Abstract:

The recent pandemic caused university teaching and assessment to move online almost overnight and resulted in rapid changes in teaching and assessment styles and practices. More recently practices have started to revert to in-person teaching and exams, for a number of reasons including some preferences for face-to-face or blended teaching, student welfare considerations and challenges faced with academic misconduct in online exams.

Each year many students move to the UK from overseas to study. International students can be particularly vulnerable when living far away from their home due to being away from family, living in a different culture and, potentially, studying in a different language. Tuition fees are also considerably higher for international students and shorter postgraduate taught courses are more affordable than undergraduate degrees. The expense of studying at university can mean sacrifices for families and students. However, experiences of studying at home and then abroad can be different and contrary to expectations.

This study aimed to examine the experiences of international students in a UK university, with a post-pandemic mix of teaching and assessment provision. The study particularly focussed on students’ access to different styles of teaching and assessment and the barriers they faced. A cohort of 72 international postgraduate taught students were surveyed to understand their views and experiences of teaching styles and types of assessment, both in-person and online, and how these compared with expectations prior to coming to the UK. The survey also asked about potential language barriers. Following the survey a focus group was conducted to further investigate difficulties experienced by international students.

Findings show that slightly more than half of those surveyed liked the styles of teaching they received but, for a significant number, the teaching and assessment was different from prior expectations. Language was not generally raised as a barrier to learning but was a potential barrier to assessment through in-person exams. The majority of respondents agreed that in-person exams were harder than they had expected, but half of all respondents also found online open-book exams to be harder than expected. Coursework was the most favoured.

During the focus group, two additional issues were raised. Students talked about assumptions of their prior knowledge that had been made by staff and assumptions they had made of teaching they would be given. They stated that they would have liked more teaching at the beginning of their degree to focus on how to engage in research methods, which had been assumed knowledge, and for coursework to be more tailored towards preparing them for working in industry. They felt that the university had particular expectations of their prior knowledge due to the fact that they were postgraduate students. Overall results show some positive experiences were had by the international students but also a mismatch of expectations in both directions: from student to university, and from university to student. These findings are discussed in light of the challenges of providing a nurturing and supportive environment for students whilst maintaining good academic practices and rigour. There is a dichotomy that needs to be addressed. This paper proposes some approaches that seek to resolve this mismatch.

Keywords:

International students, teaching and assessment styles, expectations of learning, academic rigour, cultural differences.