Addressing the Needs of International Students

1. Addressing the Needs of International Students CBU Faculty Retreat Carla R. Liu, M.S. Jessica Alzen, M.A.

2. Typical Educational Experience of Many International Students • Instructor is never questioned • Students are not encouraged to participate • Notes given, copied or dictated • Creative thinking discouraged • Sign of respect to keep silent, no eye contact • Participation may also be limited for fear of making a mistake or not being understood

3. Understanding the International Student • Avoid stereotyping – get to know the student as an individual. • Don’t assume if language ability is weak, the intelligence is not there. • The student is facing major cultural adjustments both socially and academically. • Actions which you may interpret as disrespectful may actually be a misinterpretation of cultural nuances. • The student may come from a culture that is “event-oriented” and not “time-oriented.” • The student may have experienced a “teacher-centered” educational approach rather than a “learner-centered” one. (See slide 1)

4. Expectations • Be explicit when going over your syllabus. • Point out the student’s responsibility to keep track of dates for assignments and exams. • Explain what plagiarism is and how it will be monitored or dealt with. • Point out that participation is vital. The student should come to class prepared with questions to ask or input to share. • Students must take the initiative to seek out help and find out how they are doing.

5. Building Relationship • Background: • Students rarely interact with professors. • Office hours are a foreign idea. • Relationships with professors are very formal. • Friendliness and informality may confuse the student. • Suggestions: • Deal with disrespectful behavior immediately, gently but firmly. • Help them to understand where the line is drawn. • Encourage students to approach you with questions after class or during office hours. • Explain that they must come to office hours prepared with a question or concern.

6. Reasons Behind Poor Participation • Being called on “cold” • Lack of confidence in speaking skills • Idioms may affect ability to answer • Basic knowledge of American culture or history • Language is often broken at higher levels of Bloom’s • Male-Female interactions

7. Suggestions for Encouraging Participation • Students who participate early on usually continue to do so throughout the semester. • Introduce participation early in the semester through structured group discussion. • Appoint a leader in the group who will ensure all participants share equally. • Appoint a student mentor for the international. • Coach the mentor to encourage discussion • In pair work the mentor should encourage the international to share responses to class. • Mentor can remind student of the importance of participation. • Tell student to come prepared with a question or input to share in class.

8. Other Practices to Induce Participation • Ask students to write down answers to a question before soliciting responses from the class. • Give students time to discuss questions with others before reporting back to the entire group. • Suggest students draw a picture of their thoughts or ideas on a topic and then ask them to talk about the picture. • Use graphics in notes in order to better organize and show relationships among ideas.

9. Academic Honesty • Background: • All knowledge is to considered community property. • Paraphrasing is disrespectful. • Citations are unnecessary. • Critical thinking is discouraged. • Cheating is understood in the same way. • Suggestions: • State clearly what plagiarism is and what the consequences are. • Model passage analysis through group discussions. • Suggest visiting the ARC for guidance. • Encourage visits during office hours for advice. • Make comments on drafts very clear.

10. Other Online Sources • http://www.cedarville.edu/departments/aec/helping_your_international_students_to_succeed.pdf • http://www.du.edu/intl/isss/tips_faculty.pdf • http://www.cgu.edu/pages/949.asp • http://ftad.osu.edu/Publications/intloral.html • http://rwandateachers.wikispaces.com/