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comments was, “No, I send them to Rosemary Graham or Jenny <strong>and</strong> ask them towork with them until their assignment is up to a certain st<strong>and</strong>ard”.(5) How can the University help those who have English problems?Half the lecturers believed that the university should have rigid entrance criteria tosolve the problems; one comment was, “In the first place by being a lot moreselective in terms of the students that the university takes in”. The other halfsuggested that the university should use their assistance unit to help internationalstudents; one comment was, “…but I know with undergraduate students we referour students to Rosemary Graham <strong>for</strong> assistance with their writing, etc.”.5.2.5 Culture-based <strong>Teaching</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Learning</strong> Concepts(1) Do you think international & local students face a different set of study difficultiesin their 1st year? Can you please list them?Four lecturers replied “yes” to this question; one of them commented, “Yes, localstudents don't generally have a culture shock”. The rest of lecturers think that in thefirst year, both local <strong>and</strong> international students are faced with the same difficulties;<strong>for</strong> example, one of them comments, “I think that the problems that are faced areprobably across all of them but they are hugely increased with the internationalstudents”.(2) In your opinion what can the university do to help 1st year international studentsto have a better start in the new learning environment?Some of the lecturers thought that the university should do more to help; one ofthem commented, “I think that we definitely can be as influencing as possible in ourown orientation <strong>and</strong> welcome them as much as we can”. Another said, “I thinkmaybe giving students more pre-warning about what they will experience when theyget here”. Some of them thought students could get help from their friends; onecomment was, “one of the ways they could do that, is that if they’ve got a studentlike yourself who’s been here <strong>for</strong> a while, is maybe a quick presentation to addresstheir cultural group, like a mentor”.5.3 Local students interview data analysisA total of seven local students participated in the interview.5.3.1 <strong>Teaching</strong> Content <strong>and</strong> Textbooks(1) Do you have any difficulties in reading textbooks?As to the textbook reading difficulties <strong>for</strong> local students, only one local student saidhe has no problem. The remaining local students had different kinds of difficulties:some find it hard to get useful in<strong>for</strong>mation; <strong>for</strong> example, one comments, “My biggestissue when reading textbooks is that there is never a simple answer to a question”.Another student found it hard to underst<strong>and</strong>, saying, “Sometimes they can be verycomplicated terminology <strong>and</strong> very hard to underst<strong>and</strong>”.(2) Do you think reading the textbook is very important to your study?Three local students thought that textbook, lecture notes <strong>and</strong> class were allimportant. For example, one student said, “I believe textbook use, lecture notes, <strong>and</strong>class study are all of equal importance when it comes to learning the content of theunit”. Two students considered class <strong>and</strong> lecture notes were more important thantextbooks. Only one student thought the textbook was more important. He said, “Yestextbooks is vital <strong>for</strong> lectures if you don’t underst<strong>and</strong> something it can be furtherexplained in the textbook …” One student thought the importance of the textbookwould depend on different situations. He said, “I think that textbooks can be ofvarying importance depending on the class….They tend to be more in-depth thanthe provided lecture notes”.84

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