Engaging international students

Abstract

Purpose -Australia has enjoyed two decades of growth in international student enrolments. This phenomenon, combined with the evolution of quality assurance policy frameworks, has stimulated interest in the social and academic experiences of international students and their educational outcomes. The Australian Universities Quality Agency's (AUQA) second round of quality audits assessed and reported on the performance of Australian universities in the area of "internationalisation". AUQA findings and recommendations for required action send powerful messages to guide university priorities, practices and strategies in pursuit of quality enhancement in relation to student engagement. This paper seeks to address these issues. Design/methodology/approach -This study uses a thematic analysis approach to explore "internationalisation" in 14 AUQA audit reports published between 2006 and 2010.Findings -This paper identifies three key areas arising from AUQA audit reports that form a basis for discussion in this paper. These areas are: the social and academic engagement of both international and local students, and matters relating to English language standards and support. Observations arising from AUQA university reports direct attention to examples of initiatives that appear to be enriching the quality of the student engagement and indicate where further development may be required. Practical implications -In seeking strategies for enhanced student experience, AUQA supports collaboration across universities in devising models for identifying student needs and creating mechanisms that bring about quality student experience, engagement and language outcomes. This analysis of the reports will likely assist those stakeholders working in universities who wish to identify successful approaches to promote the engagement of international students and refine existing useful and positive strategies in implementing and developing ideas in their own individual university contexts. Originality/value -Analysis of the substantial text of AUQA reports have been underexploited by researchers to date. This paper is likely to be of interest to those stakeholders of international education in universities, not only in Australia but in other national contexts where international students are significantly represented.

Exploring the Relationship Among International Students' English Self-efficacy, Using English to Learn Self-efficacy, and Academic Self-efficacy

“…In addition, international students must acculturate to a new culture and environment. They need to become familiar with different teaching and pedagogical approaches to pursue their academic goals in the United States (Burdett & Crossman, 2012;Perry, 2016;Sherry et al, 2010).…”

“…Among all of the above-mentioned challenges, English language proficiency is considered one of the major challenges that often contributes to other challenges (Perry, 2016). Even if international students have successfully passed the requirements of English language examinations before studying in the United States, many of them still do not have competent English language skills (Burdett & Crossman, 2012;Perry, 2016). The lower levels of English language skills are found to be closely related to higher levels of feelings of discrimination, higher levels of homesickness, and higher levels of anxiety when taking classes in the United States (Lin & Sherz, 2014;Perry, 2016;Poyrazli & Lopez, 2007).…”

Emerging empowerment of international students: how international student literature has shifted to include the students’ voices

“…Heppner merely states that the rate of international studies is rising and expresses a hope that this will lead to increased internationalisation. Jindal-Snape and Rientes (2016):1) make a similar claim, citing no fewer than five sources, which are Zhou et al (2008); Peacock and Harrison (2009); Zhou et al (2010); Burdett and Crossman (2012); and Rientes and Nolan (2014). Here too, following these citations does not lead to any verification, but to unsupported assertions.…”

Degrees of co-creation: an exploratory study of perceptions of international students’ role in community engagement experiences

“…Turning to the value co-creation literature, studies of the perceptions of stakeholder roles are also scant (Brodie, Saren, & Pels, 2011;Gronroos & Voima, 2013;Moeller et al, 2013). Literature on student engagement makes mention of the value co-creation concept (McColloch, 2009;Taylor & Wildig, 2009), however, is focused on oncampus, classroom engagement, with an emphasis on domestic students (Burdett & Crossman, 2012). Our study, therefore, addresses apparent gaps in the literature.…”

“…As university -community engagement is a broad notion (Marginson, 2006) and as our interest lay in experiences that involve students, we refer to university -student -community engagement (U -S-CE). U -S-CE is a valued part of students' international HE experience and, thus, a potential point of competitive advantage for universities (Burdett & Crossman, 2012). U -S-CE allows international students to immerse themselves into the culture of their host community.…”