Getting Ahead as an International Student Getting Ahead as an International Student Dave Burnapp Open University Press McGraw-Hill Education McGraw-Hill House Shoppenhangers Road Maidenhead Berkshire England SL6 2QL email: [email protected] world wide web: www.openup.co.uk and Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121-2289, USA First published 2009 Copyright © Dave Burnapp 2009 All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd of Saffron House, 6-10 Kriby Street, London, EC1N 8TS. A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library ISBN-13: 978-0-33-523453-0 (pb) 978-0-33-523452-3 (hb) ISBN-10: 0-335-234 53-4 (pb) 0-335-23452-6 (hb) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data CIP data applied for Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk Printed in the UK by Bell and Bain Ltd, Glasgow. Fictitious names of companies, products, people, characters and/or data that may be used herein (in case studies or in examples) are not intended to represent any real individual, company, product or event. Contents Introduction 1 Aims of this book 1 Who should use this book 2 The structure of this book 2 The methods used in this book 4 The learning portfolio 4 Employability 5 Critical Incidents 5 Intended learning outcomes 6 Part One: The university context 9 1 What are English speaking universities like? 11 Theme: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 11 Research into international students’ adaptation 14 Support Services 17 Accommodation 17 Careers Services 21 Guidance 22 2 What sort of chang es will I need to make? 26 Theme: culture 26 Learning styles 28 Previous experiences 28 The requirements of the situation 31 Learning activities in English speaking universities 34 Personal preferences 37 What a UK university degree involves 40 3 What sort of things will I have to do? 42 Theme: adaptation 42 A day in the life... 44 vi CONTENTS Students’ unions 45 Volunteering 47 Self-management 49 Doing Sport and living healthily 51 Culture shock 52 Looking forward: ethnography 52 4 What sort of assessments will I have? 55 Theme: assessment 55 The principles of assessment 56 Different approaches to assessments 62 Types of assessment 65 Part Two: The study process 71 5 Starting out: what do I already know? 73 Theme: development 73 Approach 1: Transmission versus constructivist learning 74 Approach 2: Reflective learning 76 Method 1: Discussions 78 Method 2: Portfolios 79 Skill 1: Discussion skills 80 Skill 2: Objective and subjective writing 83 6 How can I understand my topic? 88 Theme: corporate social responsibility 88 Approach 1: Extensive reading 90 Approach 2: Learning involves ongoing autonomous discovery 91 Method 1: Finding texts for extensive reading 93 Method 2: Time management and planning 94 Skill 1: Skimming and surveying 99 Skill 2: Scanning 101 Skill 3: Note taking 102 7 How do these ideas connect? 106 Theme: eco-tourism 106 Approach 1: Bloom’s taxonomy 108 Approach 2: Making connections 110 Method 1: Writing summaries and paraphrases 111 Method 2: Lecture Note taking 113 CONTENTS vii Skill 1: Glossaries 115 Skill 2: Connecting ideas from reading and lectures 116 Skill 3: Discourse Markers 117 8 Group working: what do other people think? 122 Theme: Human Resource Management – staff training 122 Approach 1: Working in teams 124 Approach 2: The need for primary research 125 Method 1: Group work 129 Method 2: What is meant by quantitative research? 130 Method 3: What is meant by qualitative research? 131 Skill 1: Questionnaire design 133 Skill 2: Interview schedules 134 Skill 3: Presentations 135 Part Three: Producing assignments 139 9 What do I have to do to excel in my assessments? 141 Theme: brand management 141 Approach 1: Bloom’s Taxonomy (application and analysis) 142 Approach 2: Process approach to planning assignments 144 Method 1: Analysing assignment titles 146 Method 2: Creating research questions 147 Method 3: What is the literature? 147 Method 4: Changing research questions into a research plan 150 Skill 1: Evaluation of Internet websites and media sources 151 Skill 2: Deep reading 153 10 What is critical awa reness and how can I show it in my work? 157 Theme: reviewing the themes of motivation, CSR and brand management 157 Approach 1: Bloom’s Taxonomy (synthesis and evaluation) 158 Approach 2: Critical awareness 161 Method 1: Developing critical awareness when you are reading and note-taking 162 Method 2: Devising a plan and a structure for your writing 164 Method 3: Demonstrating critical awareness in your writing 166 Skill 1: Synthesizing information and building paragraphs 167 Skill 2: How to deal with qualitative data 169 Skill 3: How to deal with quantitative data 170 viii CONTENTS 11 Finishing off: have I done what was required? 174 Theme: strategic management 174 Approach 1: Discourse communities and academic texts 176 Method 1: Avoiding plagiarism 177 Skill 1: Referencing 181 Skill 2: Checking 187 Glossary 192 Index 201 Introduction Aims of this book This book has been written for international students who are planning to study at a university in an English speaking country, for example the UK, Australia, Ireland, the USA and New Zealand. There are small differences between the universities in these countries, and indeed differences between universities within each of these countries – and even between two faculties within a single university. Despite this, these institutions share certain beliefs about what knowledge is, and thence what activities students and teachers should undertake. For the remainder of this book all mentions of ‘university’ should be taken to refer to ‘universities in English speaking countries’ and it is accepted that in other countries universities have very different approaches, and indeed that is one reason why this book is necessary. Please also note that words in bold, for example ‘faculties’, are defined in the Glossary at the end of the book. As a result of engaging with this book you will develop a clear idea of uni- versity life and student life styles, but above all you will have a clear idea of the language skills, study ski lls and communication skills which are necessary at university. Many books aimed at international students can make the same claim, but this book goes further: instead of just teaching you what is expected (for example explaining that you are expected to participate in seminars, or that you are expected to give exact references to your sources), this book helps you to explore the theories held in these universities about what knowledge is, and then shows you how the expected behaviours of teachers and students arise from these theories. For example you are expected to participate in seminars because of a deeply held belief that knowledge comes about from discussion, a theory concerning the social construction of knowledge. This book is original because it sets out to help you understand why you will be asked to do certain things, as well as covering what you will be asked to do and how to do them. 2 INTRODUCTION Throughout this book you will be asked to compare the methods and approaches in these universities with your previous experiences, not because you have to forget your previous methods and approaches, but because of another theory, known as reflective learning, which sees learning as a process of change and development. You will also read the words of other inter- national students reflecting on their own experiences. Who should use this book This book is suitable for any students who intend to attend one of these universities to do a degree course of any kind, including undergraduate, postgraduate, top-up, exchange programmes, or distance learning pro- grammes. This book will be of most use for students of humanities and social sciences, in particular in business schools, as it does not cover the specific requirements of the hard sciences and engineering. You may use this book as a part of some kind of preparation programme, for example pre-departure courses, induction courses, or International Foundation Programmes. In this case as well as finding out about the culture of these universities you will be able to use the many tasks in the book to put into practice the methods described, working sometimes on your own, at other times in pairs or in small groups. As a result when you begin your degree course you will have had lots of practice in the necessary skills. Other students may use this book working individually to prepare for university – in this case you need to get some friends to discuss some of the tasks with. In order to get maximum benefit from this book you must find situations where you are with people who have different experiences and different ideas in order to use and to hear the most important phrase in these universities: ‘In my opinion...’ The structure of this book Part One: The university context The four chapters in this part of the book will help you to understand what universities in English speaking countries are like. There are, of course, enormous differences between all these institutions; some are historic with traditions going back hundreds of years, while others are much more modern and concentrate on developing high-tech facilities. Some universities are in city centres, and indeed can sometimes be the most important buildings in the city; others are set on a campus, similar to a park, somewhere out of town.