Abstract: The substance of this paper was delivered at the 2007 Australian International Education Conference in Melbourne, and presented as a stimulus for discussion about practical approaches to the issues of international student support management. This later version contains additional material that reflects the discussion and panel presentations at the AIEC session.
The impetus for this presentation remains the responses of providers to Standard 6 of The National Code 2007. One of the obligations, in Standard 6.6 of the Code, requires ‘sufficient support personnel to meet the needs of students…’ What do providers understand by this? What are our obligations to meet this specific requirement? Have we adequately defined the needs of international students? What is being done to implement this Standard? The paper describes a small research study conducted with a number of universities and secondary schools. Staff capability, staff resources and international student services, all matters addressed in the National Code, are considered in a number of contexts. Focus is on the effective use of staffing to offer maximum opportunities for students to achieve overall success while they are studying in Australia.
Keywords: National code, international student services, staff resources, staff capability, support management
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to share the practical ways in which teachers at Kelvin Grove State College (Qld) have attempted to improve contact between international and local students using the award winning Teaching Emphases for English Proficiency Levels (TEEPL) http://www.kelvingrovesc.eq.edu.au/asp/teepl/teepl_cover.asp (presented at ISANA conference 2005).
TEEPL is a comprehensive database of suggestions to support students both academically and socially at the various stages of their development as outlined in the NLLIA ESL Bandscales (McKay, Hudson & Sapuppo, 1994) In addressing the issue of poor rates of interaction between local and international students at KGSC, ESL staff drew on suggestions in the TEEPL database to develop workshops designed to increase the quantity and quality of contact between domestic and international students. Weekly workshops conducted over two terms, were supplemented with between workshop activities (BWA’s) involving practice of skills learnt with an expectation to feed back in the ensuing workshop.
Abstract: A basic premise of this paper is that stress experienced is in an inverse ratio to learning outcomes. Practically applied it means that in any learning situation – especially SL situations – there should be subjective and objective awareness of the stress factor, continuing attention, assessment, alleviation and addressing of stress-producing factors to optimise outcomes. These aspects should be both preventative as well as therapeutic when stress situation arise.
Key words: stress management, SL learning, awareness, international students
Abstract: International research is positive about the educational benefits of working in diverse groups but there has been little New Zealand research in this area. This paper investigates how students are prepared for collaborative learning in three New Zealand tertiary institutes and identifies the particular problems experienced by Chinese students when the preparation in multi cultural classes is not carried out adequately and does not address cultural issues.
An initial research project by Clark and Baker (2006) involved a survey of staff and students at two Wellington tertiary institutes. The results indicated that students were often inadequately prepared for working in groups and, although they usually valued informal collaborative learning, they did not achieve the desired outcome of learning to work together constructively and cooperatively in assessed collaborative assignments.
This paper, which reports on a follow up research project, presents findings from focus groups with Chinese international students and with New Zealand tertiary lecturers who use collaborative learning techniques in their teaching. The findings from these focus groups indicate that there is a strong cultural conflict in the conceptualisation of collaborative learning between Chinese students with little prior experience of collaborative learning and New Zealand lecturers who are often not fully prepared to help Chinese students to bridge the gaps. The majority of Chinese students value lecturers’ programme content delivery and the achievement of high marks over the development of interpersonal skills; this is contrary to the lecturers’ belief that the development of team skills is the most important outcome from collaborative learning. This cognitive dissonance reinforces the importance of understanding cultural differences and their impact on student patterns of classroom behaviour.
To bridge the gaps, this paper recommends that Chinese students be prepared more effectively to understand the reasons for the use of collaborative learning in New Zealand tertiary classrooms and that lecturers be trained in designing assessment programmes that are pedagogically sound and culturally accommodating.
Keywords: Collaborative learning, group assignments, team skills, chinese students, culture
Abstract: Both Australia and New Zealand have had regulations relating to the care and accommodation of younger students for several years. This paper compares and contrasts these pieces of legislation and finds that a different emphasis has been placed on accommodation in each of these countries. Finding the best accommodation arrangements for each unde-age student is one of the most complex issues in the care and monitoring of these students. While homestays and boarding houses have filled this role in many situations, there are many occasions where these are not available or are not the best option for a number of reasons. A solution to this situation developed by one Australian education provider is described.
Keywords: Accommodation, international students, students under 18 years of age.
