International student mobility : the role of social networks

Building upon recent work on higher education mobility, this paper contends that social networks of friendship and kinship are critical determinants for students deciding to study overseas, not just, as has hitherto been suggested, a complementary factor. It uses original data collected through interviews and focus groups with thirty-eight higher education international students studying at three UK universities and argues that students who choose to study overseas do not operate within a vacuum but rather draw upon extended networks of individuals who have chosen to do so themselves or advocate studying abroad. While this encouragement may be of an explicit and unequivocal nature – telling students that they ought to study overseas – for the majority it is rather more implicit. The students interviewed invariably related that higher education overseas or mobility more generally was an accepted practice amongst their peers, thereby leading to a normalisation of the mobility process. The paper concludes that international students come to accept mobility as a taken for granted stage within the lifecourse, and, whether intentionally or not, this is often the driving force behind their decision to study overseas

Students in rural schools have limited access to advanced mathematics courses

This Carsey brief reveals that students in rural areas and small towns have less access to higher-level mathematics courses than students in urban settings, which results in serious educational consequences, including lower scores on assessment tests and fewer qualified students entering science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) job pipelines

Improving Electronic Laboratory Study in English as a Second Language Programs: A Case in Point

With or without electronic language laboratories, Americans seem convincedthat they cannot learn foreign languages. Foreigners do not seem to share thispeculiarly American phobia. They not only think they can learn English, but they alsoare responsible for the growing number of university-sponsored English as a Secondlanguage (ESL) programs. Since many ESL programs have a required lab component,a case-study approach to one such lab requirement could give valuable insight intothe effectiveness of mandatory ESllaboratory study and ways to improve it.Seventy-five ESL students in five levels were observed during required lab studyunder three conditions: (1) working independently with commercial ESL audio tapeprograms; (2) working independently with lab-specific audio tape programs, namelyexercises with instructions tailored to the electronic labs being used; and (3)lab-specific tape programs in a controlled lab environment, that is, an instructor atthe console monitoring and correcting students.The results clearly suggest that maximum improvement in lab study effectivenessoccurs in a controlled lab environment, namely with an instructor at the console--aninstructor who works actively with the students, monitors their progress, and correctstheir mistakes