Tuesday 21 January 2014

International Student Experience Conference at Plymouth University (18 December 2013)

The event was a fantastic opportunity for networking with almost 200 delegates from universities across the UK. The conference presented high quality papers, workshops and poster displays addressing some of the key factors involved with the internationalisation of the higher education sector in the UK and beyond. 

With keynote addresses by Dr Sheila Trahar (University of Bristol) and Professor Troy Heffernan (Plymouth University - Inaugural Lecture), themes included:
• The student experience of internationalisation
• Creating an international curriculum
• Transnational education
• English language teaching and support
• The business of internationalisation: recruitment, admissions, strategies and partnerships


I gave a presentation on "A 'Roller Coaster' experience? An exploration of Postgraduate International Students perceptions of teaching, learning and assessment and integration with home students and building a campus community" which presented an analysis of focus groups with postgraduate international students as a part of a wider case study I carried out at an English University, which drew on the views of international students, home students and staff. 


Having analysed what the postgraduate international students are saying about teaching, learning, assessment, curriculum, integration with home students and general student experience, I am moving on to my second part of data collection, focus groups and interviews with Student Union members and academics.