Online Acculturatie: wat werkt nu wel?????

www.acculturation.nl

Online Acculturatie: wat werkt nu wel?

Dr Bart Rienties12,

¹Maastricht University, School of Business and Economics, Tongersestraat 53, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.²University of Surrey, Centre for Educational and Academic Development, Guildford, UK.

b.rienties@surrey.ac.ukwww.bartrienties.nl

SURF Onderwijsdagen 2010, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Tuesday, 9 November 2010, 12:30h - 13:15h

www.acculturation.nl

Acknowledgements

This research has been financed by SURF-foundation as part of NAP Acculturatie-project (http://www.acculturation.nl/). We found like to thank the following people who helped with the data collection and the overall implementation of the NAP project: Therese Grohnert, Simon Beausaert, Katerina Bohle-Carbonell, Paul Jacobs, Wim Swaan, Ilja Kogan and Albert Lamberix from UM, Bert Kamphuis and Marleen van der Laan from HZ, Mascha Lommertzen and Sylvia Hermans from NHTV, Toke Hoek, Sofia Dopper and Dagmar Stadler from TU Delft, Jan Brouwer from HHS, Brechtine Detmar and Peter Dekker from HvA, Carien Nelissen, Piet Kommers from UT, Susan Niemantsverdriet from HL, Henk Frencken and last but not least Ria Jacobi from Universiteit Leiden. In addition, we would like to thank the audience of EDINEB 2009/2010, S-ICT 2009/2010 for their helpful comments to improve this paper.

Agenda

• Introduction• Background

– academic & social integration, research questions• Methods

– measurement, setting, analysis• Results

– Part I: First measurement: difference in social worlds (forthcoming in ABET)– Part II: Acculturation pilots: what works?

• Discussion, Limitations, Suggestions for further Research• Acknowledgements

Introduction• Academic integration of international students not well aligned with

requirements of higher educational institutes (Asmar, 2005; Barrie, 2007; Skyrme, 2007; Wilcox, Winn, & Fyvie-Gauld, 2005)

• Recent research: mixed result on actual integration

• Institutes can actively influence academic adjustments of first-year students (Christie et al., 2004; Wilcox et al., 2005)

• Staff support offered to students• Small-scale education (Severiens et al., 2007)

Social Integration

• Social support by family and friends influences study success of first-year students (Wilcox et al., 2005)

• Academic success in the Netherlands correlate with membership of a student fraternity and working part-time

• Students of different nationalities: separate social worlds, limited

mutual contact (Rienties et al., 2010)

Research QuestionsPart I1. To what extent do international students differ from domestic

students with respect to academic and social integration?2. To what extent do differences in academic and social integration

between domestic and international students have an impact on study-success

Part II3. Do online acculturation courses enhance academic and social

integration (Quantitative Perspective)?4. Do online acculturation courses enhance academic and social

integration (Qualitative Perspective)?

Table 1 Measures: Questionnaires, Item examples, Cronbach's alphas and descriptive statistics

Scale N items

Exemplary item SUM M SD α

Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire

(Baker & Siryk, 1999)

Academic adjustment 24 I know why I am at this institute and what I want out of it 143.98 3.33 0.48 .83

Social adjustment 20 I am meeting as many people and making as many friends as I would

like at the institute

124.49 3.46 0.55 .84

Personal-emotional adjustment 15 I have been feeling tense and nervous lately 91.19 3.38 0.68 .84

Attachment 15 I expect to stay at this university for my master degree 104.53 3.87 0.59 .85

Student Social Integration Questionnaire (Rienties

et al., 2010)

Perception faculty 3 I think that my acquaintances/friends have a good perception/image

of the faculty

11.39 3.80 0.71 .76

Study support 3 My family encourages me to stay in the faculty 12.07 4.02 0.80 .87

Student’s satisfaction with social life 6 I am satisfied with my social life outside of class 33.73 3.39 0.68 .79

Financial support 3 Financial aid is important for my continuation at the university 7.89 2.63 1.17 .76

Note: The Likert response scale of SACQ ranges between 1 (Does not apply to me at all) to 9 (Applies very closely to me). The Likert response scale of SIQ ranges between 1 (Totally disagree) to 5 (Totally agree). For comparison, both SACQ and SIQ are illustrated on scale 1-5 in Table 1.

Setting: Five Business Schools Institute Educational Programme Uas/

UniLargest Foreign Group

Total Respon-dents

%

Hogeschool Zuyd (HZ)

International Business and Management Studies (IMBS), HEBO, Hotelschool

Uas German 65 17

NHTV Breda International Media and Entertainment Management (IMEM), International Leisure Management (ILM)

Uas German 159 53

Haagse Hogeschool (HHS)

International Communication Management (ICM), International Business Management Studies (IBMS)

Uas Chinese 172 57

Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HES)

International Business Management Studies (IBMS), International Financial Management (IFM)

Uas German 40 51

Maastricht University (UM)

International Business (IB), International Business Economics (IBE)

Uni German 435 52

Analysis

• Explorative and confirmatory factor analysis

• Grouping students according to nationality: „degree of Westerness“• 4 factors: mother tongue of mother / father and student, citizenship• 4 resulting groups: Dutch, fully Western, mixed Western, non-Western

• ANOVA, Cohen‘s d, Chi Square, K-means cluster analysis, Hierarchical regression to compare nationality groups and institutes

To what extent do non-Western students differ from Western students with respect to academic integration?

Dutch Western (Non

Dutch) mixed Western non-Western

M SD M SD M SD M SD F-value

Academic adjustment 141.57 20.03 144.15 20.13 150.07 22.96 144.04 22.81 3.503**

Social adjustment 123.46 17.19 126.08 20.08 130.52 16.92 113.25 22.88 13.539**

Personal/Emotional adjustment 94.95 17.57 89.78 18.49 92.14 18.09 84.89 17.57 8.155**

Attachment 103.85 14.50 106.34 15.45 107.10 15.95 94.52 17.80 14.826**

Perception of faculty 10.96 2.04 11.80 2.14 10.99 2.07 10.91 1.97 12.892**

Study Support 12.24 2.19 12.04 2.41 12.31 2.69 11.55 2.47 2.234† Student's satisfaction with social life 33.43 6.06 33.93 6.85 36.59 5.72 30.74 7.71 10.201**

Financial support 8.60 3.38 7.24 3.42 9.35 3.76 7.51 3.01 15.324**

GPA 6.63 0.97 7.01 0.94 6.82 0.71 6.66 0.64 10.905**

ECTS 52.59 11.18 55.65 9.12 51.62 12.35 49.69 13.89 10.598**

ANOVA F-Test for Dutch students (n=288), Western students (n=479), mixed-Western students (n=85) and

non-Western students (n=90).

**Coefficient is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*Coefficient is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). † Coefficient is significant at the 0.10 level (2-tailed).

To what extent is academic and social integration related to study performance?

Scale 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1. Academic adjustment 1

2. Social adjustment .51** 1

3. Personal-emotional adjustment .51** .43** 1

4. Attachment .63** .83** .45** 1

5. Perception faculty .21** .23** .09** .29** 1

6. Study support .15** .18** .06 .22** .29** 1

7. Students' satisfaction with social life .39** .86** .31** .68** .23** .16** 1

8. Financial support .05 .03 -.05 .03 -.11** .02 -.04 1

9. GPA .21** .04 .05 .10** .06 -.03 .03 -.05 1

10. ECTS .22** .07 .08* .15** .09* -.02 .02 -.04 .28** 1

*p < .05 . **p <.01.

Table 4 Regression analysis of academic and social adjustment on ECTS and GPA

ECTS GPA

Dutch Western Mixed-Western

Non-Western

Dutch Western Mixed-Western

Non-Western

Academic Adjustment

+ + + + + + +

Social Adjustment

- - -

Part III

• So what about acculturation courses?• See www.acculturation.nl

9 Institutes

• 9 Pilots with/without developmental ingredients– Language– Economics– Statistics– Research Methods

• With different blend of pedagogy– Project work– Competence Based Education– Problem Based Learning

ICT and support

• With different usage of ICT– Wiki– Blog– Webvideoconference– Youtube

• With different forms of support– Lecturer– Tutor– E-buddy– E-coach

Pre-know

ledge test

Preparatory course

- 4 to 6 weeks (July/August)

- 4 videoconferences

- 3 progress tests

- 1 final exam

- Participation grade

No Acculturation Pilot Acculturation Pilot 2009  

M SD M SD F-value

SACQ Totaal 405.25 47.11 435.14 45.77 -4.797**

Academic adjustment 142.23 18.80 155.78 19.53 -5.380**

Social adjusment 125.04 20.42 131.46 20.49 -2.360*

Personal/Emotional adjustment 88.17 19.19 99.36 18.12 -4.431**

Attachment 106.61 15.09 114.12 13.62 -3.811**

Perception of institute 12.26 2.12 12.81 1.84 -2.015*

Support family/friends 11.85 2.61 13.24 1.93 -4.268**

Educational system 5.80 1.92 7.10 2.16 -5.038**

Contact with Dutch 2.59 1.18 2.69 1.29  

Contact with largest foreign group 4.50 0.91 4.50 0.91  

Contact with other nationalities 2.92 1.27 3.21 1.43 -1.719

Economics (n=15) Mathematics (n=29) Both (n=32) No Course (n=441)

M SD M SD M SD M SD

SACQ Totaal 439.75 51.87 424.44 43.36 437.98 50.73 404.65 46.57

Academic adjustment 158.14 19.35 151.67 17.61 157.44 20.45 141.04 19.41

Social adjusment 132.89 24.38 127.91 17.39 130.92 24.06 124.02 20.01

Personal/Emotional adjustment 102.52 16.97 97.66 15.90 100.44 20.63 90.78 19.00

Attachment 114.64 15.02 110.23 14.25 114.58 14.93 105.78 14.92

Perception of institute 11.80 2.54 12.51 1.68 13.38 1.39 12.01 2.06

Support family/friends 13.87 1.60 12.93 1.81 13.13 2.23 12.04 2.45

Educational system 8.07 1.27 6.52 2.37 6.78 2.46 5.85 2.01

Contact with Dutch 2.87 1.19 2.86 1.48 2.72 1.40 3.08 1.34

Contact with largest foreign group 3.87 1.55 4.10 1.26 4.66 0.79 3.85 1.38

Contact with other nationalities 3.53 1.51 3.00 1.56 3.16 1.37 2.72 1.31

Economics course: specific acculturation element + remedial course + group workMathematics: no acculturation element + remedial course + individual

Qualitative results IMaastricht University• Group Interview Online Summer Courses Economics & Mathematics• Participants: Germany (1x), Belgium (2x), China (1x), mixed German/English/Iraque

(1x)• Gender: 2 Female, 3 male The value of the online acculturation course• Increase of confidence and self-efficcay• First experience with PBL Social integration• 3 out of 5 students made friends with other summer course participants Expectations management• Students chose for international reputation of Maastricht, but were not informed

that the majority of students are from Germany.

Qualitative results IILeiden UAS• Group interview minor International Law• 3 students from Lithuania: 2 man, 1 female

The value of preparation• Holland Quiz was useful to get to know Dutch culture• Use of buddy for HL was very useful. Experience with study culture• Dutch students are rather informal and relaxed, which can cause stress • Teachers actively supported international students• Academic level substantially higher than in home country• Lithuanian students not accustomed to address teacher

Main Findings I

1. Social worlds of local and international students: largely segregated

2. Western and mixed-Western students perform well on academic integration, social integration and study success (GPA, ECTS)

3. Non-Western students perform lower on academic integration, social integration and study success (GPA, ECTS)

Main Findings II

4. Academic adjustment primary vehicle to study success for all groups of students

5. Social integration negatively related to study success

6. Need to address academic adjustment

Main Findings III

7. Acculturation courses can enhance academic adjustment

8. Acculturation + developmental education + social interaction + social support (teacher/buddy) = academic adjustment

Online Acculturatie: wat werkt nu wel?

Dr Bart Rienties12,

¹Maastricht University, School of Business and Economics, Tongersestraat 53, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.²University of Surrey, Centre for Educational and Academic Development, Guildford, UK.

b.rienties@surrey.ac.ukwww.bartrienties.nl

SURF Onderwijsdagen 2010, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Tuesday, 9 November 2010, 12:30h - 13:15h

www.acculturation.nl

Acknowledgements

This research has been financed by SURF-foundation as part of NAP Acculturatie-project (http://www.acculturation.nl/). We found like to thank the following people who helped with the data collection and the overall implementation of the NAP project: Therese Grohnert, Simon Beausaert, Katerina Bohle-Carbonell, Paul Jacobs, Wim Swaan, Ilja Kogan and Albert Lamberix from UM, Bert Kamphuis and Marleen van der Laan from HZ, Mascha Lommertzen and Sylvia Hermans from NHTV, Toke Hoek, Sofia Dopper and Dagmar Stadler from TU Delft, Jan Brouwer from HHS, Brechtine Detmar and Peter Dekker from HvA, Carien Nelissen, Piet Kommers from UT, Susan Niemantsverdriet from HL, Henk Frencken and last but not least Ria Jacobi from Universiteit Leiden. In addition, we would like to thank the audience of EDINEB 2009/2010, S-ICT 2009/2010 for their helpful comments to improve this paper.