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Exploring international student satisfaction with online courses in acculturation and English language development
Julie WatsonPrincipal Teaching Fellow in eLearningeLanguages, Modern Languages 9 July 2014
Online courses: characteristics
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Emerging themes of MOOC pedagogic design the troubling of the cMOOC/xMOOC binary
the teacher role
tensions around learner participation
the meanings and implications of ‘massive’
tracing the boundaries between openness and control
* Bayne & Ross, (2013) The Pedagogy of the Massive Open Online Course: the UK view.
HEA Report.
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Three online courses for international students Prepare for Success
open, self-paced, loose ‘course’ on UK academic culture for international students applying for UK HEIs
Get Ready for Southampton (GRfS)
pre-arrival ‘massive’ course for all incoming and prospective UoS international students
Pre-sessional Boarding Pass (PBP) and Prepare for Pre-sessional (P4P)
Closed, pre-sessional courses in EAP and study skills (discipline-specific & generic versions)
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Tentative comparison
Features/course
PfS GRfS Online pre-sess
Open or closed? open semi-open closed
Teacher role? untutored untutored tutored
Fixed time slot? no Self-paced between Apr-Oct
yes
Assessment? formative quiz formative quiz yes
Learning design?
didactic; no peer contact
didactic + connectivist with peer contact
didactic + connectivist with peer contact
Size? massive850K +
‘massive’ ?2500+
smallc. 100 –in groups of 25-30 5
Self-paced course of activity-based learning resources about academic life in the UK; includes video interviews with students and teaching staff
Students can chose study pathway through the resources by skill or topic and/or interactive FAQs about study in the UK
Blog and question wall responding to student questions
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Student satisfaction measures Student engagement /usage/
participation
Student evaluation of own learning / progress
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How much of Prepare for Success did you use?(362 respondents)
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‘I think Prepare for Success has helped me get ready for coming to study in the UK’(368 respondents)
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Online course: optional, not tutored, not assessed, focusing on student preparation and acculturation pre-arrival
Content focus: practical aspects of living in Britain + preparation for study at the University of Southampton + UK academic culture and study skills
Open for 5 months but study pace and length of use decided by individual student
Self-access interactive learning content with feedback (activity-based Learning Objects)
Community-building/personal contact through Social Wall and student-led Conversation Forum 10
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Students from Mexico : ) reunite
LLM Law
Students from Canada Students from Germany
International students looking for house!
Pursuing Economics with Actuarial Science
MSC Web Technology
Students from India for Southampton
MSc in Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology
MSc in Governance & Policy (Research)
Any Ugandan or East African heading to Soton
MSc Corporate Risk and Security Management
Students from Middle east and North Africa University Accommodation for MSc students
Students from Greece
Student from Iran
Looking for a room mate to find a house
Student-led Discussion Forum
Students study foundation year
MSc Aerodynamics and Computation
Undergrad math students!
Roomates to find a house MSc Global Politics
MSc Transportation Planning & Engineering
Students from China
MSc Human Resource Management
Contacts
Hey everyone!
MSc Systems and Signal Processing
How much of GRfS did you use?(537 respondents)
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'I think GRfS has helped me prepare for Uni in the UK’(543 respondents)
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'I think Prepare for Success has helped me get ready for coming to study in the UK’(368 respondents)
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First 5 weeks (online and pre-arrival) of a blended Pre-sessional Course (11 or 16 weeks)
With focus on academic writing and reading; study skills, vocabulary and grammar review/development
Provided learning content; weekly integrated reading and writing assignments; weekly formative grammar and vocabulary review tests
Web 2.0 tools: social wall ; tutor webcasts
Tutored (forum; chat; email) and assessed (1 tutor per 30 students)
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How would you rate PBP course overall?(201 respondents)
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How would you rate your own progress?(201 respondents)
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What students value
Students report peer contact important for making friends (and building confidence) before they come
Student feedback indicates tutor guidance and personal feedback is very important on this course
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Tentative conclusions Online courses with peer contact add certain clear
benefits (confidence as well as learning) but not essential for student satisfaction (see PfS)
Having a strong tutor presence and guiding role helps achieves aims and has other benefits for students (focus, personalised feedback etc)
Flexibility in course design may be a factor in use variation among students (GRfS)
MOOC design themes are reflected in other online courses
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