Abstract:

Background:
According to the 2017 OECD “Education at a Glance” report, the United States is the number one OECD destination country for mobile tertiary students. Over 900,000 of the 3 million international students in the OECD area or about 30% were enrolled in US programs. About half of those students were from Asia, with 44% of the Asian students coming to the US. These students bring quite a few benefits to the host country and in return those students get a degree in higher education. However, the choice to study overseas can present many challenges for international students especially from Asia, for example the experience of acculturative stress and difficulties with adjustment to the environment of the host country. Since language is a significant part of the international student experience, issues surrounding language seem to be magnified in an online or hybrid learning environment.
Therefore, the paper presents research that explored experiences of international students predominantly from Asian countries and domestic students while attending hybrid online courses in an introductory and advanced settings. The goal of our study was to monitor the quality of the course delivery with a focus on cultural differences to see if any particular sub-group (gender, major, first year/second year, domestic/international) responded differently to the offering, so that we could adjust the presentation of the material. A statistical analysis of the respective parameters has been performed. We also wanted to see how our findings compare to those published, especially to predictors of psychosocial adjustment to life in the United States.

Methodology:
The investigation was performed in two courses that are shared within our school’s two-year Computer Information Systems and Medical and Bioinformatics graduate programs as well as graduate programs housed in other departments. Furthermore, technology use including statistical and machine learning software on a webserver is an essential and integral part of the classes.
From fall 2014 until fall 2017 a total 254 students were enrolled into two classes, an introductory class and a consecutive advanced hybrid online class. While the intro course was taught in both formats, hybrid or face-to-face, giving the student a choice, the advanced course was only offered as a hybrid course. We investigated subgroups that experienced different formats and compared both the hybrid online and face-to-face groups in order to detect potential differences in performance. Furthermore, we looked into how these students from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds encountered those learning environments and further assessed the extent to which cultural factors impact on learners' engagement with online learning. We used performance in the class (exams, group projects, etc.) as well as a questionnaire (Quality Matters rubric) as measures to identify differences.

Results:
While the student outcomes in terms of grades were not significantly different, the way the different formats were experienced showed some significant differences, especially in use of technology.

Impact:
We used the results to alter the process of working with the students, for example, targeted advising. We also devised a strategy that was set for handling future applicants from other cultures applying to our program.

Keywords:

Online learning, hybrid learning, blended learning, graduate education, international students, learning with technology.