An increasing number of international students come to Canada for their higher education. As a unique group on Canadian campuses, international students deserve our attention so that we can understand their special needs. Using Tinto’s retention model as a theoretical framework, this study investigates the experiences of the first year international students at a Canadian university. It pays special attention to the challenges these students face in the process of their social integration into the new learning and living environment. Data were collected through surveys and focus groups. Data analysis reveals a comprehensive picture of international students’ socialization patterns and challenges. Since student retention has been a central concern for many universities, the findings of this study are informative for higher education institutions to optimize their services to meet international students’ preferences and needs.

The objective of this study was to understand perspectives, expectations, and experiences of Chinese international students studying in the graduate and undergraduate programs at a Canadian university, paying special attention to the challenges these students faced in the process of acculturation. Multiple data gathering techniques were used for the quantitative and qualitative data, including a survey questionnaire, individual interviews and focus group discussions. Findings related to the participants’ adjustment to the new environment include English language proficiency, previous education background, communication with other students, and understanding of the local culture. The study found that participants experienced various challenges in their new learning and living environment and some recommendations are offered for improvements. L’objectif principal de cette étude est de comprendre les perspectives, les attentes et les différentes expériences des étudiants internationaux chinois de deuxième et de troisième cycles dans des programmes canadiens. L’article décrit également avec beaucoup de détail les défis que ces étudiants doivent relever lors du processus d’acculturation. Plusieurs techniques de collection de données quantitatives et qualitatives ont été appliquées dont un questionnaire, des interviews individuels et des discussions en groupe. Les résultats en rapport avec l’adaptation des participants au nouvel environnement incluent la compétence langagière en anglais, la formation antérieure et la compréhension de la culture locale. L’étude exposera plusieurs défis auxquels ont dû faire face les participants pour pouvoir s’adapter aux nouveaux environnements et quelques recommandations seront offertes pour faciliter ce processus.

Learning is a process of knowledge construction, individually and socially. It has both rational and irrational features. From this stance, the paper reviews an earlier model of conceptual change and its related pedagogical interventions for their inadequate attention to the irrational and social dimensions of learning. More recent developments in conceptual change pedagogy advocate the incorporation of motivational constructs and social-cultural factors, but fail to explicitly address some important issues in science education. In order to advance the conceptual change theory, the paper proposes an argument approach to teaching for conceptual change. It embraces what past models or approaches have achieved while simultaneously addressing their shortcomings.

In order to effectively use technology in teaching, teacher candidates need to develop technology related pedagogical content knowledge through being engaged in a process of discussion, modeling, practice, and reflection. Based on the examination of teacher candidates' lesson plan assignments, observations of their microteaching performance, and their reflective journals, our study found that Microteaching Lesson Study in methods courses provides teacher candidates a great opportunity to learn how to teach with technology. Its significance lies in the opportunity of practice, collaborative refection, instant feedback, and learning from each other.

Since 2000, an increasing number of Chinese international students have been entering North American universities, and many have experienced issues with a sense of belonging, which can in turn impact their academic, social performance, and psychological wellbeing. However, there is limited research on this topic that is exclusively focused on Chinese international students. Therefore, in order to establish the direction that future research should take, a thorough literature review has been conducted with the aim of exploring those students’ perceptions and experiences regarding sense of belonging, establishing the factors that shape this phenomenon, and identifying the impact it has on students and institutions.

Using interview as the primary data collection method, this qualitative study examined how Chinese immigrant parents are involved in their children’s school education and what factors shape the formats of their involvement. Twelve Chinese immigrant families participated in this study. Data analysis reveals that Chinese parents got involved in their children’s school education regardless of personal experiences. They expressed beliefs that parental involvement is beneficial to both the school and children. However, generally speaking, participants did not go to their children’s school without teachers’ invitation. Language barrier, lack of time and energy, and unfamiliarity with the Canadian school culture were stated as the main reasons that contributed to participants’ limited involvement in school activities. Particularly, new immigrants often feel intimidated to talk to teachers since they do not know what they can say and what not given their unfamiliarity with the Canadian school culture.

Through surveys, focus groups and interviews, this study examines technology adoption at a large Canadian university ten years after setting a strategic plan, explores the interplay between instructors' concepts of teaching and use of technology, and searches for the best solutions to help them use technology more effectively. Results showed that whilst 90% of respondents were using computers in teaching, there is still much to do in helping them to increase the effectiveness of their use of technology. While the university reward system needs to offer better recognition of the scholarship of using computers, rationales for technology adoption and successful cases demonstrating the effectiveness of technology integration are essential to encourage and improve the use of computers. Professional development needs to move beyond technical workshops to include pedagogy oriented mentorship amongst practitioners.

Even though more and more studies have been reported in the literature about international undergraduate students’ learning experiences in North America, little research has been done to study international graduate students on North American campuses. The university where this study took place has recently established a cohort-based Master of Education (M. Ed.) program for international students. This study was designed to investigate the adaptation of the international graduate students (all Chinese) who were enrolled in the M.Ed. program with a focus on their learning experiences, the challenges they encountered, and the suggestion they had for improvement of the program. Data analysis reveals that while Chinese international graduate students shared some common challenges with international undergraduate students such as language and cultural challenges, they had unique perspectives and expectations on curriculum and pedagogy. Suggestions for curriculum development for Chinese international graduate students are highlighted.