Thesis (M.S.)--Springfield College, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2005. / Includes abstract. Appendix M (leaf 135) contains Mandarin text. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-146).

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Higher education is challenged by the changing climate created by globalisation and the phenomenon of internationalisation. Internationalisation of higher education provides a platform for institutions to engage with counterparts across the world in a manner that would enhance the quality of all aspects of the institution, but also poses a number of challenges to institutions and higher education systems. The literature review of the study sketches the background to the study and analyses some of the above-mentioned opportunities and challenges. The study researched one aspect of internationalisation, namely the mobility of undergraduate students. The mobility of students can take place through an array of activities that includes summer school programmes, internships, or tailored short programmes. This study focuses on one type of mobility, namely an international exchange semester. The study stemmed from the actual problem at Stellenbosch University where a major imbalance exists in the number of students received from partner universities and of Stellenbosch students taking part in a semester at the partner university. The rationale and practice of international exchange semesters in four Faculties were analysed on multiple levels by means of a case study design. The four case studies were concluded in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of AgriSciences and the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, and within these Faculties the investigation was restricted to general-formative programmes. Data were collected and analysed at four levels of each Faculty, namely the climate that is created through Faculty strategy, the views and perspectives of students in their final and pre-final year, the view and perspectives of programme coordinators, and finally, the views on a managerial level by means of the inputs of deputy deans. Each of the case studies reveals specific issues and opportunities for international exchange semesters within the particular Faculty, yet, the comparative perspectives reveal that the major barriers to student mobility are consistent across faculties, and that particularly the type of information available, the applicability of that information within the particular academic environment and financial aspects are consistently identified by students in all four Faculties. The barriers identified by staff, both on departmental and management level, resonate with the barriers identified by students, but further illustrate more specific organisational and pedagogical challenges linked to the implementation of international exchange semesters. The study not only makes a contribution to a deeper understanding of existing challenges pertaining to international mobility by means of an exchange semester but it also makes specific recommendations to address these challenges and poses alternatives to existing practices. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hoër onderwys word uitgedaag deur die veranderende omgewing as gevolg van globalisering en deur die verskynsel van internasionalisering. Internasionalisering van hoër onderwys bied ’n platform vir interaksie tussen instellings en hul eweknieë in ander wêrelddele op ’n wyse wat die gehalte van alle aspekte van die instellings kan bevorder. Internasionalisering is egter ook ’n verskynsel wat ’n bedreiging en ’n uitdaging vir instellings en hoëronderwysstelsels inhou. Die literatuurstudie van hierdie studie skets die agtergrond tot die studie en ontleed van hierdie geleenthede en uitdagings. Die studie het een aspek van internasionalisering, naamlik die mobiliteit van voorgraadse studente, ondersoek. Die mobiliteit van studente geskied deur ’n verskeidenheid aktiwiteite wat somerskole, internskappe en taalkursusse insluit. Die studie fokus op een aktiwiteit, naamlik internasionale uitruilsemesters. Die studie het gepruit uit ’n voortslepende uitdaging by die Universiteit van Stellenbosch (US) waar die aantal inkomende uitruilstudente van vennoot-instansies die aantal US studente wat aan uitruilsemesters deelneem, ver oorskry. Die rasionaal en uitvoering van internasionale uitruilsemesters in vier fakulteite is deur middel van ’n gevallestudie-ontwerp op verskeie vlakke ontleed om ʼn omvattende begrip te ontwikkel. Die vier gevallestudies is in die konteks van die Fakulteit Lettere en Sosiale Wetenskappe, Fakulteit Agriwetenskappe, Fakulteit Natuurwetenskappe en Fakulteit Ekonomiese en Bestuurswetenskappe uitgevoer, en in die studie van hierdie vier fakulteite is die konteks verder tot algemene vormende programme beperk. Data is ingewin en ontleed op vier vlakke in elke fakulteit, naamlik die platform wat geskep word deur die strategie van die fakulteit, die oortuigings en perspektiewe van studente in hulle finale en voor-finale jaar, die perspektiewe en insig van programkoördineerders, en laastens die perspektief op bestuursvlak deur middel van onderhoude met adjunkdekane. Elke gevallestudie onthul spesifieke kwessies ten opsigte van en geleenthede vir internasionale uitruilsemesters binne die betrokke fakulteit, maar die vergelykende perspektiewe dui aan dat die grootste struikelblokke vir studente mobiliteit deurlopend dieselfde is tussen die vier fakulteite. Die studie toon aan dat die beskikbaarheid van die tipe inligting, die toepaslikheid van daardie inligting op ‘n student se spesifieke situasie (program) en finansiële aspekte in al vier fakulteite deur studente gekies is. Die struikelblokke wat deur personeel, beide op departementele en bestuursvlak, uitgewys is vind aanklank by die struikelblokke wat deur studente aangedui is, maar illustreer ook verdere uitdagings ten opsigte van organisatoriese aspekte en pedagogiese uitdagings wat verband hou met die implementering van internasionale uitruilsemesters. Die studie maak nie net ‘n bydrae in terme van ‘n dieper verstaan van die bestaande uitdagings ten opsigte van internasionale studente mobiliteit deur middel van ‘n uitruilsemester nie, maar maak ook voorstelle oor hoe om hierdie uitdagings aan te spreek en stel alternatiewe voor vir die bestaande praktyke.

The purpose of this study was to identify the information needs and information seeking behaviour of international students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg Campus (UKZNP). The study assisted in identifying different information services offered by the International Student Office (ISO). It also determined various information seeking situations involved in relation to academic needs and personal issues of international students. The approach that the researcher undertook was a triangulation approach where both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Instruments used for data collection were a self-administered questionnaire and semi-structured interview. A sample size of 150 international students was surveyed, with 137 students responding, giving a response rate of 91.3%. The Head of the International Student Office (HISO) was also interviewed. The validity and reliability of the instrument were established by pre-testing the questionnaire with four international students enrolled at UKZNP. The quantitative data was analysed using SPSS and the qualitative data was analysed using thematic content analysis. The international students’ information seeking behaviour was identified using Wilson’s (1999) model of information behaviour which suited the group under study. The outcome of the study revealed that more than half, 62.7%, of academic needs were characterized by two situations, namely, the registration process (32.2%) and issues around lectures (30.5%). Other main issues discussed were based on information literacy skills and English language problems experienced by international students enrolled at UKZNP. In terms of personal issues, a majority (60.2%) of respondents mentioned either accommodation (34.9%) or health issues (25.3%). A minority, just on 30%, of the respondents resided on campus and for the majority of the respondents who lived off campus, accessing the Library and computer LANs after hours was not possible as transport at night was not always available. Thus the accommodation need was regarded as a very significant problem. The study indicated that two main sources used in relation to academic needs were library resources and information from the Faculty offices, while the most used source by international students for their personal issues was the consultation of colleagues. Based on the results and conclusions of the study, recommendations for action and further research were made. Recommendations included the need to consider a temporary registration period during which the complex requirements of the registration process could be pursued and satisfied by the students and, in response to the accommodation crisis experienced by students, consideration be given to the Student Housing Office giving priority to first year international students in particular when allocating rooms. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

Research on the experience of international students often suffers from conflation, in that it uses culture (or nationality as a proxy for culture) as a categorising agent, thereby granting causal powers to cultural differences, and contributing to a deficit model of international students. In this research, I will argue that, while culture and structure both provide new sets of constraints and opportunities for international students, participants are active agents in shaping their own experiences, as they think, reflect and act in response to their situational context. Drawing on Archer’s concept of reflexivity, this thesis demonstrates that because international students are often not immediately able to exercise agency through conversation (thought and talk), they find a need to reflect on their experiences and develop a course of action based on greater autonomy (that is, they become more independent). However, while some students make the transition to independence relatively smoothly, for others, it is not so easy, and some participants may find it difficult to convert thoughts into effective action (or displaced reflexivity). Participants in the international student experience confront a situational context marked by four specific features: first, a lack of a sympathetic interlocutor (that is, they find themselves on their own); second, contextual incongruity (commonly conceptualised as culture shock); third, shared experiences, which leads to congruity; and fourth, troublesome events, which blocks agential action. This research provides empirical evidence of specific generative mechanisms which contribute to the shaping of agency in the international student experience.

Η εποχή μας χαρακτηρίζεται έντονα από πολλά είδη κρίσης όπως η οικονομική κρίση, η κρίση των θεσμών και των αξιών που εκπορεύονται από την τάση των κυβερνήσεων να ενταχθούν στην παγκοσμιοποίηση. Μια παγκοσμιοποίηση που επιφέρει συνεχώς μετακινήσεις ατόμων με σκοπό μια καλύτερη ποιότητα ζωής, η οποία θα υπόσχεται την επίλυση των ανωτέρω τύπων της κρίσης. Σε κάθε κρίση η εκπαίδευση είναι ένας φορέας που επιδέχεται πολλούς κραδασμούς και οφείλει να μείνει αλώβητος, υποδεχόμενος τις εκάστοτε αλλαγές μόνο με θετικό πρίσμα. Στην Ελλάδα τα τελευταία μεταναστευτικά κύματα οικονομικών μεταναστών έφεραν έναν πολιτισμικό πλουραλισμό στο μαθητικό σώμα, που με τη σειρά του επέφερε αλλαγές στο σχολικό περιβάλλον. Η πολιτισμική διαφορετικότητα των μαθητών απαιτούσε τη δυνατότητα έκφρασης για κάθε μαθητή. Όμως εξαιτίας των αλλαγών ορισμένων κοινωνικών δομών κάποιες ομάδες πολιτών βίωσαν την προκατάληψη και το ρατσισμό, γεγονός που είχε αντίκτυπό στο σχολικό χώρο και οδήγησε πολλούς μαθητές να εκφραστούν με αρνητικούς τρόπους, οι οποίοι χαρακτηρίζουν την αποκλίνουσα συμπεριφορά. Στην παρούσα έρευνα γίνεται μια προσπάθεια να εντοπιστούν, αν υπάρχουν, οι μορφές της αποκλίνουσας συμπεριφοράς στο χώρο του Δημοτικού Σχολείου ανάμεσα στους γηγενείς και πολιτισμικά διαφορετικός μαθητές και σε ποιο βαθμό. / -

Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Abby Franchitti / With more international students coming to study in the institutions of higher education in the United States, it is essential to examine the infrastructure, support system, and cross-cultural awareness which currently exist within the campus community. Issues regarding internationalization face many institutions on both the micro and macro-level due to numerous variables including the lack of communication between departments, organizations, and offices on campus and an unguided direction of the goals and ambitions behind it. By looking at how the various stakeholders involved in internationalization are affected, possible solutions for academic institutions can be suggested. This report analyzes some of the ways in which the stress and workload often associated with internationalization can be alleviated in order facilitate a community which embraces diversity, and encourages mutual respect in an ever changing global society.

This study explores the phenomenon of discrimination as it pertains to the experiences of international students studying in Southeast Louisiana. This qualitative study seeks to answer the questions of where and how international students perceive discrimination, and how discrimination affects a student's overall experience as a foreign student in the United States. The intent of this research study is to address the sizable gap in the literature on perceived discrimination towards international students, and introduces specific concepts from critical theory in developing a formal conceptual framework model for continued research in this area. Utilizing the concept of sites of struggle as a conceptual framework, eleven international students studying in Southeast Louisiana were interviewed about their perceptions of discrimination from within three areas of interest: federal regulations, educational arena, and social arena. Their responses are presented using their own words via verbatim transcripts of the interview sessions. A discussion of the respondents' experiences and its significance to their perceptions of discrimination within the three areas of interest follows. Implications for policy, practice, and research, along with suggestions for future research conclude this study.

The problem of this study was to determine by means of Judgment Analysis (JAN) Technique the admission policies of selected faculty and administrators for foreign graduate students at North Texas State University.

This thesis presents the findings of a descriptive study of goals of international exchange and how they are perceived in terms of relevance by host family participants in homestay exchange programs. The literature of international exchange was examined to identify goals as established and defined by researchers in the field. Experienced exchange coordinators, host families and others were interviewed for their suggestions of additional goals not discussed in the literature. A survey questionnaire was developed and administered to 69 host family members from Tillamook County, Oregon. They were asked to evaluate the importance and achievement of 14 literature-based and 22 non-literature-based goals represented by 43 two-part questions.