Determinants of international students' academic performance: A comparison between Chinese and other international students

With the increasing number of international students travelling to well-developed countries for higher education, there has been a growing interest in exploring the factors that influence their academic performance during their overseas studies. This study aims to give an insight into international students' learning experience by investigating the differences between Chinese and non-Chinese cultural groups and leads to the identification of the key predictors of their academic achievement via multiple regression analysis. The results suggest that the perceived importance of learning success to family, English writing ability, and social communication with their compatriots are significant predictors for all international students. As the predominant group, Chinese students display some distinctive characteristics. A less active learning strategy is observed among Chinese students relative to others, but no evidence has found that this negatively affects their academic achievement. © 2010 Nuffic

English Language Proficiency as a Predictor of Academic Performance in the College of Nursing, Kuwait

The English language proficiency of international students has gained considerable attention in the media, but more significantly in the academic realm. Proficiency in the English language is of prime importance and is regarded by numerous researchers as one of the determining factors of academic success. This study aimed to gain insight into the correlation of the English proficiency with the academic performance of all 50 students who have graduated from the College of Nursing, Kuwait in the Academic Year 2015 – 2016. Utilizing a retrospective and correlational research design, students’ records in levels one to five were reviewed. Data were collected through record review of graduate students. Data analysis utilized the Minitab version 14. Other tests used were the descriptive statistics, T-test, ANOVA and Pearson Product Moment Correlation, with p value set at less than 0.05. Results of the study revealed that there is a moderate correlation between the overall English language proficiency and the overall academic performance both in nursing courses, with p value of 0.001, and in non-nursing courses, with p value of 0.0. As the student’s period of stay in the college increases, there is a negative correlation with the following: English proficiency (- 48%; p =0.0); academic performance in nursing courses (-50.6%; p=0.0); and, academic performance in the overall courses (-53.6%; p=0.0). For both, English language proficiency and academic performance, there is no relationship with other variables such as age, sex, and nationality. Findings of this study may facilitate modifications both in the English Language Program and strategies to make them more responsive to students’ needs in nursing and non- nursing courses, thereby leading to an improved academic performance of the students and ultimate enhancement of their productivity. Keywords: English Language Proficiency. Academic Performance. Grade Point Average

Movers, Shapers, and Everything in Between: Influencers of the International Student Experience

Understanding the experience of international students is critical due to the important benefits they bring to their fellow students, the institutions where they are enrolled, and even the nations in which they study. This research aims to identify and understand some of the factors that impact the international student experience. It centers around an exploration of what shapes their experience, both inside and outside the classroom, which is the genesis of the research questions and resulting studies in this dissertation. The central research question is ‘what factors impact the experience of international students, and how do they impact it’? Findings suggest that integration does play a role in international student satisfaction, and partially explains the relationship between nationality and satisfaction. Quantitative analysis showed that student characteristics such as stage of study impact satisfaction, as does the reputation of the university, number of students enrolled, and proportion of international students. Results offered evidence that the experience at international branch campuses does differ from the experience at home campuses, and that the COVID-19 pandemic has uniquely changed the academic experience at IBCs. Overall, results highlight the complexity of the student experience, and point to the importance of incorporating student-level data in higher education research and policymaking

CHINESE FEMALE GRADUATE STUDENTS ON US CAMPUSES: NEGOTIATING CLASSROOM SILENCE, THE LEFTOVER WOMAN AND THE GOOD WOMAN DISCOURSES

Informed by intersectionality (Collins, 1995, 2000; Crenshaw, 1991, 2000; hooks, 1984, 1989, 2000; McCall, 2005; Mohanty, 1988, 2003; Zerai, 2000) and a postpositivist realist account of identity (Mohanty, 2000; Moya, 2000), this qualitative project explored twenty Chinese female students’ experiences with gender and nationality while attending graduate schools in four universities on the East Coast of the US. Challenging the academic discourse that reduced the vast range of experiences to linguistic and cultural accumulation (Kasper, 1997; Klomega, 2006; Lewthwaite, 1997; Misra & Castillo, 2004), this study focused specifically on Chinese women’s narratives of negotiating classroom silence, the leftover woman discourse, and the good Chinese woman discourse. For women growing up in China, a country long dominated by patriarchal norms that still define women through motherhood and femininity, attending graduate school in the US not only meant educational achievement, but also offered a chance to advance their careers, and recraft gender roles and boundaries. This study showed that as socially situated complex subjects, Chinese women articulated a wide range of complexities involved in living their lives under different cultural contexts, as well as the multiple ways of living and learning among the complexities. The study has implications for researchers, policy-makers, and educators in the fields of higher education, international education, as well as gender studies

International entrepreneurship education: postgraduate business students experiences of entrepreneurship education

Objectives The study aims to enhance understanding of the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in meeting the expectations and motivations of international postgraduate students participating in UK business & management education. Specifically, it explores within sample groups of learners: RQ1. What is the typical profile of the international students’ prior education and work experience? RQ2. What do students expect from studying an entrepreneurship PG course in the UK? RQ3. What are their experiences of, and learning outcomes from, the entrepreneurship course? RQ4. What benefits regarding their skills and knowledge do they perceive result from participation? Prior Work International Postgraduate education has grown substantially in the last decade (UUK, 2010). There has been significant growth in international postgraduate student participation in UK business related subjects, involving both MBA and other Masters’ programmes such as MSc in Management and a range of specialist awards, which increasingly offer Entrepreneurship as a core or option. Prior research focuses on transnational comparisons between France, Germany and Poland (Packham et al, 2010) USA, Spain and China (Pruett et al, 2009) Africa and Europe (Davey et al, 2011) China (Millman et al, 2010) and Poland (Jones, et al, 2011) with relatively little research specifically addressing entrepreneurship for international students on postgraduate courses in the UK (Hall and Sung, 2009, Liu, 2010). Approach This article originates in the authors’ experiences in running postgraduate entrepreneurship modules for international students in UK Business Schools. They found that students often experienced concerns about a ‘mismatch’ between their expectations of UK business and management education and their actual experiences, with experiences of cultural tensions between prior learning experiences and their acculturation to the requirements and norms of UK business education. The study is a microcosm of a wider issue as these concerns are shared more generally by international Postgraduate students. Results The results confirmed that career development was a major motivator for international study in the UK. Interest in entrepreneurship is increasing but there are tensions between the expectations of the postgraduate experience and the experienced reality. Entrepreneurship was in some cases seen as a distinctive ‘peak experience’, but cultural factors, learning effectiveness and linguistic capability need to be addressed in designing learning programmes. Implications The study contributes new evidence and ideas to the debate on entrepreneurship education in meeting the career expectations and motivations of international postgraduate students participating in entrepreneurship education, especially in the light of new curricular guidance (QAA, 2012) and UK government regulation. Value It offers suggestions for educators on the effective design and delivery of entrepreneurship for international students in the rapidly changing and competitive postgraduate market

A study on learning styles and their possible effect on academic performance among university students in Glasgow

To explore the preference of various learning styles of university students, the possible impact of different learning styles on academic performance, and the possible variables which may influence students’ academic performance in Glasgow, the UK. Methods: A case exploratory study approach where 40 university students (16 females and 24 males) both British and international ones with the age range (18-35) participated with filling in a self-completion questionnaire by convenience samplin

A Cross-Cultural Validation of the MUSIC® Model of Academic Motivation Inventory: Evidence from Chinese- and Spanish-Speaking University Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which Chinese and Spanish translations of the College Student version of the MUSIC® Model of Academic Motivation Inventory (MUSIC Inventory; Jones, 2012) demonstrate acceptable psychometric properties. We surveyed 300 students at a university in China and 201 students at a university in Colombia using versions of the MUSIC Inventory that were translated into Chinese and Spanish, respectively. To assess the psychometric properties of the inventory, we examined: (a) the internal consistency reliabilities for all of the scales, (b) the fit indices and factor loadings produced from confirmatory factor analysis, and (c) correlations between the MUSIC Inventory scales and behavioral and cognitive engagement. The results provide evidence that the Chinese and Spanish translations of the MUSIC Inventory demonstrate acceptable psychometric properties for use with undergraduate students. Therefore, instructors and researchers can use the translated inventories to assess students’ perceptions of the five MUSIC® Model of Motivation components

Trialing project-based learning in a new EAP ESP course: A collaborative reflective practice of three college English teachers

Currently in many Chinese universities, the traditional College English course is facing the risk of being ‘marginalized’, replaced or even removed, and many hours previously allocated to the course are now being taken by EAP or ESP. At X University in northern China, a curriculum reform as such is taking place, as a result of which a new course has been created called ‘xue ke’ English. Despite the fact that ‘xue ke’ means subject literally, the course designer has made it clear that subject content is not the target, nor is the course the same as EAP or ESP. This curriculum initiative, while possibly having been justified with a rationale of some kind (e.g. to meet with changing social and/or academic needs of students and/or institutions), this is posing a great challenge for, as well as considerable pressure on, a number of College English teachers who have taught this single course for almost their entire teaching career. In such a context, three teachers formed a peer support group in Semester One this year, to work collaboratively co-tackling the challenge, and they chose Project-Based Learning (PBL) for the new course. This presentation will report on the implementation of this project, including the overall designing, operational procedure, and the teachers’ reflections. Based on discussion, pre-agreement was reached on the purpose and manner of collaboration as offering peer support for more effective teaching and learning and fulfilling and pleasant professional development. A WeChat group was set up as the chief platform for messaging, idea-sharing, and resource-exchanging. Physical meetings were supplementary, with sound agenda but flexible time, and venues. Mosoteach cloud class (lan mo yun ban ke) was established as a tool for virtual learning, employed both in and after class. Discussions were held at the beginning of the semester which determined only brief outlines for PBL implementation and allowed space for everyone to autonomously explore in their own way. Constant further discussions followed, which generated a great deal of opportunities for peer learning and lesson plan modifications. A reflective journal, in a greater or lesser detailed manner, was also kept by each teacher to record the journey of the collaboration. At the end of the semester, it was commonly recognized that, although challenges existed, the collaboration was overall a success and they were all willing to continue with it and endeavor to refine it to be a more professional and productive approach