Support for International Students
Guidance on Facilitating their Educational Transition
There are two sets of guidelines:
- The first outlines some general principles which can be used to guide the design of interventions for easing the transition of international students regardless of discipline.
- The second focuses of specific aspects of the educational transition, to which particular attention may need to be given depending upon country of origin, discipline and level of study.
These guidelines are based on ideas and insights from a number of sources. First, and most importantly, help has been sought from overseas members of staff. Indeed, it was the desire to utilise this source that prompted the production of the guidelines. I am particularly grateful to those staff listed below for sparing me their time and enabling me to explore with them the issues and challenges involved in the transition from one higher education system to another. A second source has been my experiences in assisting with the international student induction in the Faculty of Law Arts and Social Sciences over the past four years. Particular recourse has been made to what I have learnt from leading ‘taster seminars’ in which I have discussed with international students anticipated similarities and differences between learning, teaching and assessment in countries with which they are familiar and the UK. A third source is the handful of workshops I have run on aspects of the international student experience. Of these the most significant was one for library staff which was jointly planned and delivered with assistance from the Dr Yue Wu and Dr Xiang Song from the School of Management.
Particular thanks are due to:
Dr Marina Carravetta (Chemistry)
Dr Li Chen Chang (Management)
Dr Nong Gao (Engineering Sciences)
Dr Dima Jamali (Management)
Dr Ming-Chen Sung (Management)
Dr Yue Wu (Management)
It remains to be said that I am entirely responsible for the final version of these guidelines.
Roger Ottewill
September 2008