A consideration of the challenges involved in supervising international masters students

Abstract

This paper explores the challenges facing supervisors of international postgraduate students at the dissertation stage of the masters programme. The central problems of time pressure, language difficulties, a lack of critical analysis and a prevalence of personal problems among international students are discussed. This paper makes recommendations for the improvement of language and critical thinking skills, and questions the future policy of language requirements at HE for international Masters students.

International Students’ Experience of Western Pedagogy in a British University

“…Brown (2007), for example, describes the way in which the frustration Western academic staff and international students sometimes experience by explicitly teaching the skills of critical thinking.…”

“…A key challenge that international students who are unfamiliar with Western pedagogy face relates to the emphasis on critical thinking, self-expression, argumentation, and self-directed learning that is found in Western higher educational institutions (Brown, 2007;Russell, Thomson, Rosenthal, Huang, Silen, Uhlin, & Sovic, 2008). …”

Challenges of university adjustment in the UK: a study of East Asian Master’s degree students

“…First, they should have realistic expectations of the experience from the start (Zhou and Todman, 2009) and here both Brown (2007) and Simpson and Tan (2009) express concern over the marketing of the international student experience. Students should have an intrinsic motivation to study, and a curiosity about their new surroundings -those that feel pressurised will often have a less satisfying and less successful experiences (Chirkov et al 2008).…”

“…Bamford (2008) extends the discussion by suggesting the problem may be one of teaching strategy, rather than learning strategy, in that many tutors may fail to provide contexts familiar to East Asian students when explaining concepts and ideas. The role of the tutor is considered more widely by Brown (2007) who questions whether it is reasonable to expect tutors to be able to meet all demands in mediating language and cultural expectation made on them.…”

“…There are increasing numbers of international students in higher education and their experience has become a growing topic for enquiry. It is often reported that international students face challenges in respect to language proficiency, academic expectations and social integration (eg Biggs, 1999;Brown, 2007;Heikinheimo and Shute, 1986).…”