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Download Document - Office for Learning and Teaching

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ead lecture notes.2. Regarding the choice of textbookMost lecturers think good textbook should have broad coverage, be contemporary,<strong>and</strong> have a combination of theory <strong>and</strong> practice. The students would like a textbookwith sufficient case studies <strong>and</strong> examples that has simple language <strong>and</strong> is wellstructured.Interestingly, the interviews with local students reveal that even localstudents feel their current textbooks use too much jargon, do not give simpleanswers <strong>and</strong> go into unnecessary depth. Most students think the textbook content istoo long <strong>and</strong> prices are too high.3. Lecture notesMost lecturers think the students rely too much on PowerPoint slides. However, dueto the difficulty of reading the textbook, students choose to rely heavily on simplifiedstudy material such as lecture notes to enhance their underst<strong>and</strong>ing of the subject.6.2.2 <strong>Teaching</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Learning</strong> MethodsThere is some consistency in students’ <strong>and</strong> lecturers’ perspective of teachingmethod. Most lecturers adopt, or attempt to adopt, class activity in their teaching <strong>and</strong>make an ef<strong>for</strong>t to encourage students to talk, <strong>and</strong> most students prefer to have moreinteraction in class, such as class discussion. However, almost all students wouldlike to be in a small group teaching environment so that they feel more confident <strong>and</strong>com<strong>for</strong>table in speaking. Most international students prefer <strong>and</strong> expect individualattention from the lecturer. However, some students prefer the lecturer to talk all theway through, giving good examples <strong>and</strong> explanation, as they think this is a moreefficient way <strong>for</strong> them to learn. More international students prefer more face-to-faceteaching, less students questions <strong>and</strong> class discussions. They prefer to have moreknowledge to be trans<strong>for</strong>ed from lectures to students.6.2.3 Assessment1. Group assignmentMost of the students view the group assignment positively, despite the fact that theyall experience difficulty working with each other. They think it is important <strong>for</strong> them todevelop teamwork skills. Most prefer to find their own group, which they feel willwork better. However, the lecturers have quite a mixed attitude towards groupassignments. Some think the group work idea is good; however, the apparentproblem is the “free ride”. Thus, lecturers are very cautious with group work. When itcomes to group <strong>for</strong>mation, most lecturers ask students to <strong>for</strong>m their own groups.Some lecturers tend to make an ef<strong>for</strong>t to mix international students with local,however very few students prefer this.2. PresentationLecturers think the presentation is an important tool <strong>for</strong> developing students’communication skills; however international students lack confidence inpresentation, especially when it is a part of their assessment. While a little over halfof the students like presentation, the other half does not. The international studentsfeel they are disadvantaged in language, thus they feel nervous <strong>and</strong> shy whichapparently impacts negatively on their per<strong>for</strong>mance.6.2.4 Education Management systemLectures feel that students should have more knowledge regarding universityeducation management systems, especially about university policies such as thepolicy on plagiarism. Most students are satisfied with the credit point systemadopted in Australia. However many of them have difficulties when it comes toselecting subjects. Even though the International <strong>Office</strong> of each university provides120

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