While staff reflections were divided into personal journeys and strategies, students’ responses focus on including their feelings about the new
approaches to learning they were experiencing, their responses to the available support for learning and the value they attached to learning. Focus group data demonstrated that approaches to study in the UK are new to many, coming as they may do, from cultures where teacher-‐student relationships and learning are often very dissimilar (Kingston & Forland, 2008). Yet, this experience of a new culture of learning seems to be one to which students mostly respond in a positive way once they have had time to acculturate and reflect on the differences. This is evidenced, for instance, by the very eloquent way in which numerous participants discussed aspects of learning in the UK, including becoming an autonomous learner, applying theory and research findings to their own context, writing essays, time management, proofreading, critical analysis, and avoiding plagiarism. Occasionally, strategies to deal with these difficulties were mentioned.
Overall, students expressed positive views about teaching and learning in the UK. As was the case for staff, the majority acknowledged that they chose to study at the university as part of their aspiration to broaden their horizons and believed British education system would allow them to do so. While more than half of the students confessed there was a huge gap between the education system they were familiar with and the one they encountered in the UK, they nonetheless often found the new learning and teaching
challenge exciting, enjoyable and empowering. The following response was typical:
When I studied in Japan, we didn’t have long essays or had to read a lot of books, so, I really enjoy now, as I need to read lots of books, discuss and then write essays. That’s a very positive thing! The reason why I really enjoy the course is that here I feel like I’m really studying! I have to be more independent, it’s more beneficial for me in general, and I do it for myself, even if my marks are not too good. [Masa, Japanese student, Focus Group 4a]
Relatively strong evaluations of learning and teaching experience in the year-‐ on-‐year International Student Barometer (ISB 2012, 2013 and 2014) provide confirmation that this view is widely held. Here one student commented: “On behalf of my course I believe I can say that this university is very well
prepared to receive and give the best of help to international students either European or overseas in terms of learning skills”.
Even though the majority of students on all four campuses and in all International Student Barometer surveys considered the learning and teaching environment as relatively strong, though there were some
standalone instances in the (2013) ISB Survey where students thought that, as postgraduate students, they had “too few hours per week with lecturers” and they “learnt only 'surface' of things, not thorough enough”.
One example was given by a student who struggled with writing his or her dissertation in the summer period while the majority of staff were on leave: “I was trying to get help for my dissertation this year as English grammar is still hard for me. I was a bit disappointed as that there wasn’t a lot of help for international students in this area in the summer” (ISB, 2013).
In contrast, in focus groups some students commented on how much they enjoyed tutorials, something that majority of them had not been familiar with prior to starting their educational journey in the UK. A few reported that they did not feel they were one of many and were rather considered as
individuals. An Iranian student, for instance, commented:
We have nice tutors. Last term I told them I didn’t
understand them at all and they helped me to catch up with things in tutorials: write essays, proposals, how to do things, how to explore things through provide solutions – I really felt supported as an individual. [Gela, Focus Group 3a]
In general, the tutorials and the relatively low number of postgraduate students in the class allowed for a closer relationship with the tutors. Mari, a Bulgarian student, commented:
I have a lot attention from the tutors, that’s another advantage. At big unis there’s no personal relationship with your tutor. They treat you like nobody, they just check your work. Here because the numbers are low, I get more attention from tutors. [Focus Group 1a]
In general, this student-‐centred approach compared very favourably with the more distant student-‐staff relationship the majority had experienced back home. All of the participants reported that academic status and authority matter more in their countries of origin where staff were perceived to be less
interested in answering questions from individual students and insist on more formality in communication. In contrast, academics in the UK were seen as helpful and supportive. According to Hui, one Malaysian student
“Everyone is so nice. I can share anything with staff, they are very helpful. I love the connection between staff and students”.
In addition, some students noted that western education valued the learning process as much as the actual outcome. In the words of Jam, a Taiwanese student:
I had to get used to western education system because in my country we only focus on the outcome but here, it’s 50/50, it’s a little bit more difficult. I mean I have to record everything during my study, my journey, so I have to prepare more. [Focus Group 1a]
This view was echoed by Hui, the same Malaysian student:
The education system in the UK is different. In Malaysia it’s completely different. There, we focus on the outcome, but here, it’s all about the journey, it’s more important. At first, I wasn’t used to it, I cared about the outcome too much. Sometimes I would have very little idea development and research and process, but now I know it matters as much.
Another interesting observation concerned a newly discovered passion for reading books. Ha, a Chinese student, considered that reading a book with a purpose made her feel more autonomous:
When I studied in China, students just joined lectures without joy, but here is different. I do everything independent, I
we don’t have to read any books even though the library is much bigger than the one here. [Focus Group 1a]
A final point relates to the relevance of the skills learnt in the new context to the employability market, raised, for instance, by a student in ISB (2014): “I have received a fair and nurturing environment that gave me all the tools and learning experience I need to make it in the real world”,
7.1.7 Summary
Overall, the discussions with both staff and students acted as a catalyst for reflection on teaching and learning practices. In many instances, students shared similar opinions to those of staff, especially the perceived advantages of studying in a multicultural environment. Similarly to staff, students spoke about opinions openly. Some said they found their coursework fairly easy while other parts of their learning harder.
While students mainly shared their insights on their learning experiences, they were less vocal than staff in terms of solutions to the obstacles. Students in four out of five groups were convinced their learning support needs were addressed appropriately, but a number of areas for development were suggested in the (2013) International Student Barometer Survey.