Abstract:

Background:
The number of online programs in US are growing as administrators launching new programs with enrollment growth in mind. At the same time more students chose online programs for various reasons. The majority are still career-minded students (i.e., industry switchers, career accelerators, career starters), but we’ll find also more recent high school grads who chose the option for convenience or to be able to work to cover rising tuition cost, lifelong learners, students with disabilities, learners for whom English is a second language, underrepresented minorities, and economically disadvantaged students. Therefore, universities switching more classes over to an online or hybrid online format. On the other hand, colleges have come to rely on tuition from foreign students to offset cuts in state funds and a loss of domestic students. However, international students are especially impacted by these changes because of that format makes it more difficult to accommodate for differences or lack of background knowledge and skills. In particular, soft skills like communication and/or language skills, differences in the educational and cultural background of international students, expectations within the US education system, and the individualistic culture predominant in the US pose a lot of challenges in itself but are amplified through online education. It not only requires more communication effort from the student but also from the instructor. The educational culture has produced teaching practices that are not universal, but are accompanied by types of student behavior. Furthermore, the individualist culture in the US stresses individual goals. Collectivism as it is found for instance in many Asian countries focuses on group goals.
The paper presents research that explored experiences of international students while attending hybrid online courses in an introductory and advanced settings.

Methodology:
The investigation was performed in two courses of our school’s two-year Health Informatics and Bioinformatics graduate program that are shared with other programs. 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 2019 a total 321 students were enrolled in those two classes. From winter 2020 until fall 2021 (during the COVID-19 pandemic) 85 students were enrolled in the intro course in a Hyflex format. While the intro course was taught in both formats, hybrid and face-to-face, giving the student a choice, the advanced course was only offered as a hybrid course. There are different forms of assessment, both on the program level and on the individual student’s level that has been taken into account for the analysis. We used performance in the class (exams, group projects, etc.) as well as a questionnaire (Quality Matters rubric) as measures to identify differences. A statistical analysis of the respective parameters has been performed including a preliminary analysis of pre-COVID-19 vs. COVID-19 outcomes.

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

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.