The present exploratory study focused on international graduate students who might experience some difficulties with major life transitions and studying in a different culture. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between personal assertiveness and social support satisfaction among international graduate students. The researcher hypothesized that assertive international graduate students would report higher levels of seeking out and marshalling social support. Thus, they would more likely be satisfied with their perceived social support. The present study also examined several demographic variables such as ethnicity, sex, TOEFL scores, GPA, and length of stay in the U.S., as possible factors affecting their assertiveness and perceived social support satisfaction. The major findings indicated that assertiveness did not always augment social support satisfaction in the current sample. However, the results of the study demonstrated the effects of ethnicity and several other variables in predicting the levels of assertiveness and perceived social support satisfaction among international graduate students. The study also suggested several implications for future research regarding the relationship between interpersonal variables and perceived social support satisfaction. / Department of Psychological Science

The problem of this study was to determine the levels of physical activity in international college students. A non-experimental, cross-sectional survey design was used to examine the problem of the study. The participants of this study were 64 international college students enrolled in Ball State University. The 13-item instrument of this study consisted of six personal demographic questions and seven measure of physical activity in the past seven days.Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics, which included frequencies and percentages, were used for demographic and physical activity questions. T-tests were used to test the differences in physical activity level between gender, classification of degree program, and academic majors. One-way ANOVAs was used to test the differences in physical activity level among different continents and among different length of stay in the U.S.The results showed that a high percentage of the participants in this study met the recommended criteria for physical activity. There were no statistically significant differences between genders, classification of degree program, academic majors, different lengths of stay in the U.S., and different continents where the international students come from. The demographic variables were not significantly associated with physical activity level of international college students. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

The purpose of this study is to examine the adjustment issues facing international students attending American colleges and universities and the types of social support in an era post 9-11. Student-athletes face a variety of challenges when playing competitive sport. Foreign student-athletes have additional heavy burdens with physical training and language problems. International students and international student-athletes attending one of five universities in the State of Indiana (N = 102) completed a survey packet including Demographic, Social Support Survey (SSS) and Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS).The findings of this study would suggest that the participating international students, including talented foreign student-athletes, had low acculturative stress despite studying abroad in the United States in a post 9-11 era. Social support may not be related to acculturative stress for the participants in this study. However, there is no doubt that it is important for international students to immediately adjust to a new environment to minimize the potential of adjustment issues arising. This study may be helpful in identifying international students potentially at need of special assistance and support service. Coaches or academic counselors should pay more attention on the support services and acculturative stress of international students in their initial period. / School of Physical Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate aspects of cognitive styles in relationship to the academic orientation of Arab ESL students. More specifically, this study attempted to answer the following questions:1- What are the different cognitive styles Arab students use in their learning of English as a second language?2- To what degree do Arab students who possess different cognitive styles perform differently on the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency?3- Are students' academic majors related to their proficiency in English as a second language?The subjects of this study were 82 students representing 11 Arab countries enrolled in ESL programs in four American universities. The Inventory of Learning Processes (Schmeck, Ribich, & Ramanaiah, 1977), was used to measure the students' cognitive styles and the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency (MTELP) was used to measure their performance on English as a second language.Results of this study indicated that Arab students fall on a continuum of four different cognitive styles with Elaborative Processing being the most dominant cognitive style among Arab students (44% of students). Deep Processing and Fact Retention were the next two cognitive styles Arab students possessed (26%, 21 % of students respectively). Only 10% of students possessed the Study Methods cognitive style. There was no significant relationship between students' cognitive styles and their performance on English as a second language except for the weak positive relationship that existed between the cognitive style of Elaborative Processing and proficiency in English as a second language. It was also found that students' academic majors played a major role in their performance on MTELP. Literature majors performed significantly better than science majors in English as a second language.It was recommended that ESL instructors at American universities identify Arab students' cognitive styles by using ILP prior to their enrollment in ESL courses. It was also recommended that ESL instructors vary their teaching strategies and resources so that individual student's needs regarding cognitive style are met. Further research is needed to investigate the interaction between students' academic majors, their cognitive styles and their proficiency in English as a second language. It is also important to further explore the relationship between the Elaborative Processing scale and students' proficiency in English as a second language. / Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education

This thesis has been an investigation of the applicability of the middleman minority theory with reference to foreign students studying in the United States.Results of the study showed that the returning students generally corresponded with the criteria of the sojourners. Non-returning students however, did not fulfill all the conditions which apply to the middleman minority group residing in the host country. It was concluded that middleman minority is not a discrete category, but falls into the end of a continuum, which starts with the sojourners. In utilizing the middleman minority theory, two factors were excluded from the theory. These were that foreign students act as middleman between the elite and the masses in a society, and that they prefer to work in liquidable occupations.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the educational experiences with computers of nine female international graduate students at Ball State University. Their experiences with computers before they came to the United States, their current use of computers during their study at Ball State University, challenges faced related to the use of computers during their graduate study in the United States, and the support received from the university to help them overcome these barriers were described. Descriptions of ways computers supplemented and enriched the experiences of female international graduate students in the completion of their graduate work at Ball State University were reported.Participants of the present study were nine female international graduate students from Ball State University. They were identified through cooperation with the Center For International Programs, which provided a list of names and e-mail addresses of female international graduate students who were enrolled in graduate studies at Ball State University. Nine female international graduate students were selected from the list.The researcher interviewed each participant for two hours on one occasion. Following each interview participants were asked to complete a brief questionnaire to identify age, country of origin, academic program, and length of time spent in the United States.The following conclusions were established based upon this research study: (1) most participants did not use computer applications on a daily basis during their undergraduate study in their native countries; (2) all participants used computer applications on a daily basis during their study at BSU; (3) some participants faced two important academic adjustments at the same time, the adjustment to the English language and the adjustment to the use of computer; (4) most participants received support from friends regarding the use of computers; (5) most participants faced problems regarding their typing skills; (6) using the library web site was a challenge for most participants; (7) all participants believed that the use of computers enriched their experiences during their study at BSU; and (7) all participants used the Self-Learning Theory to improve their computer skills. / Department of Educational Studies

There is a need in the field of international education to form sound assessment practices to provide support for the study abroad experience. This study conducted assessment research using the CrossCultural Adaptability Inventory (CCAI) as a pre and post-test as well as structured interviews to assess the impact and determine the cultural learning outcomes of the two main types of study abroad programs at Ball State University.According to the CCAI, there was meaningful cultural learning that occurred for the students who participated in study abroad programs for the Fall 2001 semester. The interviews revealed that the student participants experienced gains in self-perception, communication skills, and worldview concepts. Further implications include the continuation of assessment in the international education field and the move towards learning based study abroad models. / Department of Educational Studies

The purpose of this embedded case study was to describe the academic experiences of international graduate students at Ball State University. Purposive and snowball sampling procedures were used to select nine international graduate students for this study. Their countries of origin were Ghana, Kenya, China, Iceland, Greece, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia. Ball State University was the case in this study and the nine international graduate students the units of analysis. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed by means of constant comparison and cross-unit analysis. The findings of the study revealed the reasons why these international graduate students came to Ball State University to pursue their education, the students’ assessments of their academic experiences, and descriptions of their personal and professional development as outcomes of their educational experiences at Ball State University. The main reasons why the international graduate students came to Ball State University were, due to connections they already had with someone affiliated with the university, the quality of the programs offered at Ball State University, and through the award of scholarships. The international graduate students described their academic experiences as beneficial to their development in a number of ways including, development of research and publication skills, increased competence in the use of technological aids to enhance teaching and learning, and the opportunity to put into practice the skills and knowledge they had acquired through practica and internships. The study participants also expressed that they acquired skills that made them competent to perform in the areas they were trained, for example, therapeutic skills or team skills. They shared that they had grown as individuals because of the experience that they gained at Ball State University. In addition, some stated that their worldview had expanded, and their self-confidence had increased. The study discusses the findings in the light of the current literature on international graduate student education in the U.S., as well as the implications for future research. The study makes recommendations as to how Ball State University can make use of this new information to better market itself as a first class institution of higher learning, and to make the experiences of international graduate students at Ball State University a more appealing choice to prospective international graduate students. / Department of Educational Studies

This study is an exploration of the educational experiences of women from the Caribbean island of Barbados who traveled to the USA to pursue higher education. An autoethnography research methodology was used in order to capture each woman’s educational experiences. Autoethnography also supported the inclusion of the researcher’s voice and interpretations as a Barbadian woman fitting the criteria for participation. These educational journeys represented the field and cultural world under study. Through analysis, themes emerged from each woman's description of Influential Others; Protagonist Self; and Educational Settings within her storied journey. Storied experiences in relation to race, ethnicity, and being women and the role American Higher Education had in each woman's life were also analyzed. The emergent themes supported the existence of a web of interacting narratives spun first in Barbados and extending to American Higher Education. Through the educational settings each woman interacted with, this web of narratives linked her educational journey to the narratives of the people who went before her; beside her; and after her. This web of narratives also supports each woman’s storied understanding of self, others, and settings within that journey. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Educational Studies

The aim of this study was to find out the academic and social experience of Lesotho students who studied at institutions of higher in the Western Cape between 1990-1997.