International Students' Perceptions of Virtual Service Learning Program Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This article presents two Thai international students’ accounts of their lived experiences during a virtual service learning (community service) program due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured interviews and participants’ reflection data were thematically analyzed through the lens of positive and negative emotions so as to explore participants’ perceptions of virtual service learning. Findings indicate that the pandemic situation was not a barrier to contributing positively to society. One of the positive effects of community service activities is that such activities could build students’ creativity. It was also found that despite bad internet connectivity in their respective areas, the final-year international students were able to adapt to both academic and non-academic environments. This indicates that all international students should maintain their positive feelings when completing their service-learning program.

International students in crisis times: Exploring the experiences of international students studying in Saudi Arabia during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…For instance, researchers conducted some studies in China (Demuyakor, 2020;Li et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2020), Cyprus (Hassan et al, 2021), Russia (Novikov, 2020), Canada (Firang, 2020;Hari et al, 2021), Indonesia (Susanto et al, 2020, and Thailand (Nurfaidah et al, 2020). These studies were conducted on international students in general or on specific characteristics of international students.…”

“…These studies were conducted on international students in general or on specific characteristics of international students. To elaborate, studies (Demuyakor, 2020;Firang, 2020;Hari et al, 2021;Nurfaidah et al, 2020;Susanto et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2020) have been conducted on international students in general. However, the samples of other studies were from specific types of international students, such as international medical and nursing students from low-and middle-income countries (Li et al, 2021), international students of English as a Second Language (ESL) (Hassan et al, 2021), and international firstyear university students (Novikov, 2020).…”

“…Similarly, Hassan et al (2021) found that online education helped international students to be independent, collaborative, and flexible in learning. Moreover, Nurfaidah et al (2020), in their exploration of the lived experiences of Thai international students during a virtual service learning (community service) program due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, found that such activities could build students' creativity.…”

“…Hence, it seems interesting to explore their lived experiences in an era of unprecedented uncertainties and challenges. Although most of the literature focused on one aspect of the experiences, either challenges or opportunities, this research will cover three important areas of such as exploring the experiences of international students during the Covid-19 pandemic in general (Hari et al, 2021;Nurfaidah et al, 2020), investigating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on international students (Firang, 2020), and exploring ways of improving adaptability (Novikov, 2020). In addition, other studies looked at the quality of online learning (Demuyakor, 2020;Hassan et al, 2021;Li et al, 2021), mental health status (Wang et al, 2020), and emotional geography (Susanto et al, 2020).…”

Online Learning Engagement Model for International Students in Indonesia amid Covid-19 Period: A Conceptual Model Proposal

“…Most of recent research on international students studying in Indonesia, focused on aspects of Indonesian language learning experiences. Moreover, many of the previous researchers such as (Hastowahadi;Setyaningrum & Pangesti, 2020;Nurfaidah et al, 2020;Puspitasari et al, 2020) conducted qualitative studies pertaining to non-academic aspects. Meanwhile, other aspects especially concerning academic systems and learning experiences such as online learning satisfaction and engagement, have not received much attention of researchers.…”