A comparison of the performance of international students in first year undergraduate studies by entry route in an Irish higher education institution: Part 1 a quantitative study.

Main Content

Author(s):

Fiona Faulkner(submitting)Deirdre Ryan(presenting)Anne Hurley Qi Wang

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 06 A,

Paper Session

Time:

2017-08-23

15:30-17:00

Room:

K5.04

Chair:

Monne Wihlborg

Contribution

Increasing international student numbers in higher education institutions has long been an educational priority internationally due to the cultural, educational and economic benefits it brings (Investing in Global Relationships, 2010; Snow Andrade, 2006). As a result, research in the area of retention and progression of international students has been conducted worldwide in an attempt to establish how an institution can best support, retain and indeed increase its international student body (O’Reilly, Ryan and Hickey, 2013; Snow Andrade, 2006). Less research however has been conducted in the area of varying entry routes to higher education by international students and the potential benefits/disadvantages if any of pursuing one entry route over another (Terraschke and Wahid, 2011). This research examines the first year undergraduate performance of international students in an Irish higher education institution, The Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), to determine if students who complete a one year preparatory programme in DIT perform differently to direct entry international students to the same institution and within the same degree programmes. Students’ country of origin and academic acculturation are used as a means of comparing students starting points in this analysis.

Method

Research Question: Do students who undertake the International Foundation Programme in DIT outperform direct entry international students in year 1 of their undergraduate programmes? Methodology: The aim of this research is to establish whether the entry route that an international student entering DIT takes has an impact on their performance in year 1 of their undergraduate studies. The methodology involves a mixed method approach in which quantitative and qualitative data are gathered on students from both the International Foundation Programme (IFP) and from direct entry international students. The quantitative data collected on students included: gender, age, country of origin, performance in second level education in respective country, performance in year of undergraduate students, performance in IFP for students who undertook it. The data was analysed to determine if international students from one entry route performed differently from those from a different entry route by comparing students’ performance in year 1 of their undergraduate studies. The qualitative data which was gathered on students will be reported in part 2 of this research.

Expected Outcomes

The researchers hypothesise that the students who successfully complete the International Foundation Programme (IFP) in DIT will outperform the direct entry international students in the first year of their undergraduate studies. This hypothesis is based on a belief that spending a year completing the IFP would better prepare international students academically as well as socially for further study in the Irish context than coming straight from second level schooling in your country of origin would. This potential outcome is being hypothesised knowing that the direct entry students have higher IELTS scores than students completing the IFP year.

References

Investing in Global Relationships, Ireland's International Education Strategy 2010-15. Report of the High-Level Group on International Education to the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills. September 2010. O’Reilly, A., Ryan, D. and Hickey, T. (2013). Higher education professionals' perspectives on international student experiences of life and learning in Ireland: a qualitative study. Irish Educational Studies, 32 (3): 355-375. Snow Andrade. M. (2006). International Students in English-Speaking Universities. Journal of Research in International Education. International Baccalaureate Organization and Sage Publications. VOL S(2) 131-154 ISSN 1475-2409. Terraschke, A. and Wahid, R. (2011). The impact of EAP study on the academic experiences of international postgraduate students in Australia. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, Volume 10, Issue 3, September 2011, Pages 173-182.

Author Information

Fiona Faulkner (submitting)

Dublin Institute of Technology

Hospitality and Tourism

Dublin

Deirdre Ryan (presenting)

Dublin Institute of Technology

School of Hospitality Management & Tourism

Dublin

Anne Hurley

Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland

Qi Wang

Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland

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