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Title

A case study on providing international students the opportunity to enhance performance through online engagement

Author(s)

Gill, Robert;  Verezub, Elena;  Wang, Xinyang

Abstract

International students who come from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) and are new to Australian university study can struggle with understanding information that is delivered verbally, particularly when delivered under the traditional lecture/tutorial or didactic approach. This can be compounded by large class numbers and cohorts dominated by local students who have grown up using English as their first language. This paper examines results by NESB students from Chinese universities who have studied the core unit of Professional Communication Practice in 2010 and 2011. These students came to the Lilydale campus of Swinburne University of Technology to complete Bachelor degrees under a collaborative articulated pathway program. The majority of these students have come from limited English-speaking environments. The paper analyses their results and uses contemporary literature to form conclusions on cognitive capabilities for the cohort when studying this introductory unit on-campus. The student results and literature review demonstrate that these NESB cohorts of students performed better when comprehending and consolidating knowledge delivered through interactivity involving text, or text-based content for instruction. This is particularly evidenced by the improved results for the second wave of NESB Chinese students, who were exposed to heightened 'e-text based' transactional communication (based on a social media model), as opposed to a dominant 'in-class verbal discussion' mode of delivery.

Publication type

Conference paper

Research centre

Swinburne University of Technology

Source

Research and Development in Higher Education: Connections in Higher Education: refereed papers from the 35th Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia Annual International Conference (HERDSA 2012), Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 02-05 July 2012, Vol. 35, pp. 66-78

Publication year

2012

Keyword(s)

Chinese students;  E-learning;  Hypertext;  International students;  NESB;  Non-English speaking backgrounds;  Online engagement;  Online learning;  Performance

Publisher

Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia

ISSN

1441-001X (series ISSN)

ISBN

9780908557899, 0908557892

Publisher URL

http://www.herdsa.org.au/?page_id=2885

Copyright

Copyright © 2012 Robert Gill, Elena Verezub and Xinyang Wang. The authors assign to HERDSA and educational non-profit institutions a non-exclusive license to use this document for personal use and in courses of instruction provided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement is reproduced. The published version is reproduced in accordance with this policy.

Full text

Peer reviewed