests that educational systems and education policies are the best explanation for differences in student achievement between countries and regions, is not supported. This is important because the broader implication is that non-Chinese students in Australia can achieve similarly if they and their parents approach learning with the same levels of expectation and engagement as their Chinese counterparts.Thesis (Masters)
Master of Education and Professional Studies Research (MEdProfStRes)
School Educ & Professional St
Arts, Education and Law
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com, ujitani@yahoo, and Eiko Ujitani. "Intercultural relational development between Australian students and host Japanese students: A longitudinal study of students' socio-emotional experiences and interpretations." Murdoch University, 2006. http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/adt/browse/view/adt-MU20070423.145945.
Full textAbstract:
Since the Project of Accepting 100,000 Students from Abroad was proposed by the Japanese government in 1983, the number of international students in Japan has increased dramatically to reach ten times the level of 23 years ago. Yet, despite the enhanced opportunities for international and local Japanese students to interact, there is evidence that meaningful intercultural interactions between the two groups have not taken place consistently (Hicks, 1988; Jou & Fukuda, 1995; Tanaka, et al., 1997).
The aim of this research was to develop a better understanding of the process of intercultural relational development between international and Japanese students in a Japanese context. More specifically, the research aimed to identify elements which facilitate or inhibit the two groups' intercultural relational development over a period of time, the nature of socio-emotional challenges that are experienced along the way, and how these are interpreted by students themselves. Several interpersonal relationship theories, cross-cultural communication theory, and research on cross-cultural and intercultural relational development were reviewed to form the conceptual background of the research. In combination, they contributed to provide a holistic approach to studying the complex dynamic, interactive and reciprocal nature of intercultural relational development.
Using naturalistic inquiry at a single site over a period of nine months, an empirical study investigated the intercultural relational development taking place among a small number of Australian and Japanese students who lived at the International House of a private Japanese university. Research methods included four semi-structured interviews with each participant, the use of various stimulus materials, including critical incidents to elicit multiple interpretations, as well as the researcher's continuous field observations.
The study revealed some of the factors that facilitated and alternatively inhibited social interactions between the two groups, at different stages of their relational development. Students' spontaneous accounts of critical incidents, combined with their subjective interpretations of the same incidents provided insight into the socio-emotional challenges experienced by students in the process of intercultural relational development. Whereas most students' accounts and interpretations could be related to cultural background and experience, there was also evidence that some strategies for developing intercultural relationships as well as some interpretations of socio-emotional challenges were related to gender rather than cultural background. Unexpectedly, the research also found that social drinking was perceived by many students, across the two groups, as a facilitating factor at the early stage of intercultural development.
Overall, the empirical study revealed that Japanese students experienced more socio-emotional challenges than Australian students. Differences in sense of humor and in perceived appropriateness of introducing conversational topics of a private nature were given special attention as these appeared to present major socio-emotional challenges for Japanese students. Both cultural background and gender seemed to have an impact on students' interpretations of these challenges.
The thesis concludes with some suggestions for future research and for how intercultural learning between international students and host nationals could be enhanced in the Japanese context. Finally, the study makes a unique methodological contribution to research related to international students, through the use of a longitudinal design, a focus on situated experiences and socio-emotional challenges, and more generally, through a reciprocal approach to the study of intercultural relational development in the context of the internationalisation of higher education.
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Lin, Jung-Hsiu. "Coming to belong : a narrative analysis of international students’ experiences in an Australian university." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2012. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/54680/1/Jung-Hsiu_Lin_Thesis.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis reports on an interview study with 17 international students about their experiences of coming to belong in an Australian university. All used English as an additional language (EAL). The students’ narratives of ‘coming to belong’ are conceptualised through the theory of Bourdieu, in particular the concepts of field, capital, habitus and legitimation; and the methodological premises of critical realism’s layered ontology. The literature review argues that access to and accrual of a range of capital is critical to successful adaptation to a new educational system. This, and processes of legitimation by others in the fields, affects the senses of belonging for students of various linguistic backgrounds, of different countries of origin, studying from primary to higher education in diverse parts of the world. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews and email dialogues at three points during the students’ first year of study in Australia. The analysis shows how the students’ empirical experiences were ordered in terms of narrative structure—orientation, complication, evaluation, resolution and coda—and highlight the emotions generated by the sequence of events. The findings show that EAL international students sought new field positions through legitimation in multiple senses across (sub-)fields.
They also show that academic, social and linguistic legitimacy granted by others produced a spectrum of belonging: in the centre, at the margin, and/or to meaningful intercultural encounters. This study makes a contribution to the growing literature around the experience of international students in higher education, and to empirical literature using Bourdieu to understand educational relations.
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Chew, Shiun Yee. "Perceptions of online learning in an Australian university : Malaysian students' perspectives." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2011. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/46133/1/Shiun_Yee_Chew_Thesis.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Several researchers have reported that cultural and language differences can affect online interactions and communications between students from different cultural backgrounds. Other researchers have asserted that online learning is a tool that can improve teaching and learning skills, but, its effectiveness depends on how the tool is used. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the kinds of challenges encountered by the international students and how they actually cope with online learning. To date little research exists on the perceptions of online learning environments by international Asian students, in particular Malaysian students who study in Australian Universities; hence this study aims to fill this gap. A mixed-method approach was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data using a modified Online Learning Environment Survey (OLES) instrument and focus group interviews. The sample comprised 76 international students from a university in Brisbane. Thirty-five domestic Australian students were included for comparison. Contrary to assumptions from previous research, the findings revealed that there were few differences between the international Asian students from Malaysia and Australian students with regard to their perceptions of online learning. Another cogent finding that emerged was that online learning was most effective when included within blended learning environments. The students clearly indicated that when learning in a blended environment, it was imperative that appropriate features are blended in and customised to suit the particular needs of international students. The study results indicated that the university could improve the quality of the blended online learning environment by: 1) establishing and maintaining a sense of learning community; 2) enhancing the self motivation of students; and 3) professional development of lecturers/tutors, unit coordinators and learning support personnel. Feedback from focus group interviews, highlighted the students‘ frustration with a lack of cooperative learning, strategies and skills which were expected of them by their lecturers/tutors in order to work productively in groups. They indicated a strong desire for lecturers/tutors to provide them prior training in these strategies and skills. The students identified four ways to optimise learning opportunities in cross-cultural spaces. These were: 1) providing preparatory and ongoing workshops focusing on the dispositions and roles of students within student-centred online learning environments; 2) providing preparatory and ongoing workshops on collaborative group learning strategies and skills; 3) providing workshops familiarising students with Australian culture and language; and 4) providing workshops on strategies for addressing technical problems. Students also indicated a strong desire for professional development of lecturers/tutors focused on: 1) teacher attributes, 2) ways to culturally sensitive curricula, and 3) collaborative learning and cooperative working strategies and skills, and 4) designing flexible program structures. Recommendations from this study will be useful to Australian universities where Asian international students from Malaysia study in blended learning environments. An induction program (online skills, collaborative and teamwork skills, study expectations plus familiarisation with Australian culture) for overseas students at the commencement of their studies; a cultural awareness program for lecturers (cultural sensitivity, ways to communicate and a better understanding of Asian educational systems), upskilling of lecturers‘ ability to structure their teaching online and to apply strong theoretical underpinnings when designing learning activities such as discussion forums, and consistency with regards to how content is located and displayed in a learning management system like Blackboard. Through addressing the research questions in this study, the researcher hopes to contribute to and advance the domain of knowledge related to online learning, and to better understand how international Malaysian students‘ perceive online learning environments. These findings have theoretical and pragmatic significance.
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Calvert, Gregory. "International education: career paths in science and engineering." Thesis, Curtin University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/706.
Full textAbstract:
This study examines the relationship between international fee-paying students and career pathways through courses of study in Science and Engineering. International education is a significant endeavour in Australia in terms of any measure (students, dollars, associated employment). Over the last two decades it has grown in scope, beyond international fee-paying students, so that it now crosses all sectors of education and training (schools, vocational education and training, and higher education). Australian institutions have expanded their enrolment offshore and engaged in a variety of joint venture activities to capitalise on this surge of interest. The study examined international fee-paying students and career pathways shortly after the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) conducted two major studies in 2004 into career education and transnational education amongst member countries. The links between course and career intentions were investigated by focusing on the subject fields of Science and Engineering. The term career pathway is used as a metaphor to describe the way students move through the Australian education and training system, with such movements possibly occurring through sequential levels or by sectors. A literature review was conducted initially, and a mixed research methodology (involving both quantitative and qualitative approaches) was adopted for the study. A survey instrument was used with a sample of 110 international fee-paying students drawn from students studying Science and/or Engineering at nine institutions across sectors of Australian education and training, then a further sample of 22 students was interviewed in order to gain an understanding of the underlying reasons for students making the decisions, in relation to courses and careers that they do.These samples provide the opportunity to evaluate international students' understandings of the Australian education and training system, especially the entry procedures into Science and/or Engineering courses. As part of the methodology the preliminary results were shared with the institutions involved to gain their input. Major findings were that 68 percent of the sample did not have career preparation or advice before coming to Australia; 52 percent of the sample was able to explain the term 'credit-transfer'; 53 percent of the sample had researched the recognition of their course in their home country, and careers advice was sought by 58 percent of the sample whilst studying in Australia. Resulting from the study are a number of recommendations for major stakeholders associated with international education (Australian Educational International, the Graduate Careers Council of Australia, government policy makers, institutions, the related professional bodies in the fields of Science and Engineering, and international fee-paying students). The findings of this study have implications for the way in which careers services are provided to international fee-paying students at Australian institutions. The outcome of this study is presented in two volumes. Volume One contains the body of the thesis in 6 Chapters. Volume Two (on disk) includes the associated documents of this study, presented in twelve Appendices.
34
Wang, Carol Chungfeng. "Chinese nursing students at Australian universities: A narrative inquiry into their motivation, learning experience, and future career planning." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2017. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1949.
Full textAbstract:
This study presents a narrative inquiry of Chinese nursing students at Australian universities in order to examine these students’ motivations, learning experiences and future career planning. Australia seeks to attract international nursing students from China to maintain its economic advantage and alleviate its projected nursing shortage. In contrast, China desperately needs its best and brightest citizens who have trained abroad as nurses to return to China in order to cope with its current challenges in the healthcare system and nursing education. Little is known about the underlying factors that motivate Chinese nursing students to study in Australia, these students’ learning experiences at Australian universities, and whether or not these students will return to China after graduation.
This study undertook a narrative inquiry using the three-dimensional space narrative structure approach, with an epistemological perspective drawing on constructivist and interpretivist theory. Through interviews, the authentic voices of six participants’ stories were collected to capture the entire emotional, social, intellectual and reflective processes of each student’s motivations, learning experiences and future career plans. The research findings from this study are presented as both narrative and thematic representations. By exploring and representing each theme and narrative that emerged from the field texts, meaning was unpacked to provide insights to the ‘reality’ as seen by the study participants.
The findings revealed that the students’ key motivation to study in Australia was related to the possibility of permanent residency post-qualification. The decision to move was dynamic, with the participants describing cultural and social push and pull factors. Encouragement and support from peers and family were strong contributors to the motivation to study nursing and eventually work and live in Australia. Parents played an especially vital role in this decision-making process. In addition, the participants expressed a strong desire to maximise Australia’s opportunities and cultural experiences.
The participants’ experience of studying in Australia was characterised by the need to learn a new language, feeling lost in a new education system vastly different to the one at home, the challenge of making new friends and socialising, and eventually successfully completing their study and attaining their goals. The experience of being an international student was not described as easy. It requires taking risks, courage, determination, motivation and persistence to succeed. Through their lived experiences and reflections of their learning journey in Australia, the six participants reconstructed their personal identity and worldviews, which ultimately helped them locate their place in Australia.
The conclusion of the participants’ journey highlighted that their learning experiences have particular implications for international education, healthcare development, future educational connections and investment globally. The insight gained from this study can support the development of successful human capital investment strategies for all parties involved.
In the field of international student education, nursing education is relatively understudied. This thesis presents insight into the reality of international student migration through the lens of individual actors in the process, the students themselves.
35
O'Regan, Justine Mary. "Local moorings, international visions : fabricating internationalised practices in Australian higher education." Queensland University of Technology, 2006. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/16245/.
Full textAbstract:
Over the last two decades, Australian higher education has undergone dramatic changes in purpose and orientation. Changes in public funding arrangements and concomitant policy statements have contributed to the reconceptualisation of Australian higher education, and internationalisation has become a core goal for Australian universities. In light of these dynamics, this study examined understandings of internationalisation within two Australian universities. The study examined the ways in which internationalisation was understood by university staff working in either a teaching capacity and/or a managerial position. Situated within the broad field of critical sociology, the study drew on critical realism (Bhaskar, 1979, 1989), critical epistemology (Carspecken, 1996) and reflexive sociology (Bourdieu, 1972, 1990) to analyse how the universities and their staff positioned themselves in relation to the goal of internationalisation. Furthermore, the study examined how this goal served to reposition the institution and/or various forms of university work. The insights of critical social theory were used to examine the contested power relations associated with the growing importance attributed to the goal of internationalisation in Australian higher education. The significance of the study resides in its recognition of the ways in which academic and non-academic subcultures within the university contribute to the goal of internationalisation. Whereas previous research viewed divergence of understandings as weakening the commitment given to internationalisation as an institutional goal, this study has shown that such diversity stems from the differential encounters with and experiences of internationalisation. Moreover, in previous research, the pre-determined objectives for internationalisation resulted in the compartmentalisation of this goal, as in economic objectives and academic objectives. In contrast, this study focused on the dynamic and evolving nature of internationalisation in higher education. Consequently, the study's contribution lies in its explanation of the long term benefits to be derived from viewing internationalisation as a dynamic and generative phenomenon, rather than simply as a pre-determined goal. A case study approach was used in this research with two contrasting onshore Australian universities selected as the case sites. One institution had a reputation as an elite, research intensive university. The other was a post-Dawkins university with a strong vocational orientation. At each site, semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff from across the university's hierarchy. Interviewees included the Pro Vice-Chancellor for the Office of Internationalisation, the Chair of the Academic Board, the Director of the Teaching and Learning Support Unit, Faculty Deans, Heads of Departments, as well as departmental staff concerned with first year teaching. Departmental staff were drawn from two disciplinary areas, Australian History and Marketing. Interviews engaged participants in discussion about the processes by which internationalisation was enacted. Furthermore, university documents, such as the Strategic Plan, were analysed in terms of how the given institution constructed the need for internationalisation and the means by which this goal was to be achieved. The study found that internationalisation involves and promotes constant adaptability. The two institutions used whatever resources they had to develop and promote their international aspirations. The international visions of the institutions were influenced by both their historical and intended relationship with the broader higher education world. The elite, research intensive institution viewed internationalisation with becoming a university of international standing. This institution used its bureaucratic and hierarchical nature to advance its objectives for internationalisation. The vocationally oriented university had developed an internationalisation policy with a view to maximising the revenue to be derived from its diverse international activities and to gaining greater prestige within the higher education field. Staff involved with managerial and/or teaching work were found to develop their ideas about internationalisation through a combination of personal and professional experiences. The study confirmed the growing trend for academics to assume managerial roles in addition to their teaching and research. Consequently, accounts of internationalisation were not necessarily confined to a purely managerial or an academic perspective. Furthermore, the accounts of internationalisation differed between and within the two selected disciplines. On the one hand, specific disciplinary attributes could be seen by the academics interviewed as inherently international, even though they may not assist in realising institutional objectives for internationalisation. On the other, academics spoke of the perceived need for the frames of reference used in undergraduate education to be broadened, given the globalised nature of contemporary society and/or the increasing international enrolments. The study concluded that internationalisation is an important means by which the localised priorities of an institution, an academic department, and/or of individuals can engage with forms of global mobility. Moreover, the study argued the need for all staff and students in Australian higher education to see themselves as part of the processes of internationalisation. This latter point raises questions about the personal and professional attributes required of academics when working within internationalised Australian universities.
36
au, psnider@central murdoch edu, and Paul Dabney Snider. "Exploring the Relationships between Individualism and Collectivism and Attitudes towards Counselling among Ethnic Chinese, Australian, and American University Students." Murdoch University, 2003. http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/adt/browse/view/adt-MU20040430.140708.
Full textAbstract:
Exploring the Relationships Between Individualism and Collectivism and Attitudes Towards Counselling Among Ethnic Chinese, Australian, and American University Students Compensating for reduced public funding, Australian and American universities actively recruit full-fee paying East Asian international students. University staff, aware of international students having difficulties coping with cultural and emotional issues, often encourage them to seek university counselling services. However, East Asian international students under-utilise Western universities counselling services.
It has been argued that the Western concept of counselling reflects Western cultural values, in particular individualism. Thus the reluctance of international students from more collectivistic cultures to seek counselling services may in part be due to a clash of cultural values. Over a decade ago, Draguns hypothesised the existence of a relationship between Hofstedes cultural dimensions of individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity, and their influence on individuals attitudes towards psychopathology and treatment modalities. The current study sought to offer empirical support for Draguns hypothesis as it related to individualism and power distance, and to attitudes towards counselling. In place of Hofstedes cultural dimensions, this study used the Triandis cultural concepts of vertical and horizontal individualism and collectivism.
Using the Triandis Individualism Collectivism Scale (ICS) and the Tinsley Expectations about Counseling-Brief Form (EAC-B)questionnaire, the current study explores the relationship between levels of vertical and horizontal individualism and collectivism, and attitudes towards the roles of counsellors, the roles of clients, and the process and goals of counselling. The research is based on data collected from three cultural groups: ethnic Chinese international students attending Australian universities, and Australian and American university students enrolled in their home countries.
This study is unusual in cross-cultural research owing to its use of the Rasch extended logistic model of modern item response theory (IRT) as a means of validating the data prior to standard statistical analysis. Whereas classical test theory emphasises the model fitting the data, the Rasch model of IRT requires that the data fit the model to be considered valid. Psychometric analysis of the ICS found its four scales separately fit the Rasch model quite well, as did three modified scales of the EAC-B.
The IRT analysis also provided a means of identifying differential item functioning (DIF), that is, items functioning differently (demonstrating bias) among
the three cultural groups.
Using the EAC-B to collect pre and post-intervention data, the current study assessed the effectiveness of a videotape intervention as a means of changing within and between-group attitudes towards counselling. It was anticipated that ethnic Chinese participants, representing the group with the least familiarity with counselling, would show the greatest change in counselling attitudes as a result of the intervention. Americans were expected to show the least change, and Australian participants to be in the middle position. Based on the findings, the intervention did not significantly alter the participants attitudes towards counselling regardless of their cultural background. Overall, the intervention served to strengthen existing attitudes.
Lastly as a means of gaining a deeper understanding of the quantitative findings, the study collected qualitative data from the participants and from university counsellors. These findings indicated that there was a general lack of knowledge about university counselling services even among those participants who were familiar with counselling as a concept. Participants, in general, expressed reservations about seeking counselling due to concerns of being seen by friends. This was particularly true for the Chinese. Chinese participants also expressed scepticism towards a non-Chinese counsellors ability to understand their problems.
In reference to Draguns hypothesis, overall the findings from this study supported his model. The findings indicated that individuals endorsing collectivistic attitudes expressed a strong preference for counsellors who were direct, expert-like, and helped clients seek concrete solutions to their problems. The study also found that an individuals expressions of cultural dimensions, such as vertical collectivism, were better predictors of counsellor preference than an individuals cultural background.
These findings have implications for university policy makers who are responsible for ensuring the existence of an infrastructure capable of meeting the needs of the international students they so actively recruit. This would include appropriate funding for an adequate and diverse counselling staff extending itself to the university community. There are also implications for counsellor education programs in recognising the link between cultural variables and client expectations.
37
O'Regan, Justine Mary. "Local moorings, international visions : fabricating internationalised practices in Australian higher education." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2006. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/16245/1/Justine_O%27Regan_Thesis.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Over the last two decades, Australian higher education has undergone dramatic changes in purpose and orientation. Changes in public funding arrangements and concomitant policy statements have contributed to the reconceptualisation of Australian higher education, and internationalisation has become a core goal for Australian universities. In light of these dynamics, this study examined understandings of internationalisation within two Australian universities.
The study examined the ways in which internationalisation was understood by university staff working in either a teaching capacity and/or a managerial position. Situated within the broad field of critical sociology, the study drew on critical realism (Bhaskar, 1979, 1989), critical epistemology (Carspecken, 1996) and reflexive sociology (Bourdieu, 1972, 1990) to analyse how the universities and their staff positioned themselves in relation to the goal of internationalisation. Furthermore, the study examined how this goal served to reposition the institution and/or various forms of university work. The insights of critical social theory were used to examine the contested power relations associated with the growing importance attributed to the goal of internationalisation in Australian higher education.
The significance of the study resides in its recognition of the ways in which academic and non-academic subcultures within the university contribute to the goal of internationalisation. Whereas previous research viewed divergence of understandings as weakening the commitment given to internationalisation as an institutional goal, this study has shown that such diversity stems from the differential encounters with and experiences of internationalisation. Moreover, in previous research, the pre-determined objectives for internationalisation resulted in the compartmentalisation of this goal, as in economic objectives and academic objectives. In contrast, this study focused on the dynamic and evolving nature of internationalisation in higher education. Consequently, the study's contribution lies in its explanation of the long term benefits to be derived from viewing internationalisation as a dynamic and generative phenomenon, rather than simply as a pre-determined goal.
A case study approach was used in this research with two contrasting onshore Australian universities selected as the case sites. One institution had a reputation as an elite, research intensive university. The other was a post-Dawkins university with a strong vocational orientation. At each site, semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff from across the university's hierarchy. Interviewees included the Pro Vice-Chancellor for the Office of Internationalisation, the Chair of the Academic Board, the Director of the Teaching and Learning Support Unit, Faculty Deans, Heads of Departments, as well as departmental staff concerned with first year teaching. Departmental staff were drawn from two disciplinary areas, Australian History and Marketing. Interviews engaged participants in discussion about the processes by which internationalisation was enacted. Furthermore, university documents, such as the Strategic Plan, were analysed in terms of how the given institution constructed the need for internationalisation and the means by which this goal was to be achieved.
The study found that internationalisation involves and promotes constant adaptability. The two institutions used whatever resources they had to develop and promote their international aspirations. The international visions of the institutions were influenced by both their historical and intended relationship with the broader higher education world. The elite, research intensive institution viewed internationalisation with becoming a university of international standing. This institution used its bureaucratic and hierarchical nature to advance its objectives for internationalisation. The vocationally oriented university had developed an internationalisation policy with a view to maximising the revenue to be derived from its diverse international activities and to gaining greater prestige within the higher education field.
Staff involved with managerial and/or teaching work were found to develop their ideas about internationalisation through a combination of personal and professional experiences. The study confirmed the growing trend for academics to assume managerial roles in addition to their teaching and research. Consequently, accounts of internationalisation were not necessarily confined to a purely managerial or an academic perspective. Furthermore, the accounts of internationalisation differed between and within the two selected disciplines. On the one hand, specific disciplinary attributes could be seen by the academics interviewed as inherently international, even though they may not assist in realising institutional objectives for internationalisation. On the other, academics spoke of the perceived need for the frames of reference used in undergraduate education to be broadened, given the globalised nature of contemporary society and/or the increasing international enrolments. The study concluded that internationalisation is an important means by which the localised priorities of an institution, an academic department, and/or of individuals can engage with forms of global mobility. Moreover, the study argued the need for all staff and students in Australian higher education to see themselves as part of the processes of internationalisation. This latter point raises questions about the personal and professional attributes required of academics when working within internationalised Australian universities.
38
Sebastian, Eugene Francis. "PROTEST FROM THE FRINGE: Overseas Students and their Influence on Australia’s Export of Education Services Policy 1983-1996." Discipline of Government and International Relations, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/5833.
Full textAbstract:
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)The thesis investigates the motivations behind, the methods used in, and the results of the overseas students’ collective action contesting the measures, which the Australian government introduced from 1983 to 1996. As a group of temporary residents located outside the boundaries of domestic political systems, yet within the core of Australia’s revenue earnings, overseas students independently mobilised in an attempt to influence the Australian Government policy on education from a position of limited political, social and legal rights. As temporary residents on short-term permits fully regulated under prescribed immigration rules, overseas students employed conventional repertoires of contention— they established formal structures, adopted action tools, framed their claims, internationalised their protest, formed alliances — in an attempt to mobilise resources and access existing avenues to influence government’s export of education services policy. Their mobilisation response and campaign strategy achieved modest success in securing some policy concessions, particularly during the early stages of education aid reform. Their strategy, however had to evolve as the fledgling export of education services expanded and eventually they shifted their position to fully embrace and reinterpret the government’s own ‘language of liberalisation’, which they used to greater effectiveness in making subsequent claims. Overseas students ability to procure concessions is derived not from their political or universal rights to education, but from their ability to influence policy changes based on their importance and strategic location in the Australian economy. In other words, government, universities and industry stakeholders have increasingly become dependent on substantial revenue earnings derived from overseas students and have become susceptible to potential chaos that may be precipitated if current students withdrew from the economy, or potential students choosing alternative education service destinations.
39
Chowdhury, Md Raqibuddin. "Globalisation, international education and the marketing of TESOL: student identity as a site of conflicting forces." Monash University. Faculty of Education, 2008. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/68680.
Full textAbstract:
This study provides a critique of institutional discourses that are informed by race, culture and identity, learning constraints and particular constructions of English and offers ways of thinking that encourage multiplicity and complexity. Its principal aim is to probe issues relating to the identity formation of international TESOL students in the context of the globalisation of international education. To achieve this aim, the study poses questions about the commodification of the TESOL machinery through marketing programmes and its impact on international TESOL students. In addressing these questions the study considers Australian universities’ marketing practices, the discursive representation of international students by these universities and the government, as well as wider matters of educational policy. The research draws on poststructuralist and postcolonial theories, particularly on selected aspects of the works of Foucault and Said and in so doing demonstrates the usefulness of such theories for exploring issues associated with international TESOL students. Taking from these theorists the concepts of power/knowledge, subjectivity, identity and agency, it also incorporates the work of cultural theorists such as Althusser and Hall. The participants were drawn from a wide range of cultural, linguistic and professional backgrounds, enrolled in Masters of TESOL at Australian universities. Through dialogic sessions with them and documentary analysis the discursive practices of the university sites were examined. So too were the subjectivities of students, as they became involved in the various activities of the institution in which they were enrolled, before, during and after their studies. Overall, the analysis reveals how the subjectivities of international TESOL students are constructed both by the university and the students themselves. The students’ accounts of their experiences broadly conflicted with the sweeping claims made by certain institutes, as well as by the dominant knowledges of marketing, international education and globalisation. The analysis shows how the subjectivities of international TESOL students are constructed by both the university and by the students themselves. It also shows how economics has become firmly entrenched in a market discourse and overall how international students are inscribed within policy shifts. The academic welfare, teaching and learning processes of the university indicated little awareness of the fluidity of culture and language or hybridity of its international students. A consequence of this myopic vision of the university is that students are subjected to constricting, divisive and exclusionary discursive practices that fail to properly acknowledge their complex histories, subjectivities and professional aspirations. An identity has been created for them that is not only superficial but also inaccurate. The findings point to the benefits of examining through a Foucauldian analytic such discursive practices of the institution alongside the subjectivities of students. The approach adopted in the research points to the possibility of moving beyond the current reductionist dualisms and binaries to the adoption of educational and institutional practices that recognise students’ hybridity and syncretic subjectivity. In such a space, the meaning of ‘international students’ and the institutional and educational policies and practices designed for them might be renegotiated. The study concludes that if the goal of genuine internationalisation is to be achieved, there is a need for significant institutional change.
40
Calvert, Gregory. "International education: career paths in science and engineering." Curtin University of Technology, Science and Mathematics Education Centre, 2006. http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=16927.
Full textAbstract:
This study examines the relationship between international fee-paying students and career pathways through courses of study in Science and Engineering. International education is a significant endeavour in Australia in terms of any measure (students, dollars, associated employment). Over the last two decades it has grown in scope, beyond international fee-paying students, so that it now crosses all sectors of education and training (schools, vocational education and training, and higher education). Australian institutions have expanded their enrolment offshore and engaged in a variety of joint venture activities to capitalise on this surge of interest. The study examined international fee-paying students and career pathways shortly after the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) conducted two major studies in 2004 into career education and transnational education amongst member countries. The links between course and career intentions were investigated by focusing on the subject fields of Science and Engineering. The term career pathway is used as a metaphor to describe the way students move through the Australian education and training system, with such movements possibly occurring through sequential levels or by sectors. A literature review was conducted initially, and a mixed research methodology (involving both quantitative and qualitative approaches) was adopted for the study. A survey instrument was used with a sample of 110 international fee-paying students drawn from students studying Science and/or Engineering at nine institutions across sectors of Australian education and training, then a further sample of 22 students was interviewed in order to gain an understanding of the underlying reasons for students making the decisions, in relation to courses and careers that they do.These samples provide the opportunity to evaluate international students' understandings of the Australian education and training system, especially the entry procedures into Science and/or Engineering courses. As part of the methodology the preliminary results were shared with the institutions involved to gain their input. Major findings were that 68 percent of the sample did not have career preparation or advice before coming to Australia; 52 percent of the sample was able to explain the term 'credit-transfer'; 53 percent of the sample had researched the recognition of their course in their home country, and careers advice was sought by 58 percent of the sample whilst studying in Australia. Resulting from the study are a number of recommendations for major stakeholders associated with international education (Australian Educational International, the Graduate Careers Council of Australia, government policy makers, institutions, the related professional bodies in the fields of Science and Engineering, and international fee-paying students). The findings of this study have implications for the way in which careers services are provided to international fee-paying students at Australian institutions. The outcome of this study is presented in two volumes. Volume One contains the body of the thesis in 6 Chapters. Volume Two (on disk) includes the associated documents of this study, presented in twelve Appendices.
41
Chen, Chia-Hung. "Word-of-mouth information gathering : an exploratory study of Asian international students searching for Australian higher education services." Queensland University of Technology, 2006. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/16275/.
Full textAbstract:
Word-of-mouth communication (WOMC) has been recognized as a powerful marketing communication medium that many consider beyond marketers' control and yet is a reliable, creditable, trustworthy information-gathering tool, especially in credence-based services (CBS). To date, the various types of WOMC messages have not yet been adequately studied in the context of CBS. Using the individual face-toface convergence interview (CI) technique as the primary data collection method of exploratory research, this study attempts to fill this gap by describing the types, the characteristics, and the significance of WOMC messages involved in a CBS information gathering process (e.g. selection of an Australian higher education service). Marketers in the higher education sector feel WOMC advertising is unfamiliar and less manageable, but powerful in practice, especially in recruiting overseas Asian students. This study took the strengths of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS), N*Vivo 2, to manage qualitative transcriptions and enhance the data analysis process in organizing, linking, coding categorizing, organizing, summarizing behaviour patterns in order to explore the insightful findings and answer research questions. The study summarizes participants' motivation items and the specific information gathering steps as the foundation to discover the three types of WOMC messages (service information gathering, subjective personal experience, and personal advice) the characteristics of WOMC messages and the significance of WOMC messages in the CBS information gathering process. In theoretical terms, the findings on the role of types of WOMC messages have extended Beltramini model in the information gathering stage. In terms of the management implications, this research advances the current understanding of the types of WOMC messages, insightful WOMC characteristics and significances in behaviour patterns in the CBS information gathering process. As a result, university marketers are able to effectively cultivate various types of WOMC messages in promotion campaigns.
42
English, Rebecca M. "Internationalising Australian secondary education." Thesis, Griffith University, 2012. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/61416/1/Internationalising_Australian_Secondary_Education.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis presents the findings of a case study of international students who enrol in Australian secondary schools. Specifically, it focuses on the ways that staff in three schools and two international colleges position Eastern Asian international students through discourses of cultural difference. It draws together the Discourse Historical Approach to Critical Discourse Analysis with the work of Basil Bernstein and Pierre Bourdieu. The study finds that groups of students are positioned positively or negatively depending on their relationship to the dominant discourses of the Australian school. Australian students, while rarely mentioned, were positioned positively. By contrast, the Eastern Asian international students were positioned negatively in relation to the privileged discourses of Australian schooling. These discourses reflected the cultural capital that was valued in the schools. In particular, the cultural capital of active and willing engagement in competitive sports and being rough, rugged and an ‘ocker’ were privileged at the schools. International students from Papua New Guinea, and a few Eastern Asian students who behaved as ockers, were positioned positively because they realised cultural capital that was valued at the schools. By contrast, the students who were unable to be positioned through these discourses, because they did not realise cultural capital that was valued, were not viewed favourably. As a result, the data showed that there was a hierarchy of positions at the schools that were constructed in staff accounts. The analysis of data suggests that only some students are positioned favourably in Australian schools. The students who were already able to construct privileged Australian school discourses were positioned positively. The data suggest that the majority of the Eastern Asian students were represented through negative discourses because they did not realise cultural capital that was valued at the schools. Findings of this study may assist schools to identify international students who may experience their Australian school education negatively. The findings may also contribute to assisting staff to better engage with international students.
43
Chen, Chia-Hung. "Word-of-mouth information gathering : an exploratory study of Asian international students searching for Australian higher education services." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2006. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/16275/1/Chia-Hung_Chen_Thesis.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Word-of-mouth communication (WOMC) has been recognized as a powerful marketing communication medium that many consider beyond marketers' control and yet is a reliable, creditable, trustworthy information-gathering tool, especially in credence-based services (CBS). To date, the various types of WOMC messages have not yet been adequately studied in the context of CBS. Using the individual face-toface convergence interview (CI) technique as the primary data collection method of exploratory research, this study attempts to fill this gap by describing the types, the characteristics, and the significance of WOMC messages involved in a CBS information gathering process (e.g. selection of an Australian higher education service). Marketers in the higher education sector feel WOMC advertising is unfamiliar and less manageable, but powerful in practice, especially in recruiting overseas Asian students.
This study took the strengths of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS), N*Vivo 2, to manage qualitative transcriptions and enhance the data analysis process in organizing, linking, coding categorizing, organizing, summarizing behaviour patterns in order to explore the insightful findings and answer research questions. The study summarizes participants' motivation items and the specific information gathering steps as the foundation to discover the three types of WOMC messages (service information gathering, subjective personal experience, and personal advice) the characteristics of WOMC messages and the significance of WOMC messages in the CBS information gathering process. In theoretical terms, the findings on the role of types of WOMC messages have extended Beltramini model in the information gathering stage. In terms of the management implications, this research advances the current understanding of the types of WOMC messages, insightful WOMC characteristics and significances in behaviour patterns in the CBS information gathering process. As a result, university marketers are able to effectively cultivate various types of WOMC messages in promotion campaigns.
44
Park, Eunjae. "Adventures into the Unknown: The Lived Experience of East Asian International Students as Foreign-Accented Speakers in Australian Higher Education." Thesis, Griffith University, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/407565.
Full textAbstract:
A large number of international students in higher education speak English as their second (L2) or even third language and their levels of proficiency vary. Much of the focus in higher education research and public attention to these students has been high-stakes language proficiency, implying that the responsibility for declining academic standards is assigned to these students. However, in the dominant language context, where L2 students need to live and study through an unfamiliar language, the problem is not simply how competent they are with the language. They encounter challenges related to being different as they become part of a social minority. In particular, the way they use the language can produce adverse social consequences (e.g., accent stereotypes and linguistic discrimination), creating “walls” that may preclude the students from accessing their fundamental rights to be heard, understood, and endorsed. By shifting attention from L2 students’ language proficiency to their use of language in a new social and cultural context, this study focuses on a specific phenomenon—being a foreign-accented speaker—which is largely missing from scholarly and public discussions.
Concentrating on the largest student cohort in Australian higher education, this study investigates the lived experience of East Asian international students as foreign-accented speakers. These students can encounter accent-related linguistic challenges at two different levels: (a) communication barriers caused by their accented English and that of their interlocutors, and (b) the experiences of stereotypes and discrimination. These challenges are often accompanied by a wide range of emotional distress such as loss of confidence in their linguistic abilities, communication anxiety, depression, social isolation, and so forth. In this sense, being a foreign-accented speaker is a commonly practised social role for these students in the dominant language context. Therefore, this study aims to expose the uniqueness of the students’ study journey as they experience the everydayness of being a foreign-accented speaker and how they come to understand the demands of having a different accent from the native speaker norms.
Using pragmatism as an overarching framework, this study adopted a mixed methods phenomenological research approach. In order to reach a deeper understanding of the essence of being a foreign-accented speaker and to enlarge the interpretation of the students’ experience, this combined a survey of the student group enrolled at the selected university, followed by a series of semi-structured interviews. The quantitative preliminary phase served as a vehicle to develop the phenomenological orientation to make sure the most relevant and interesting phenomenon was chosen for this mixed-methods phenomenological research study. The follow-up interviews developed an in-depth understanding of how participating students constructed the meaning of their experiential world as an accented speaker. Issues ranged from the immediate challenges of being an accented speaker upon arrival in Australia to a survival point where they sought out strategies to be brave and make lasting and meaningful differences in their life at the university.
The initial survey captured the experiences of 306 participants enrolled at the selected university. For close-ended responses, descriptive statistics were used to profile the target group and find out common, interesting, and unexpected experiences of participants. For open-ended responses, thematic analysis was applied to account for strategies deployed to overcome barriers associated with accented English. Interview data collected from five participants were analysed following van Manen’s phenomenological method. The analysis revealed their journey as an L2 accented speaker can be traced through a four-stage process: (a) surprise, (b) anticlimax, (c) learning to survive, and (d) feeling empowered. The first two themes refer to a period wherein participants experienced unexpected turns and high levels of stress and anxiety in an attempt to fit into the new university settings. The last two themes refer to a period where their challenges turned into a deep motivation to develop abilities at a survival point with increased confidence and adaptability and which strongly reflected their new identity as an L2 speaker.
The results of this mixed methods phenomenological research, through the exploration of the lived experience of L2 East Asian students, provide insight that could inform future policy and practice in this area. The increased awareness provided by this study, of this previously under-researched aspect of the linguistic experience of L2 students, is a potentially valuable contribution to higher education policy and management. Enhanced understanding of these students’ transition experiences is crucial in re-developing pedagogies for effective engagement of these students in their learning environments. Further, the research can inform a rethink of university support services and training programs for the assistance of future international students as well as preparation of university staff members to create more equitable and welcoming campus environments. In addition, the findings of this study are of significance as they highlight future research possibilities in international higher education, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), intercultural communication, and World Englishes.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School Educ & Professional St
Arts, Education and Law
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Shannon, William Vance. "Understanding and Enhanching the Study Abroad Experience: Australian and New Zealand Students in Europe." Phd thesis, Canberra, ACT : The Australian National University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/144625.
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This dissertation is the product of a study that examined the experiences of 21 Australian and New Zealand undergraduate students who spent a semester or more on exchange in Europe. It examines what the students learned from their experience, focussing specifically on the insights that they acquired with regards to their host society. It does so guided by the idea of deep understanding, a concept developed for this study drawing primarily on literature from the discipline of anthropology. It is a concept that describes a level of understanding that students may acquire vis-à-vis their host society. It has three central elements: (1) it is a level of understanding that avoids or transcends stereotypes and sweeping generalisations, (2) it is more than the mere observation of certain practises or peculiarities, but also involves understanding the values, beliefs and assumptions that underpin these, and (3) it is based on wide and meaningful engagement with members of the host society. This thesis also focusses on the difficulties that the students involved experienced while abroad, guided by the stress-adaptation-growth model, which considers the challenges associated with being in an unfamiliar environment to be a key antecedent to intercultural growth (Kim, 2001, 2008, 2015). This focus on the difficulties associated with study abroad and their pedagogical implications allows us to better understand the process by which students learn, mislearn and do not learn through study abroad. Data was collected in three phases. The students completed an online questionnaire before their departure, which collected basic demographic information about them, as well as their reasons for going on an exchange and their choice of country; they were then interviewed during their exchange at their destination and they completed a follow-up questionnaire upon their return home. The analysis of the resulting data focused primarily on the interview transcripts and the responses to certain questions asked in the follow-up questionnaire, although the responses to certain questions asked in the pre-departure questionnaire were also analysed to provide important background. The analysis was an iterative process that involved attaching codes to each unique aspect of the dataset considered relevant to the analytic interests of the study, examining the coded data with a view to adding context where necessary and drawing conclusions, guided by the question: What can be learned from my research? The thesis constitutes an original contribution to knowledge in two main ways. Firstly, there is insufficient research that has examined the insights that study abroad students acquire vis-à-vis their host society. This matters because study abroad holds the potential to cultivate the capacity to live with difference, but do students achieve the level of insight necessary to cultivate this on their own or is some form of intervention necessary? Secondly, there are few studies to have employed conceptual frameworks that account for the processes by which learning occurs, including testing the applicability of the stress-adaptation-model in the study abroad context and examining the difficulties associated with study abroad in terms of their pedagogical implications more generally. This is despite research indicating that students often resort to generalisation and stereotypes to make sense of challenges experienced abroad (Beaven, 2012; De Nooy & Hanna, 2003). This thesis addresses these gaps, casting doubt on the applicability of the stress-adaptation-growth model to the study abroad context (Shannon, 2016). The students either did not experience sufficient difficulties due to unfamiliarity, or they were not compelled to learn new cultural elements due to the short duration of the experience. Nonetheless, they did frequently resort to generalisations and stereotypes to make sense of difficulties experienced, contrary to the idea of deep understanding. This thesis raises questions about the level of insight that study abroad students acquire with regards to their host society, as well as the extent to which they grow in related areas. This requires a level of inquiry, host national contact and reflection that my analysis shows does not occur automatically, corroborating the growing body of literature that emphasises the importance of academic intervention in the study abroad process. This dissertation concludes by presenting a possible model of academic intervention, which centres around an ethnographic research project students must undertake abroad. The aim is to actively shape the study abroad experience, requiring students to step outside the international student bubble that they regularly find themselves confined within and investigate a particular area of observed difference in detail.
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Hurem, Aida. ""We need the chance to speak for ourselves": Exploring the social wellbeing, connectedness and belonging of international students in Australian secondary schools." Thesis, Griffith University, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/414289.
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International education has been one of the major non-resource exports, and the largest service export, for economic growth in Australia over the past 20 years. With the majority of international students studying in Australian universities, little attention has been paid to the experiences of international students in Australian high schools, and even less research has focused on their lived experiences and their sense of belonging and wellbeing. To bridge this gap, this research aimed to investigate the unique needs and experiences of this under researched student population as part of a larger Australian Research Council (ARC) funded project. The study was conducted using an online survey, with 225 international students in Australian independent private and public high schools Years 10-12 (93 males, 129 females, 3 other gender identities) who completed quantitative and qualitative components of the survey. The results were supplemented with interview data from the wider project (7 transcripts). Students’ sense of belonging to their home country, to Australia, the quality of their face-to-face and online friendships, and their sense of connectedness to their host school were entered as predictors to explain students’ social wellbeing. Each explained variance in social wellbeing, with school connectedness and sense of belonging in Australia the strongest predictors. The qualitative findings demonstrated that international students had a strong desire, but also barriers, to forming friendships with domestic students and a greater need for social support and assistance. International students recommended more shared activities and cultural sharing events to help bridge the language and cultural barriers, as well as the sense of otherness that prevents the formation of such friendships. Together, the quantitative and qualitative findings suggest that international students’ social wellbeing can be promoted through inclusive and proactive strategies for engaging international students with their school community, with teachers and students, as well as the broader Australian community. Further, analysis of the time that students were in Australia suggested that there were key periods (after 2 months but before 5 years) where belonging and connectedness were reduced. This suggests that orientation activities are not sufficient and ongoing opportunities should be provided to share their own, and be a part of Australian, culture. In addition, the results revealed no statistically significant differences in the way students connected to others (either face-to-face or online). Students also reported that, despite some negative online experiences, online connection brought about more benefits than harms. When considering gender differences, females reported greater use of social media, email and online phone calls, as well as stronger online friendships than males, while males reported significantly more negative experiences online. While not all students experience negative online encounters, the significance of these encounters (e.g., racism, sexism, harassment, and other acts of cyberbullying) suggest that even rare experiences should be considered seriously. International students are exposed to negative experiences that relate to their race or language barriers, which may hamper their social wellbeing through heightened fear, self-doubt, or reluctance to engage. As such, cybersafety and diversity and inclusion actions can be implemented at school and policy levels to protect students from diverse backgrounds whether they are engaging online or in-person. The thematic analysis produced six key themes regarding ways in which international students’ lives could be made happier. These were through greater 1) friendships and support, 2) support and recognition of academic pressures, and 3) acceptance of diversity in culture and language, 4) autonomy and control over their lives in homestays, school, and personal expression, and through mitigating the negative impacts of 5) racism and negative ethnic stereotypes, and 6) the stressor of students’ moral responsibilities and obligation, especially towards family and academic achievement. It must be noted that the study was designed to promote the individual voices of students, and as such may not be representative of all international students. The responses demonstrated a great deal of diversity of experience, as well as diversity of backgrounds. Despite this, the current findings do provide a deeper understanding around the experience of international secondary school students in Australia. Schools, policy makers, and the wider Australian community can use the current findings to assist international students in their quest to belong, form meaningful relationships, and complete their education with the best possible academic and emotional outcomes.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School Educ & Professional St
Arts, Education and Law
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Browne, Caroline Amy. "Development of a framework for successful international clinical placements: A case study of Australian Bachelor of Nursing students studying abroad in Asia." Thesis, Browne, Caroline Amy ORCID: 0000-0003-4793-1454 (2020) Development of a framework for successful international clinical placements: A case study of Australian Bachelor of Nursing students studying abroad in Asia. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2020. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/58998/.
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International clinical placements (ICP) in undergraduate nursing programs are often offered to facilitate the integration of nursing students’ knowledge and clinical skills in complex and culturally diverse healthcare settings. This study aimed to better understand how key stakeholders’ value and attribute meaning to successful short-term placements undertaken in the Asia region within Australian Bachelor of Nursing programs.
A mixed-methods case study design was used to provide a holistic view of ICPs and incorporated four phases of data collection and analysis. Phase one consisted of a qualitative systematic review, and was completed in late 2014; Phase two was an online mapping survey of higher education providers in Australia (n=18) to collect descriptive data of current ICP practices (conducted August to September 2015); Phase three and four were conducted concurrently and included semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders (university, student, program administrators and local community) (n=19) and a reflective photo journal by the researcher. Six themes spanning the continuum of the ICP experience emerged from interpretive analysis of semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in Phase 3. They included: ‘Developing successful placements’, ‘Preparing for the unknown’, ‘Putting the focus on learning’, ‘Recognising difference’, and ‘Building relationships’ to ‘Growing from the experience’.
Alongside the findings from the other data collection phases, these themes informed the development of a framework to assist education providers to prepare for and critically evaluate placements. The International Clinical Placement Planning and Evaluation (ICliPPE) framework reflects the multifaceted nature of international clinical placements, through a focus on factors that enhance clinical learning within three pillars that contribute to a successful placement experience: ‘Maximising learning’, ‘Exploring difference’ and ‘Motivations and Intentions’. The ICliPPE framework, whilst created within the Australian nursing context provides an identifiable structure that can potentially have applicability for all higher education providers wishing to maximise learning opportunities and develop sustainable international clinical placements.
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McLiver, Lawrence Clyde. "Cross-cultural adjustment and support services for Pacific Islander students at Queensland University of Technology : an exploration." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2000.
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Cross-cultural adjustment of Pacific Island nation students enrolled in undergraduate courses at the Queensland University of Technology was researched through a comprehensive questionnaire. Forty students responded to the questionnaire and twenty students were interviewed in depth. The majority of the respondents were under 25 years and single. Almost three quarters were sponsored. The major findings were, (a) the majority of the students managed to adjust their learning styles and strategies to better suit the culture of Australian universities, (b) the majority were aware of support services, but less utilised them, ( c) the majority chose to go to academics and friends for help with their study. These findings point to the existence of an informal supportive network of friends and academics. The results highlight the challenges facing those involved in university education who are concerned
with developing appropriate support mechanisms which promote both enjoyment and success in tertiary study for Pacific Island students.
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Hugman, Alexandra Mary. "Investigating the introduction of the International Baccalaureate Diploma alongside the existing local curriculum: examining the intended, implemented and achieved science curricula." Thesis, Curtin University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/1903.
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My thesis describes a two-year study carried out during the introduction of the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IBD) alongside the local Higher School Certificate (HSC) at a school in New South Wales, Australia. The study examined the intended, implemented and achieved science curricula to provide a formative evaluation that could be used by the school to improve students’ experience and achievement, and a summative evaluation that could be used to inform other schools considering the implementation of the IBD alongside a local curriculum.My research represents one of only a few studies that compare the IBD with another programme, and the only study, to date, in Australia. It is also one of the only studies that compare senior science programmes in any country. Methodologically, my study supports previous research that has successfully combined the collection of quantitative and qualitative data in a mixed-method approach.Keeves’ (2004) model was used to provide a framework to help to describe the curricula in terms of the antecedents and context in which they are embedded. A modified version of Halls’ (1971) model was used to compare the aims, objectives and content of each of the curriculum. Gilbert’s (2004) model, adapted from the Australian Council of Education Research (2001) model, was used to compare the skills required by each of the science programmes. To discern the depth and breadth of the science courses examination questions were compared and contrasted.To examine the implemented curriculum, the views and experiences of the teachers and students participating on each of the programmes (IBD and HSC) were sought. Data related to the views of the participating teachers were gathered using in-depth interviews, observations and anecdotal evidence. To examine the students’ experience of science in each programme, their perceptions of the learning environment were assessed using the Science Laboratory Environment Instrument (SLEI). Focus group interviews with students enrolled on each of the science programmes were used to triangulate, embellish and clarify the questionnaire results.To examine the achieved curriculum, data were collected using the Multiple Intelligences Checklist for Adults and Senior Secondary Students (MICA), a purpose designed attitude instrument and students’ University Admissions Index score. Finally, a questionnaire was used to examine whether students enrolled in the IBD and HSC programmes felt that the Year 10 science programme had adequately prepared them for their senior science course.The results indicated that the IBD provided a more traditional, mathematically based science course with rigorous, mainly external assessment, whereas the HSC provided a broader, more historically and socially based science course. Concerns were raised by both the IBD and HSC teachers with respect to the content-laden requirements of both of the programmes. IBD teachers raised issues related to the resources available and the need for adequate professional development. Students’ views of the learning environment indicated that those in the IBD course generally had more positive views than their HSC counterparts. In terms of the achieved curriculum, the results indicated that there were some differences between the two programmes, with IBD students attaining a higher University Admissions Index score and indicating an increased likelihood of selecting a science-related career than their HSC counterparts. Finally, the results indicate that there are issues related to the Year 10 science programme (designed to suit the needs of the HSC programme) that may need to be addressed to better prepare students embarking on the IBD programme.
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Levatino, Antonina. "Brain training - brain draining : skilled migration, student mobility, and transnational higher education." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/392604.
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The cross-border mobility of educational services, commonly known as transnational higher education (TNHE), represents an important dimension of the internationalisation of higher education. Its relationship with the mobility of students and graduates has raised interest among scholars from different disciplines, but empirical evidence is rare. This thesis addresses this gap by providing three empirical studies on this issue. Overall, the results indicate that TNHE is not substituting student mobility and suggest that the provision of TNHE can constitute a strategy for developed countries to increase skilled migrants’ and students’ recruitment. The results equally imply that caution should be devoted to these kinds of issues by developing countries when opening their educational market to foreign providers. A range of other findings contribute to a deeper and nuanced understanding of the phenomenon of TNHE. The insights provided can benefit future research both on international migration and higher education.La mobilitat internacional dels serveis educatives, comunament coneguda com l'educació superior transnacional (TNHE), representa un aspecte important de la internacionalització de l'educació superior. La seva relació amb la mobilitat dels estudiants d'educació superior i graduats ha despertat interès entre acadèmics de diferents disciplines. L'evidència empírica és però escassa. Aquesta tesi proporciona tres estudis empírics sobre aquesta qüestió. Els resultats indiquen que la TNHE no està substituint la mobilitat d'estudiants i suggereixen que la provisió de TNHE pot constituir una bona estratègia per els països desenvolupats per atreure més immigrants qualificats i estudiants. Els resultats impliquen igualment que els països en desenvolupament, que obren el seu mercat educatiu als proveïdors estrangers, han de prestar atenció a aquest tipus de possibles conseqüències. Una gamma d'altres resultats contribueixen a una comprensió més profunda i matisada del fenomen de la TNHE. Si proporciona també una sèrie de pistes i reflexions per a futures investigacions.