5B-STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION

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Persidangan Pembangunan Pelajar Peringkat Kebangsaan 2008

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 22-23 Oktober 2008

STUDENTS PERCEPTION ON INTERNATIONALIZATION OF LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Suhaila Sanip1 ,Nik Mohd Nasri Nik Ismail2

1, 2Islamic Science University of Malaysia

[email protected]

Abstract

The study was conducted to study students perception on the benefit of internationalizing learning

experience through study trip overseas. In March 2008, a group of 29 medical students and 3 lecturers had

gone to Egypt for two weeks educational visit at Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University. The visit was

part of the internationalization program of the course and students were given a chance to experience the

teaching and learning as well as survival skills of Malaysian medical students in Egypt. The students hadbeen briefed about the purpose of the study tour and were asked to answer open ended questionnaire forms

upon their safe arrival back to Malaysia. Two aspects of student development were asked that is the

academic and the soft skills aspect. The questions asked about their opinion on their experience, the

arrangement for the visit and their teaching and learning experience in University of Alexandria, Egypt.

Findings of this study can be used to help the faculty to improve organization of future study trips and can

be used by other institutions interested in organizing such study trip. In conclusion, educational visit can be

an excellent method for student development as it exposes students to various ways of learning a discipline

(medicine in this case) and other soft skills aspects in order to develop them to a holistic professional with

world class problem solving approach.

Keywords: internationalization; higher education; student perception; learning experience; study trip

1. Introduction

Internationalization of learning experience

had been practiced by other universities since

many years ago. The activities involved in the

process ranges from student exchange programs,

hospital attachment, industrial training as well as

study visit. The opportunity for personal and

professional growth through international

education is profound (Hanassab, 2006).

Although internationalization of learning

experience allow student to enrich their

perspective on the field of their study and otherpeoples culture, students participation in such

activities are often at a very minimal rate.

According to Mohamad et. al, (2008), the

number of Malaysian undergraduates going

abroad on exchange programs averages 10 in

public higher education institutions and 5 in the

private higher education institutions. Daly &

Barker (2005) reported that less than 1% of

Australian and New Zealand students participate

in a student exchange program by the time they

complete their studies, with the current average

participation rate being 0.4% and 0.24% of total

university enrolments for Australia and New

Zealand, respectively. Daly & Barker (2005):

page 35. They speculated on reasons why

students do or do not choose to participate in

exchange programs. An apparent factor involved

is the country students choose to go for

internationalization of their learning experience.

Their study findings also suggested that student

may choose a country which is quite similar totheir own in terms of culture and language

spoken. This shows students unwillingness to

go out of their comfort zone as this will involved

social and psychological adjustment to the new

environments.

Daly & Barker (2005) also noted that less

science students are taking part in exchange

programs compared to their arts and humanities


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counterpart. This could be due to the course

delivery which is not so flexible in the science

stream. Guest et. al, (2006) conducted a survey at

the University of Melbourne on why not many

science student participated in student exchange

program. To their surprise, the main reason the

students choose not to participate in such

programs was due to its perceived high cost.

They therefore proposed organized study tour as

a way of promoting exchange learning

experience among science students. According to

Guest et.al, Organised study tours as part of an

undergraduate degree offer a safer, less

confronting option, as students travel with their

peers and teachers, and travel, meals, and

accommodations are usually organized. The

amount of interaction with locals is limited but

can be greatly enhanced if the tour is based

around collaboration with local students. (page

390)

The internationalization of learning

experience of medical students had also been

strongly recommended by Majoor (2001).

Majoor is of the opinion that strictly speaking

clinical training in a country with other health

problems and a completely different health care

system than the student's home country is not

directly relevant to his or her medical

curriculum. But accepting that, I still believe that

medical students have a lot to gain from a study

period abroad. (page 1162)

Realizing the potential of building upstudents soft skills development through

internationalization of learning experience, in

March 2008, a group of 29 medical students and

3 lecturers from the Faculty of Medicine and

Health Sciences of Islamic Science University of

Malaysia (USIM) embarked on a two weeks trip

to Egypt for an educational visit to Cairo and the

Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University in

Alexandria. USIM is a one of the public higher

institution in Malaysia offering a Bachelor

Degree in Medicine. The faculty was established

in 2004 and received its first intake in 2005. The

6 years traditional medical curriculum alsoincorporated Islamic teachings through facultys

compulsory courses for example in Hafazan

course where students were expected to

memorized Quranic verses with regards to

medicine and science.

Although there is a vast cultural difference

between Egypt and Malaysia, Egypt was chosen

as the study tour destination due to the similarity

in which medicine is taught. Moreover, a lot of

Malaysian students are also studying medicine

there. The visit was part of the

internationalization program of the course and

students were given a chance to experience the

teaching and learning of medicine at a foreign

university. Besides gaining experience

academically, students were also expected to

learn the survival skills of Malaysian medical

students in Egypt as they were assigned to lodge

in Malaysian medical students there. Lodging in

students apartments also helps them in

developing new social contacts with the local

people as well as exchanging ideas and

knowledge in medicine among medical students

in Malaysia and Egypt.

1.1 Indicators for internationalizing students

learning experience

Stone (2006) proposed possible indicatorsfor internationalizing students learning

experience. Among the indicators that he

proposed, indicators that are relevant to this

study trip are as follows:

For the staffs and students to

develop the attributes of responsivenessand adaptability to more effectively

engage in intercultural situations;

approach situations involving peoplefrom other cultures with greater levels

of comfort, satisfaction, confidence, and

sensitivity; achieve a workable balance between the

challenges of task completion and the

development of positive human

relationships in intercultural situations;

recognize and address problems arisingfrom cultural difference, including

possible referral to appropriate support

services;

For the institution to

establish formal and informalarrangements to facilitate international

networks; interoperability; exchanges ofpersonnel and intellectual capital;

academic collaboration in the areas of

teaching, professional development,

research; collegiality and

communication.

ensure the highest possible world-classstandards in teaching, research, and

administration through benchmarking.


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(page 410-411)

As educational institution move more

towards internationalization initiatives, the

impact on students development either

positively or negatively should be studied

carefully and this can be done through their

perception on the activities carried out on them.

Although it would be best to have all the

indicators listed above tested in the

questionnaire, due to the short duration of the

study trip and this is the first time such trip was

organized; only certain indicators pertaining to

intercultural situation can be asked from the

students about their perception.

2. Research Methodology

Prior to departing Malaysia to Egypt,students had been reminded to write a reflective

journal on their experiences in Egypt. The

students were then asked to answer open ended

questionnaire forms upon their safe arrival in

Malaysia. Open ended questionnaires were used

so the students can write their thoughts freely

without the restrictions of answering yes or no.

Some of the questions also asked the students to

comment on what they think is good about it,

what is not good about it and what they think can

be further improved about it.

Two aspects of student development wereasked in the questionnaire that is the academic

and the soft skills aspect. There were 22

questions altogether. The questions asked range

from their opinion on the arrangement for the

visit, their teaching and learning experience in

University of Alexandria, Egypt to special

experiences they have while trying to survive as

a Malaysian medical student in Egypt.

3. Results and discussion

3.1 Results

Planning of the trip by the faculty

The planning and organizing of this

study trip were taken care of by the

Dean of the faculty himself. Although

the students is of the view that the study

trip were well thought out and planned,

most of the students felt that it would be

better if the study trip started few days

after they finished their second

professional examination, not right

after.

Duration

Two weeks were seen to some students

as too long and only few feels that it is

the right duration. They proposed ten

days as the right duration for this study

trip.

Place chosen

Egypt is seen as a good choice of

country to be visited as most Islamic

scholars hailed from there. However,

most students feel that more time

should be allocated in visiting other

medical faculties in Cairo too.

Accommodation

Students were very satisfied with the

accommodation at a low cost hotel in

Cairo. The real feel of studying

overseas on their own started when they

arrived in Alexandria. They were taken

by their respective Malaysian house

host. Although some houses lack basic

necessities and is cramped by too many

tenants, the students managed to blend

in into their new found studentcommunity. The students really

appreciate the experience of surviving

in a foreign country.

Program prepared

Students were given the opportunity to

join the International Undergraduate

Medical Program (IUMP) comprise

only Malaysian Medical Students

sponsored by MARA in the first week

of their stay and join the local medical

program comprise the Egyptian and 3Malaysian students in the second week.

Most students feel that too much

exposure to the pre-clinical phase

lectures, tutorial and practical were

boring them. They were more excited to

experience the clinical phase in Egypt

rather than joining the pre-clinical

lectures and tutorial.


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Teaching and learning activities

The students feel that there was no big

difference in learning medicine in Egypt

and Malaysia in terms of teaching and

learning methodology. On top of that,

93 % of the students feel that the faculty

should adopt e-learning as a teaching

tool. 97% of the students also proposed

that problem based learning tutorial

should be implemented in the faculty as

it is an interesting way of learning

medicine.

Cultural difference

The students were of the impression

that local Egyptian has very little

knowledge about Malaysia andMalaysian people. The marked cultural

and attitude difference between

Malaysian and Egyptian together with

language barrier were causing problems

to all the students and even lecturer in

the beginning but they soon realized

what they need to do to survive. One

student quoted Since I learned Arabic

in Malaysia, I get to practice it there. It

was then that I realized how lucky I was

to have learned Arabic before coming

to Egypt. It was really interesting to

learn and observe Egyptian culture,their people, their customs, their food

etc.

Another student highlighted his

experience being ridiculed by the local

in a tram when he was on his way to the

university. There was also perceived

discrimination among shop owners who

entertain the white more than the

Asians.

Is trip beneficial and should faculty continue

to organize such trip?

All 29 students thought the trip was

beneficial in exposing them to life

experience of living overseas as a

medical student. All of them also

proposed that this kind of study trip be

conducted to other parts of the world

such as within South East Asia with

other batch of students so they can later

on exchange their experiences with one

another.

3.2 Discussion

Student is an important stakeholder in any

educational institution. Without students, there

will be no lecturer and no educational institution.

Students perception on activities organized for

them will be the best feedback for evaluation of

the success or failure of that activity.

The study trip organized by the faculty had

helped to develop both the academic and soft

skills development of the medical students. In

terms of academic development, first, they

realized now that medical faculties and medical

facilities in Malaysia are far better than other

developing countries and even at par with some

developed countries. Second, students also are

aware of and know how to appreciate theteaching and learning methodology that can

assist them in acquisition of medical knowledge

i.e. problem based learning tutorial and web-

based learning.

Intercultural competence is a recognized

student outcome of internationalization

(Deardoff, 2004). In terms of soft skills

development, the students managed to upgrade

their soft skill in a few areas. The students are

more independent in organizing their everyday

life activities in terms of communicating with the

locals, developed more self confidence towardsmanaging perceived discrimination and solving

cultural difference issues. The students now

know how to appreciate the customs and culture

of other race while communicating with them in

the streets and also in the hospitals.

Discrimination is part and parcel of blending

in into a different society. As Hanassab (2006)

revealed in her studies about perceived

discrimination among international students in

the United States, she found out that

discrimination may seriously affect the

psychological well-being of internationalstudents. This may in turn affect their academic

achievement as well.

As in the case of Malaysian students in

Egypt, the Malaysian students and Malaysian

Student Department in Egypt should do more

promotion to the local Egyptians about Malaysia

and the richness of our multicultural multiethnic

society. The Malaysian students should also be


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exposed to the language and culture of the

Egyptians before they are sent to further their

studies there or to any other countries in that

matter. This effort may help to alleviate their

anxiety going to a foreign country to study and

helped them to settle down faster.

Lodging with the Malaysian medical

students in Alexandria rather than staying in a

hotel gives USIM medical students the

opportunity of living on their own. These

students also help to teach them how to

communicate with the locals. Despite all the

benefit of lodging in students accommodation,

as organizer, care must be taken not to burden

these students as they are already living a hard

life due to rising cost of living in Egypt. Some

financial assistance or token of appreciation to

the host should be given to cover for utility bills

incurred and food consumed during their stay

with their host.

4. Conclusion

Educational visit in the form of study tour

can be an excellent method for student academic

and soft skills development as it exposes

students to various ways of learning a discipline

(medicine in this case) and other soft skills

aspects in order to develop them to become a

holistic professional with world class problem

solving approach. Presence of a lecturer and

carefully organized trip reduced students fear ofgoing to a foreign land and this increases their

participation in such activity.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the following people

whom without their help and support, this study

trip may not be able to be conducted

successfully.

Dean and staffs of Faculty of Medicine& Health Sciences, USIM;

Prof Nagwa Mashali and Dean, Facultyof Medicine, University of Alexandria,Egypt

Medical students of IUMP, Faculty ofMedicine, University of Alexandria,

Egypt

References

1. Daly, A. J. and M. C. Barker (2005)."Australian and New Zealand

University Students' Participation in

International Exchange Programs."

Journal of Studies in International

Education 9(1): 26-41.

2. Deardorff, D. K. (2004). TheIdentification and Assessment of

Intercultural Competence as a Student

Outcome of Internationalization at

Institutions of Higher Education in The

United States Department of Adult and

Community College Education Raleigh,

North Carolina, North Carolina State

University. Degree of Doctor ofEducation: 337.

3. Guest, D., M. Livett, et al. (2006)."Fostering International Student

Exchanges for Science Students."

Journal of Studies in International

Education 10: 378-395.

4. Hanassab, S. (2006). "Diversity,International Students, and Perceived

Discrimination: Implications for

Educators and Counselors." Journal of

Studies in International Education10(2): 157-172.

5. Majoor, G. D. (2001)."Internationalization of undergraduate

medical studies: promoting clinical

tourism or academic development?"

Medical Education 35: 1162-1163.

6. Mohamad, N., M. Jantan, et al. (2008).Internationalisation and International

Linkages: The State of Malaysian

Higher Education Institutions.

Enhancing the Quality of HigherEducation through Research: Shaping

Future Policy, Kuala Lumpur, Ministry

of Higher Education, Malaysia.

7. Stone, N. (2006). "Internationalising theStudent learning Experience: Possible

Indicators." Journal of Studies in

International Education 10: 409-413.


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5B-STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION