International Students Problems and Solutions - Research Paper Example

Student Survey Student surveys involve gathering information about students on a wide range of topics. Student induction programmes provide guidance and support for learners who come from a diversity of backgrounds. Before the start of the term, an induction programme helps students to continue their courses without encountering much difficulty. This is because the students gain a wide range of experiences that enable them to settle in the learning environment with ease. In the induction programme at the Portsmouth Business School, the students will be provided with all the necessary current information. The students will be provided with all information prior to the induction to enable them to familiarize with the nature of activities to be carried out. The primary goal of induction is to ease the transition to studying at the Portsmouth Business School. The induction programme needs to be well organized to provide clear benefit to the students. This can be achieved by ensuring that the programme welcomes all the students to the university by creating a friendly environment that helps the students to familiarize the locality. Induction should also support and prepare the students to efficiently meet the requirements of their chosen courses of study. This survey plan is aimed to gather information from 39 international students studying at the Portsmouth Business School. The students are from different backgrounds to make the groups all-inclusive and also make the results generalisable across a wider group of international students. The information that will be gathered will be helpful in creating an enabling learning environment for international students and also providing the facilities that such students need in the course of their learning. It is in line with the advice given to international students on the university’s website1. Features of a good induction According to Fry and Ketteridge,2 student induction is normally regarded as being the first week of the academic year, but some induction programmes need to extend for the whole of the first semester or term, even the entire first level of study. Additionally, new students aiming to transfer into levels two and three and into the post graduate programmes also need tailored induction programmes. In essence, induction should be an ongoing process3. An effective induction process serves four main purposes as stated below4: 1. Social: The programme aims at providing a welcome environment that facilitates students’ social interaction between themselves as well as with the teaching staff on the programmes to be pursued upon which they are embarking. 2. Orientation to the university: The induction programmes should provide students with the necessary information, advice, as well as guidance about the university, its services, facilities and regulations. 3. Registration and enrolment: The purpose of the induction programme here is to carry out the necessary administrative procedures so as to ensure that students are correctly enrolled on their respective courses of study. 4. Supporting learning: Induction aims to provide a preamble programme of the study at the university and to lay the required foundation for successful learning in higher education. This is achieved by addressing the probable problems that the students involved might face. Survey as part of the induction process Surveys can be a relatively inexpensive way to collect information about new students’ attitudes, behaviours and beliefs about their learning institution. This is because using a survey, one can collect a lot of information on large sample of students within just a short time. Even though surveys can be valuable most of the time, it is important to note that if participants’ self-reports are not accurate the results of the survey will be poor and thus present poor construct validity. In addition, if the sample is biased, the survey will have poor external validity. Moreover, no matter what happens, surveys usually have poor internal validity because they cannot reveal why something happened; for instance, they cannot reveal why students gave answers in a particular way. Therefore, surveys are not the way to collect information regarding why something happens in a particular way.5 Advantages and disadvantages of using surveys Advantages: Self-administered surveys have two main advantages. First is that self-administered questionnaires can be easily distributed to a large number of people6. Secondly, self-administered questionnaires often allow the participants to remain anonymous. This means that there is a likelihood of the participants being honest as they are sure that their names do not appear anywhere on the questionnaire7. Disadvantages Self-administered survey questionnaires usually have a low return rate. Some individuals many not complete the questionnaires fully and this hinders the process of interpreting the information they contributed in the survey. Another disadvantage of survey is that the participants might be distracted during their time of participation in the survey, and this will affect the accuracy of the information they deliver. Further, the participants may decide to participate in the survey as a group and thus undermine the individual response to the survey questions.8 Having the above points in mind, the following are the main considerations for the current induction survey process. It is strategically located and managed. In his context, the induction will focus on 39 students from diverse cultures at the Portsmouth Business School. It is aimed at addressing the academic, cultural and social adjustments that the university students may face. It deals with time-relevant targeted information. It is inclusive of all international student groups and thus a good representative sample. It addresses the special needs of the interest groups within the university. It makes academic expectations explicit. It is inclusive of student’s families as it collects information regarding their families and home. It is student-centred as it aims at gathering information on how the students could be helped to better fit into the Portsmouth Business School rather than how the institution could benefit from them. Results can be applied across all other international students – both current and those to come into the institution. The study group The survey will involve 39 students from different countries as highlighted below: Ten students from the Middles East. This group will comprise five Saudis, three Kuwaiti and two Qatari. Eleven students from other parts of Asia. This group will comprise three Indians, 2 Pakistani, four Chinese and two Japanese. Five students from Europe. This group will include students from Italy, Spain and France. Six students from the Africa region. The group from Africa includes two Nigerians, two South Africans and two Libyans. From South America, seven students will be selected to partake in the survey. These are two Jamaicans, one Brazilian and three Peruvians. The choice of the culturally diverse group is meant to comprise representatives from all regions in the world. This will ensure that the responses to the survey are based on facts from different student perspectives. As culturally diverse people have different perceptions about various issues, it is expected that the targeted sample is all inclusive and will therefore help highlight all the probable problems that international students may face in their pursuit of education at the Portsmouth Business School. It is expected that from the responses in the questionnaires or semi-structured interviews, the researcher will be able to understand the problems that face students and tutors alike due to internationalisation. The survey questionnaire/ semi-structured interview is designed with questions that touch on various issues that affect international students (see appendix). It is a known fact that international students who are not English speakers may find language to be the first problem on arrival at the Portsmouth Business School. Thus the survey is meant to address the various problems that arise from communication barriers as well as from the complexity of the students’ other conditions. Many international students find difficulties in expressing feelings or in describing problems in English, various norms about asking and transmitting information, attention to non-verbal behaviour, and language-related difficulties9. Students shall also be asked to elucidate their experiences on joining the Portsmouth Business School and how the situation can be improved. In many institutions, many students fail to understand core issues in learning such as being unwitting of plagiarism10 and so forth. The problems that will be noted will be included in new policies to guide students and eliminate the culture/learning shocks that many international face in their first weeks at the Portsmouth Business School. Since most international students have problems talking openly about important issues pertaining to their culture11, this section was deliberately been ignored, but there will be some indication of answering it when the students answer the section on what they would like the university to do to help them. Administering the survey The survey will be administered as questionnaires and as semi-structured interviews. Printed questionnaires will be administered to participants who are well equipped in the use of English. Interviews will be used with participants who need assistance in English and cannot therefore complete the questionnaire on their own. Using the interview, the researcher will clarify the areas in which the respondents need assistance regarding the questions. References Fry, Heather, Steve K. and Stephanie M., A handbook for teaching and learning in higher education: enhancing academic practice (3rd edition), Taylor & Francis, New York, 2009, p. 117. International students’ problems and solutions. www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/pandora/04%20pp55-76%20students.pdf (18th September, 2010). Kurucz, P. J., How to Teach International Students: A Practical Teaching Guide for Universities and Colleges, Firstchoicebooks, London, 2006, p. 130. MacDonald, J., Blended learning and online tutoring: planning learner support and activity design (2nd edition) Gower Publishing, Ltd., London, 2008. Mitchell, M. L. & Jolley, J. M., Research Design Explained (7th edition), Cengage Learning, New York, 2009, p. 263 Pedersen, P., Counseling across Cultures (5th edition), Sage, London, 2002, p. 199. Portsmouth Business School, Advice for international students http://www.port.ac.uk/careersandrecruitment/students/adviceforinternationalstudents/ Presser, S., Methods for testing and evaluating survey questionnaires, Wiley-IEEE, New York, 2004. Appendix Student Survey Questionnaire/Interview Regarding induction and study skills for international students... Hometown: Course/unit: How long you lived in here? 1. Before you came here what was your imagination of England? 2. What information about England and PBS would you have liked to receive before you left your home country? 3. Does induction programme provide you with sufficient, relevant and current information? a. If Yes, what are some of the information b. If no, what improvement can be made? 4. Any suggestion of improvement for a better induction process overall? 5. Was the programme engaging? 6. Was the orientation timing too short or too long or just the right time? 7. How do you rate your language skill? ( Very strong/ strong/ medium/ week/ very weak) 8. Does the English language class help international students? 9. What problem(s) do you face when asked to express your views in class? 10. Do social and cultural issues impact the learning processes? 11. Did cost constrain your choice of course? 12. How often do you go back to your country? 13. Do you have family or friends who live near here? 14. What problem(s) did you encounter when you first came to PBS? 15. What would you like to have been shown or helped with when you first arrived at PBS? 16. What would have made your first weeks at PBS easier? 17. Tell me about the main differences between learning in your home country and at PBS. 18. Do you recommend joining Portsmouth Business School to your friends or relatives? 19. Do you know someone who has studied at PBS? 20. Do you feel as part of PBS now? 21. If not, why not? 22. What could PBS do to help you? Thank you  Read More