“Not what I thought!” information seeking behaviors of international students during the application for graduate study in the USA

Abstract

A recent study revealed that international students' reading comprehension scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) equates to 12 th -grade reading comprehension level (Taylor, 2017). In evaluating the admission materials at selected flagship universities in the United States, Taylor (2017) found that the reading comprehension level ranges from 15 thgrade to 19 th -grade level. The readability of these materials can be challenging to international graduate students. Though a large body of literature exists about international graduate students in the United States, scant work has explored international doctoral students' information seeking behaviors and experiences while applying for doctoral study. We report the results of a study that explored the behaviors and experiences of 14 international doctoral students studying at a flagship university in the United States. Using in-depth interviews, we found that the students used two types of resources, experiential (EXR) and authorized (AUR), and began looking for information by exploring the former. We identified three common themes of their information seeking behaviors and problems they experienced in using official websites. The findings have implications for improving the design of websites to support international students' information seeking and needs.

International, Inaccessible, and Incomplete

“…These variables included an international student admissions webpage, minimum TOEFL scores for admission, application fee, cost of attendance at the institution, visa information, housing opportunities, and if there was contact information for international students to engage with if they have a question during the application process. These information categories emerged from the data and were informed by the lived experiences of members of the research team who are currently international students studying in the United States, as well as extant research focused on information useful for international students seeking U.S. institutions (Huang & Bilal, 2017;Taylor & Bicak, 2018).…”

“…In a study of international undergraduate students, Huang and Bilal (2017) found that many international students often feel confused when navigating institutional websites, a very common source of information for prospective international students. These students claimed institutional websites were difficult to read and often lacked critical information necessary for application to the institution, such as housing information and minimum TOEFL requirements.…”

“…This study examines international student websites published by public, 4-year institutions of higher education in Texas (n = 43) to learn whether critical international student information is available, readable, and translated into languages other than English. Expanding upon research suggesting institutional websites are often incomplete and confusing for international students (Huang & Bilal, 2017) and difficult to read and rarely translated into languages other than English (Taylor, 2018), this study will inform institutions of higher education hoping to facilitate a more equitable admissions process for international undergraduate students in Texas and beyond.…”

“…In Texas, the sociopolitical climate has become increasingly anti-immigrant (Watkins, 2017), leading many international students to question whether study in the US is feasible and safe. As institutional websites have been found to be important sources of international student information (Huang & Bilal, 2017;Taylor & Bicak, 2018), this study examines international student information on all public, 4-year institution websites in Texas. Findings suggest international student materials are difficult to read, are rarely translated, and lack basic information such as cost and housing information.…”

Sound and Shape in Chorus Performance Based on Behavioural and Cognitive Perspectives

“…Since the earlier 1980s, following the rapid development of China's economy, China's chorus industry has been developing fast. In particular, the chorus of the masses has been taken on a delightful situation both in terms of the popularity and singing level (Bregman, Patel & Gentner, 2016;Lavranos, Kostagiolas, Martzoukou & Papadatos, 2015;Huang & Bilal, 2017). It's well known that that the form of chorus art originated from Europe has a history of 500 or 600 years in the west.…”