With rising numbers of international students across the University, there is currently a strong focus on what it takes to create a meaningful, successful and enjoyable experience for those studying in Bristol from abroad. In BILT, we have looked at what the current experience looks like for these students from both the academic/ teachers’ perspective and from the student perspective and want to share the differences and similarities in perceptions and expectations from those we have spoken to.
In the last three blog posts (part 1, part 2, part 3), I (Amy) categorised the experiences into three themes: wellbeing, community and engagement. This blog will explore crossovers between the outcomes discussed in the hackathon and the BILT ‘Show, Tell and Talk: International Student Experience’ event which took place the week before the hackathon, which was attended by 30 colleagues and hosted by my colleague and co-author of this blog, Catriona Johnson, and covered many similar themes.
Good wellbeing is the basis for success
One thing it seems both academics and students roundly agree on is that if a student does not have good wellbeing, they cannot thrive academically. We’ve heard this in many student events we have held and it was encouraging that the academics recognise this.
Both groups talked about the difficulties international students have outside of academic studies – navigating an often-complex Visa system, accessing health services and general ‘life admin’ often with very little or no time before studies start. One potential solution is to increase the transition period by having a staggered induction (this has been trialled by the Business School) or an immersive induction, as they do in Plymouth. Another potential way to support students in this area is to have dedicated staff to support international students with the financial/ administrative aspect of studying abroad, which could include help with finding part-time jobs. Concerns have been raised by both students and academics about the new SAY and how this will affect the time students have to settle in.
The social aspect of university life was also discussed by both groups, with each discussing the challenges they faced. Both discussed difficulties in ‘social English’ and therefore finding it harder to bond with home students as they found small talk difficult and had different cultural references. Students in the hackathon were very positive about the Global Lounge and efforts the University made to help students feel ‘at home’ but they still struggled to integrate with home students, and for many stayed in groups with others from their home country. Two of the students in the hackathon were home students that had done a year abroad and they said they had the same experience when they were away.
Building community through connections
In order to promote more interaction between home and international students outside of the classroom, it was felt that setting up mixed nationality ‘study buddy’ groups could help build a sense of community. Students at the hackathon suggested these should be set up by unit leads, placing at least 2 international students together to avoid feelings of isolation. Academics were also in favour of creating autonomous study groups, as well as encouraging more international students to attend Peer Assisted Study Sessions, where they could discuss questions about course content, explore issues related to academic integrity and make new friends.
Both groups recognised the value of allocating international students a peer mentor, who can act as an initial point of reference when they first arrive in Bristol: a friendly face and a go-to for any questions related to their induction process. This connection was considered even more beneficial if the mentors were from a similar background. Show Tell & Talk participants discussed the peer mentoring programme that already exists at UoB for first year undergraduate students, but acknowledged that this scheme was not always widely advertised and should be exploited more to help students settle in. This programme even matches students and mentors studying similar subjects and takes into consideration ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
Academics and students agreed that international students need opportunities to build community both within their Schools, e.g. with subject-specific societies and across different disciplines, e.g. Student Union clubs and Global Lounge events. Other university-wide community-building schemes were mentioned, such as Bristol Voices, which connects new international postgraduate students with Bristol-based alumni and Bristol Connects, an online global community for alumni, students and staff to share professional experience.
What became clear from these discussions is that a vast number of valuable initiatives already exist at UoB, but that these perhaps need to be communicated more clearly to international students so that they know how and where to access these networks.
Engagement in teaching
During the Show, Tell & Talk, academics discussed the difficulties of engaging international students in lectures and collaborative teaching events (seminars, workshops etc.) and how low language level is often a barrier to engagement. Many of the suggestions to overcome these challenges centered around the concept of ‘choice’ and offering these students multiple ways to engage with their learning and with each other, which fits well with the principles of Universal Design for Learning.
In the hackathon, students reported disengagement from lectures due to difficulties with the delivery (unfamiliar accents and fast pace) and challenging vocabulary (academic jargon and new subject terminology). This sometimes resulted in students missing lectures, preferring to catch up at home with the recordings and asynchronous resources.
In terms of delivery, and giving students more processing time, academics discussed the idea of pauses or ‘reflective interludes’ during lectures, in which students could either write down their thoughts and questions or talk to their peers for a few minutes. Students were also more likely to engage if given the chance to post comments and questions anonymously, such as on a Padlet. As well as captions on lectures, academics agreed that further language support could be provided with glossaries of key concepts, which students could add to when new terms came up – making this an evolving and collaborative resource.
Engaging international students in collaborative tasks, such as seminar discussions or Problem-based learning (PBL) workshops, was considered even more of a challenge. These unfamiliar teaching approaches and a lack of confidence with the language often hinders participation and increases reliance on translation software, which can cause tension with their peers, as the home students feel that they are doing most of the work. Allocating specific roles for any sort of group work was one idea for encouraging more equal participation, as well as giving students clearly defined preparation tasks (which they could work on before class with their ‘study buddy’ groups).
Making the rationale for these collaborative tasks more explicit to the learners was another suggestion for improving engagement, e.g. by explaining the critical thinking and communication skills developed through PBL and how this relates to employability. However, it was also recognised that some international students need extra language support to develop these skills so that they can participate more fully, perhaps through sessions with CALD or Study Skills. Academics from Aerosol Science CDT mentioned that with careful scaffolding and support, they had used team-based learning effectively to build a meaningful cohort and integrate international students.
Despite these constructive suggestions, it was felt that tutors and students would benefit from some central university guidance on how to set up and manage in-class group work effectively, especially when this forms part of a summative assessment.
Conclusions
Students appreciate active efforts by their teachers to create opportunities for students to engage with others in their classes. Whether this takes the form of creating groups for group work which mix students up, assigning study buddy groups or offering opportunities during in-person sessions to work with others – all of these types of engagement create a better sense of belonging, which foster good wellbeing.
And wellbeing is key to all other aspects of life at University and underpins everything. As struggling with the administrative aspect of studying abroad can affect students’ wellbeing, one potential way to support them is to have dedicated staff available to help with this. Provisions like CALD, Study Skills and the Global Lounge are also invaluable in supporting students inside the University.
The University currently has a great deal of support on offer – not just those mentioned above but mentoring schemes, peer support network and more – but many students are not aware of their existence. Work is needed around advertising those opportunities and looking into the best avenues for promotion, as well as ensuring there is equal access to these schemes across Schools/ Faculties.
Finally, a hugely important aspect that affects international students is language. Not only from an academic perspective – subject specific lingo, jargon and terminology is often difficult to understand, especially during fast-paced in-person lectures, but from the social side, with students often citing not being able to engage in ‘small talk’ a major factor in why they don’t feel better integrated with home students. Academics at the ‘Show, Tell and Talk’ also discussed language as a key factor in why some international students do not integrate and engage in sessions. One way to combat this issue would be to assess students’ language proficiency at the start of their academic journey so that they can be signposted to the right support as early as possible.
