FormulatingStrategiesforInternationalStudentSuccess:LearningfromFaculty,Staff,and

StudentVoicesBethanyPeters,MinnesotaEnglishLanguageProgram

XiYu,InternationalStudent&ScholarServices

WorkshopGoals

1. Increaseunderstandingofinternationalstudents’needsandchallenges.

2. Discussstrategiestoimprovestudents’experience.

Overview

● Benefits● Challenges● Strategies● Summary● DiscussionPoints

ResearchfromtheUniversityofMinnesota

Wewillhighlightfaculty,staff,andstudentperspectivesfromthefollowingresearch:● SupportingNon-NativeEnglishSpeakersSurvey(SNNES)● InternationalStudentBarometer(ISB)● StudentVoicesSurvey(SV)● StudentExperienceintheResearchUniversity(SERU)● EducationalImpactofInternationalStudents

https://global.umn.edu/icc/resources/umn.html

OverviewofInt’lStudentData1. SeekingBestPracticesforIntegratingInternationaland

DomesticStudents2. InternationalStudentBarometer(ISB)3. ListeningSessionswithUMNDepartments4. OfficeforStudentAffairsFocusGroups5. SurveyofStudentExperienceintheResearchUniversity

(SERU)6. StudyoftheEducationalImpactofInternationalStudents

inCampusInternationalization7. SouthKoreanUndergraduateInternationalStudents’

Experiences8. CareerServicesforUndergraduateInternationalStudents9. StudentVoices:AReportonFirstYearExperienceof

InternationalUndergraduates10. First-YearStudentThrivingQuotientSurvey11. AcademicImpactofCompulsoryMilitaryServiceson

KoreanMaleInternationalStudents

OverviewofFaculty/StaffData

Source:SupportingNon-NativeEnglishSpeakersSurvey,Spring2016

Benefits

Benefits(Students)ForALLstudents:•Knowledge,attitudesandskillsforeffectiveinterculturalcommunication•Abilitytoreflectontheirownculture•Leadershipandproblem-solvingskills•Toengagewithcoursecontentutilizingmultipleperspectives

Particularlyfromint’lstudents:•BenefittingfrominteractionswithpeersfromcountriesotherthantheirownandfrominteractionswithAmericanstudents.

Source:EducationalImpact,ISB

Benefits(Faculty&Staff)

Inwhatwaysdoeshavingnon-nativeEnglishspeakerson

campusenhancethelearning

environmentforallstudents?

Source:NNESSurvey

Benefits(Faculty&Staff)1. Culturaldiversitybenefits2. Communicationskillsimprovement3. Linguisticbenefits4. Relationshipbenefits5. ‘Theyraisethebar’6. Improvesteaching7. Students’futurepreparationSource:NNESSurvey

DiscussionPoint:Howcanwemaximizethebenefitsforstudents?

“Inmyexperience,thepresenceofnon-nativeEnglishspeakershasthepotentialtoaidinthegoalsoutlinedabove,buttheirpresencedoesnotautomaticallycreatethesebenefits. Thecoursemustbestructuredinawaythatcreatesopportunitiesforcross-culturalinteractiontooccurandthestudentsmustbewillingtointeract.Thepotentialpositiveimpacts,therefore,arehighlydependenton

thecourseandthespecificstudentsandinstructor(faculty).”Source:NNESSurvey

Challenges

Challenges&Needs(Student)

1.Peerinteractions&buildingfriendship(rankedasthe#1challengeinISB)

2.Languageproficiency

3.Groupdiscussionandparticipationinclass

4.Interactionswithfaculty/TA

Challenges&Needs(Student)- cont.

ASnapshotofStudent

SatisfactionwithTeaching&Learning

*6CICinstitutionsinclude:UofM,UofNebraska-Lincoln,Northwestern,RutgersU,UIUC,andIndianaUniversityBloomington.Source:ISB2014

Challenges&Needs(Student)- cont.

Source:StudentVoices,2010

WhichofthefollowingmadelearningdifficultinyourfirstsemesterduetoEnglish?

Challenges&Needs(Student)- cont.Howsatisfiedareyouwithyoureducationalexperienceinyourmajoroverall?

*Int’lstudentscoredstatisticallysignificantlowerthandomesticstudentsonthisitem.

Source:SERU2014

Challenges(Faculty)

WhenNNESstruggletomeetcourserequirements,itisdueto…?

Source:NNESSurvey

Challenges(Staff)

WhenNNESstruggletocommunicate

effectivelywithyouitisdueto…?

Source:NNESSurvey

AbouthowmanyoftheNNESinyourclasseshaveadequateEnglishlanguageskillsto:

Challenges(Faculty&Staff)

Source:NNESSurvey

1. Englishproficiencychallenges(n=347)2. Academicchallenges(n=187)3. Culturaldifferences(n=121)4. Campusresources(n=91)5. Reluctancetoaskforhelp(n=76)6. Peerinteractions(n=58)7. Lowconfidence(n=43)8. Attitudes&expectations(n=22)9. Interactionswithfaculty(n=20)

DiscussionPoints

1. Howcanfaculty/staffdetermineifastudentisstrugglingwithalanguageorculturebarrier?

2. Howcanfaculty/staffencouragemoremeaningfuldomesticandinternationalpeerinteractionsandfriendships?

3. Howfaculty/staffencouragetheuseofcampusresourcestohelpstudentsbuildtheirlanguageskills?

Strategies

Strategies(Student)

Howoftenhaveyourinstructorsusedthefollowing

strategiesinanyofyourclasses?

Source:EdImpactISB2014

Strategies(Student)- cont.

RecommendationsforFaculty/Staff:

1. Createstructuredopportunitiesforintegration2. Beawareoftheculturalbackgrounddifferenceswithintheclassroomsetting3. Encourageinternationalstudentstoutilizecampusresources

Whatwouldhelpyouadjustmoreeasilyduringyourfirstyear?

Source:StudentVoices,2010

Strategies(Faculty)Howoftendoyouusethefollowing

strategiestosupportNNES?

Source:NNESSurvey

Strategies(Staff)Howoftendoyouusethefollowing

strategiestosupportNNES?

Source:NNESSurvey

Strategies(Faculty&Staff)1. communicationstrategies2. accommodations3. arrangingone-on-onesupport4. providingvisuals&handouts5. promotingcampusresources6. encouragingstudents7. fosteringpeerinteractionandsupportSource:NNESSurvey

DiscussionPoint:Howcanweenhanceuseofthesestrategiesinourworkwithinternationalstudents?1. communicationstrategies2. accommodations3. arrangingone-on-onesupport4. providingvisuals&handouts5. promotingcampusresources6. encouragingstudents7. fosteringpeerinteractionandsupportSource:NNESSurvey

SummaryComparisons&Gaps❏ Benefits❏ Challenges❏ Strategies

FutureResearch

Resources● Int’lStudentResearchattheUniversityofMinnesota

○ https://global.umn.edu/icc/resources/umntc-ugis-data/index.html● ResourcesforSupportingMultilingualLearners

○ https://esl.umn.edu/● ESLResourcesforStudents

○ https://esl.umn.edu/student-resources● AcademicResourcesforInternationalStudents

○ https://sites.google.com/a/umn.edu/academic-resources-for-intl-students/● InternationalStudentNeedsAssessment(2015,&2016)

○ http://undergrad.umn.edu/international_fee/research.html

Questions?