Adapting Practices to Address Rising Enrollment of Chinese National Students
Rachael Switalski
Director of Student Services, Undergraduate Advising Center, College of Engineering
Kathryn Kailikole, EdD
Director, Analysis and Strategic Planning, Academic Advising, Retention and Diversity
Changing Demographics
University Wide
• Increase in the numbers of Chinese Nationals introduce new challenges involving cultural transition and policy comprehension
– Certain colleges/programs impacted more profoundly – Institutional agents – faculty and advisors – as well as Chinese National students themselves challenged
Impact on College of Engineering
• Students unable to communicate needs to staff
• Students at a disadvantage in the classroom
• Students having difficulty navigating university – Ex: Change of major, getting help with roommate issues
• Students do not understand policies and procedures
– Ex: Add/drop, registration, plans of study, 12 credit minimum
Enrollment Trends
University Wide
Data redacted.
By College
Understanding New Demographic:
Academic Culture in China
Highly competitive, high stress environment
Limited flexibility around academic pathways
Limited experience with decision making
Limited opportunities for inquiry Limited opportunities for self‐expression
Focus on the collective/group than the individual
Large “power distance” 1 between students and teachers (authority)
• Given direction, limited experience with cognitive and social dissonance
• No equivalent to Academic Advisor/Guidance Counselor
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– Head Teacher closest equivalent to an Academic Advisor however leads students to misinterpret faculty and advisor roles
– With no relevant framework for academic advising, Chinese students do not understand and “underestimate the functions of the advisor.” 2
1. Quote from student interview, fourth year Chinese student.
2. Quote from student interview, second year Chinese student.
The large increases in student enrollment in 2011 and 2012 coupled with the dynamics around the new population required
QUICK AND IMMEDIATE ACTION
In Time and Pre‐emptory Actions
Impact on Practice
Actions at Large
• Placement and language competence interviews
• Revised curriculum plans
• Training – faculty, staff and students • Design for Assessment
• Wrap Around Sections – to advance language socialization and models of new pedagogies
• Peer Coaches • Advising and Near Peers
• Acculturation training for Chinese Nationals • Drexel Preview in China
• Updates to all academic transaction forms and workflows to mitigate potential of I‐20 violations
Placement of students in appropriate courses – lower course load in first year
• Section balancing • Increasing the number of ESL English and remedial English courses
• Near Peers in advising offices
CoE Specific:
• Smaller sections of First Year Experience course for international students
• Reviewing materials for language appropriate for non‐native speakers
• Developing different communication plan for international students
• Revamping orientation for international students
• International student Meet & Greet before classes begin
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Significance of TOEFL IBT Sub‐scores
ACADEMIC PROFILE TRENDS
Background: TOEFL IBT Subscores
Range of Scores
Listening
0 – 30
Reading
0 – 30
Speaking
0 – 30
Writing
0 ‐ 30
AARD analysis of TOEFL IBT subscores and student performance:
• Listening and Reading subscores are significantly correlated
• Speaking and Writing subscores are significantly correlated
Hence in some analyses, Listening and Reading are a combined
variable – Passive Communication; similarly, Speaking and Writing are
combined – Active Communication.
Why TOEFL IBT Subscores
University Wide Trend
Data redacted.
Total TOEFL scores continue to increase due to increase in Passive Communication (Reading and Listening) scores, while Active Communication (Speaking and Writing) scores are stagnant. Passive Communication scores mask Active Communication weaknesses. The mean total TOEFL is below recommended* minimum competency of 100.
* ETS research suggests minimum competency to function in a U.S. college classroom is a total TOEFL score above 100.
Impact on Practice
• Some students can only speak in one to two word phrases
• All parties frustrated by poor communication
• Admissions only shares total TOEFL, faculty/staff do not understand impact of subscores
• Reading & Listening scores may not represent actual student skill level
• Students don’t understand university jargon
• Students do better in non‐
language based classes
Why TOEFL IBT Subscores
University Wide Trend
Impact on Students
•
Data redacted.
Students buy textbooks in native language to learn material and then try to translate into English for exams – leads to poor performance even if they are proficient in subject
Initiatives • Placement and language competence interviews
• Increase in ESL sections
• Near Peers • Revised Curriculum plans
• Wrap around sections
Predicting Performance
University Wide Performance Trends
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TOEFL IBT Speaking and Writing more
strongly correlates to performance in
high communication demand courses –
English, business, communication, etc.
TOEFL IBT Reading more strongly
correlates to performance in high
terminology
demand
courses
–
mathematics,
biology,
chemistry,
physics, etc.
For courses steeped in western
ideology, TOEFL IBT “washes out,” and
student performance is below average.
We believe cultural relevance may be a
factor playing out in student
performance in courses such as
psychology and American/European
History.
Impact on practice
• Arts and Sciences and Business are more impacted than Engineering
• Revised curriculum plans
• Proactive placement in support activities – i.e. wraparound sections
• Examine reason for poor performance –i.e. Do some students have other priorities?
Challenge of Working with New Demographic Does Not Mean We Abandon What We Already Know CONNECTING LITERATURE AND EXPERIENCE TO ADJUSTING PRACTICES
New Training and Assessment Demands
Literature
• Faculty and Advisors employ practices steeped in the culture of the US classroom and university minimizing potential for interaction (Tinto, Practice
• University must examine practices that are steeped in U.S. or Drexel culture
• Changing pedagogy to address more classroom – for example 1987, 2000; Lakoff and Johnson, 2003; classrooms 50% Chinese Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005) National students
• Difficulties perceived as deficit • Classroom culture differences in oneself rather than a result become apparent – providing of assumptions about learning, venues (i.e. wraparounds) for world views, and students to practice US communication (Vygotsky, 1978; classroom customs
Cole 1996) New Training and Assessment Demands
Impact on Student
• Groups of domestic and Chinese nationals have a hard time working together. Chinese students speak in Mandarin together and domestic students feel excluded. Chinese students feel like domestic students aren’t interested in their ideas. The lack of experience in group work inhibits their ability to be successful in this environment.
Initiatives
• Acculturation workshops
• Wraparound sections
• Faculty training
Explicating the Hidden Curriculum
Literature
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Navigation process fraught with social and cultural undertones as students develop identity, manage emotions, learn to be interdependent (Chickering and Reisser, 1993)
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If students do not make connections between the navigation process and their personal development they become disengaged and disinterested in the University setting (Tinto, 1987, 2000; Dey & Hurtado, 2005; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005)
Practice
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Domestic students can become frustrated with classroom experience
Chinese National students feel isolated and discriminated against
Chinese students do not respond to outreach until it’s too late
Chinese students become entrenched in home language communication
Federal compliance becomes an issue
Counseling experiences increase in international student traffic
Explicating the Hidden Curriculum
Impact on Student
• A student with very low communication skills and with a .25 gpa the first term does not respond to his advisor until he is put on hold. He is dismissed at the end of the second term. After interventions it is discovered that he stopped going to class because he was embarrassed about his grades and wants to stay at Drexel so his parents don’t find out he failed.
Initiatives
• Placement and language competence interviews
• Near Peers in office
• Advisor Meet & Greet to break down barriers
• Smaller sections of First Year Experience course for international students
Meeting the Challenge
Goal 1
• Model and practice cognitive and non‐cognitive strategies to facilitate the socialization into and through institutional discourse in the English language while respecting cultural differences
Practice
• Define “Advisor” and other academic terms • Wraparound sections in Business and Engineering with peer support interpret content
• Near Peers facilitate interactions between advisor and student – Ex: interpreting Drexel jargon, billing terms, how co‐op works, etc
Meeting the Challenge
Goal 2
• Integrate cultural perspectives, facilitate academic language development and utilize funds of knowledge other than the norm
Practice
• Learning from students, Near Peers and Peer Coaches
• Introducing global perspectives and examples
• Explicate terminology
• Emphasize importance of email as official communication
Meeting the Challenge
Goal 3
• Allow for the use of native/home language to mediate the transition of knowledge (Heath, 1983; Ochs and Schieffelin, 1984; Valdes, 2001; Moll, 2005; Garcia, 2005)
Practice
• Near Peer Program
– Recruited from Chinese student organizations
– Worked in advising and other key staff offices to facilitate conversations
• Wraparounds
– Peer coaches mediate learning
New Dilemmas
• Addressing new challenge of increasing international student populations while not neglecting needs of domestic students • Willingness to respond to needs of students by adapting pedagogical methods
In Time and Pre‐emptory Actions
Impact on Practice
Actions at Large
• Placement and language competence interviews
• Revised curriculum plans
• Training – faculty, staff and students • Design for Assessment
• Wrap Around Sections – to advance language socialization and models of new pedagogies
• Peer Coaches • Advising and Near Peers
• Acculturation training for Chinese Nationals • Drexel Preview in China
• Updates to all academic transaction forms and workflows to mitigate potential of I‐20 violations
Placement of students in appropriate courses – lower course load in first year
• Section balancing • Increasing the number of ESL English and remedial English courses
• Near Peers in advising offices
CoE Specific:
• Smaller sections of First Year Experience course for international students
• Reviewing materials for language appropriate for non‐native speakers
• Developing different communication plan for international students
• Revamping orientation for international students
• International student Meet & Greet before classes begin
•
Contact Information:
Rachael Switalski – [email protected]
Kathryn Kailikole – [email protected]
THANK YOU!