Category: New Publications

Facilitated COIL conversational model: a virtual exchange between a private university in the US and a teacher college in South Sudan

This practice report explores a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) course focused on awareness and esteem development for women teachers in South Sudan and volunteers associated with a US-based university. Pedagogy of hope was utilized as an educational tool for implementation and evaluation. Assessments of this COIL course focused on data from exit tickets and a final writing assignment. Self-perceptions of the participating teachers were analyzed based on their sense of preparedness, confidence, comfort levels with the class, and any impact the course had on teachers’ sense of teaching as a personal calling. Practitioners and teaching professionals interested in international virtual exchange will find key takeaways related to building partnerships starting with low-stakes initiatives and using COIL to help ignite advances in digital maturity in South Sudan.

The Impact of International Virtual Exchange on Participation in Education Abroad

International virtual exchange is gaining popularity as an innovative approach to providing international experiences to students, particularly considering the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little research has been conducted on this unique teaching approach or how it fits into university comprehensive internationalization plans. In this paper, we develop a simple theoretical model to explain the impact of taking international virtual exchange classes on students’ decisions to subsequently study abroad. We use a linear probability model with a longitudinal panel that follows 39,381 students through their entire academic career at a large American university to estimate the impact of international virtual exchange and foreign language courses on the probability of subsequent study abroad. Based on our preferred matching model, which accounts for observable differences in student characteristics, we find the likelihood a student will subsequently study abroad approximately doubles if they take an international virtual exchange course.

Toward Greater Inclusion and Success: A New Compact for International Students

International student enrollment in the post-World War II era of U.S. higher education appears to be a
remarkable success story. In the 2018–19 academic year, 1,095,299 international students enrolled in U.S.
higher education institutions, doubling from 547,867 in 2000–01. The rise in international student enrollment numbers has been largely driven by students from upper-middle income countries. That enrollment has increased fivefold in the last 20 years—from just under 50,000 in 2000–01 to almost 250,000 in 2012–13 (Ruiz 2014). In the same 20-year period, international students as a percentage of total U.S. student enrollment has grown steadily, rising from 3.6 percent in 2000–01 to 5.5 percent in 2018–19. The U.S. remains the leading destination for international students, who continue to rank its higher education system as the best in the world (IDP Education 2019). The presence of international students on college and university campuses has connected people, empowered individuals, brought together diverse cultural groups, and built diplomatic bridges between
the U.S. and other nations (Nye 2003).

Contextualizing the Impact of Faculty-Led Short-Term Study Abroad on Students’ Global Competence: Characteristics of Effective Programs

Short-term faculty-led study abroad programs are high-impact pedagogical practices designed to enhance students’ global competency. However, there is a gap in our understanding regarding the specific educational components of short-term faculty-led study abroad programs that promote global competency. This systematic review examined nearly two decades of research on such programs (n=86) to assess the educational components associated with increases in students’ global competencies using Steinberg’s (2017) educational components as a framework. Results indicated that the educational components included in global competency-building education abroad courses varied substantially across programs and global regions. The components most strongly supporting enhanced global competency were pre/post program sessions and meeting with experts in the host country. Overall, the study findings offer educators and administrators insights into best practices for designing, implementing, and evaluating short-term study abroad courses designed to enhance global competence among undergraduate and graduate students.

Exploring U.S. students’ takeaways from a cross-Pacific COIL project

English imperialism has helped form the dominance of one-way communication from Native English Speakers (NESs) to English learners, resembled in the existing literature of international education and exchange education (i.e. study abroad programs). Such unbalanced foci in the ongoing scholarship of exchange programs, including Virtual Exchange (VE), do not equally represent the whole participating parties of collaboration and furthermore overlook the learning needs and achievements from NESs. Noticing such a gap in the scholarship, the author intended to explore what NESs and native speakers of more than English have taken away from a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project between a university in China and a Hispanic-Serving Institution in the U.S. Twenty-one U.S. students in a writing-as-processes course were asynchronously collaborated with 20 students in a reading-writing course in China over ten weeks. The COIL data of this case study was from U.S. students’ reflections on the peer review giving and given and their COIL reflections. The qualitative findings revealed that Peer Feedback (PF) via COIL broadened participants’ insight about contrastive rhetoric, English as pluralistic, and cross-cultural communication. The COIL project also offered multi-dimensional enrichment and promoted 21st century skills in general. The participants expected some form of continuous VE projects, similar to the current COIL project, in the subsequent semesters. Those findings implied practical considerations of how to further develop COIL – synchronous or/and asynchronous modes, multi-layered collaborations, individual and collective communication, and a balance among students’ autonomy, technology support, and instructors’ affordability of additional arrangements for details. The significance of the study lies in the fact that the findings would help mitigate and balance scholarly attention to students’ takeaways from both participating parties.

International education for the oppressed: A framework for international educators’ value-based practice

There has been a heightened awareness and intensified discussion of the ethical issue in global higher education among scholars of international education. There are also strong calls for actions from the governmental, organizational, and institutional perspectives. However, there seems to be little discussion on what frontline international educators can do in this regard. Motivated by Freire’s (1970) critical pedagogy, this paper aims to develop an actionable framework for frontline professionals’ value-based practice. It hopes to engage the large number of fellow practitioners in higher education internationalization to increase their awareness of the dire world situation of unbalanced development, to reaffirm the values they should uphold in their profession, and to implement actions within their scope of agency to make a change.

Supporting First-Generation Students to Study Abroad

First‐generation college students represent a growing segment of the U.S. higher education population and a group consistently underrepresented in study abroad programming (Cataldi et al., 2018; Rausch, 2017). According to the Consortium for Analysis of Student Success through International Education, only eight percent of first‐generation students study abroad, yet those who do are more likely to graduate within six years and have higher GPAs at graduation (Bell et al., 2020).

As U.S. higher education institutions return to offering study abroad programming amid the COVID‐19 pandemic, there is an opportunity for education abroad leaders to focus on educational equity by examining pathways to access study abroad for all students.

This paper describes the landscape of study abroad programming designed for first-generation college students. It will then provide an overview of considerations for access to study abroad specific to first-generation students and relevant outcomes. Finally, it will present promising practices and examples from U.S. higher education institutions and study abroad programs to enhance pathways to access study abroad opportunities for first-generation students.

Strategies to boost international student success in US higher education: an analysis of direct and indirect effects of learning communities

Learning communities are often associated with higher student engagement and academic achievement. Few studies to date, however, have examined the impacts of these practices among international students. To address this gap, the following questions led the current study: “To what degree is participation in learning communities associated with international students’ (1) engagement in educationally beneficial activities, (2) learning outcomes (e.g., general, practical, and professional development), and (3) overall satisfaction with their institutional environment and educational experience?” Drawing on student development theory, we designed a path analysis using a structural equation modelling to assess both the direct and the indirect effects. The results suggest that while students’ participation in learning communities positively correlates to student learning gains and satisfaction, the student engagement indicators are the significant mediating predictors for both outcomes, thus recommending that institutions interested in assessing the impacts of learning communities should determine not only the direct effects but also the indirect effects of these practices. Our results also show differences in participation patterns among international student subgroups. Institutions should be aware of such differences and make efforts to scale high impact practices like learning communities to provide opportunities for more students to become involved in these educationally purposeful activities. The findings call for future research aimed at identifying the environmental and individual conditions that are most conducive to the cultivation of these practices for international students.

American Universities in the Middle East and U.S. Foreign Policy

The drive to promote American-style higher education is among the most longstanding and enduring features of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Since its earliest engagements in the region, the U.S. government has looked to American universities to promote Washington’s interests and values. This book analyzes how American universities in the Middle East relate to U.S. foreign policy and how this relationship has evolved amid shifting U.S. priorities through two world wars, the Cold War, and the War on Terrorism. American Universities in the Middle East and U.S. Foreign Policy focuses on four sets of case studies: (1) The American University of Beirut; (2) The American University in Cairo; (3) American universities in Afghanistan and Iraq; and (4) Education City in Qatar.

At a time when policymakers are litigating core tenets of U.S. Middle East policy and new actors are entering the region’s higher education space, this book provides a resource to understand the geopolitical role of American universities in the Middle East.

Higher Education and the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 caused massive disruptions in the higher education sector across the world. The transition to online learning exposed the deep-rooted inequalities between countries, systems, institutions, and student groups in terms of the availability of information technology infrastructure, internet access and digital literacy, as well as prior training and experiences of faculty in online education. This volume explores various aspects of the impact of the pandemic on higher education management including how university administration responded to the crisis, and the role of local and national government agencies in academic support and higher education delivery. The key findings highlight the importance of better organisation and preparedness of higher education systems for future crises, and the need for a better dialogue between governments, higher education institutions and other stakeholders. The book calls for a collective response to address the digital divide among various groups and financial inequalities within and between the private and public universities, and to plan for the serious challenges that international students face during crisis situations.

Study Abroad and Identity Development

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the impact of study abroad on students’ cultural identity development. After a brief review of study abroad outcomes related to the development of skills applicable to the twenty-first-century globalized world, we discuss research (albeit limited) on the impact of study abroad on cultural identity. Although research on study abroad focuses mostly on the development of various competencies rather than identity changes, we make the argument that these competencies are interrelated with identity because they impact one’s level of identification. After we review identity changes as a function of program duration, destination, and type, we conclude the chapter with a review of how a specific cultural identity, American, is being negotiated by U.S. students during and after the study abroad experience.

Voices from the South: Decolonial Perspectives in International Education

Inspired by the Editors’ work with U.S. students studying abroad throughout Latin America and including voices from colleagues working across the Global South, including in Argentina, Chile, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Peru, Senegal, India, and Jordan, this volume seeks to reverse the replication of imperialist and colonial patterns in Global North-to-Global South student mobility by passing the microphone to study abroad professionals based in the Global South. Their experiences and scholarship offer a rich, nuanced, and very current perspective on the challenges colonial attitudes and behaviors present to the field of education abroad and it’s future.

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education: Part 1 2022 Issue

This is the official journal of the Comparative and International Education Society’s (CIES) Higher Education Special Interest Group (HESIG), which was created in 2008. HESIG serves as a networking hub for promoting scholarship opportunities, critical dialogue, and linking professionals and academics to the international aspects of higher education. Accordingly, HESIG will serve as a professional forum supporting development, analysis, and dissemination of theory-, policy-, and practice-related issues that influence higher education.

International Higher Education: Summer 2022 Issue

The Boston College Center for
International Higher Education
brings an international consciousness
to the analysis of higher education. We believe that an international perspective will contribute to enlightened policy and practice. To serve this goal, the Center
publishes the International Higher Education quarterly publication, a book series, and other publications; sponsors conferences; and welcomes visiting scholars. Opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center for International Higher Education. The Center is closely related to the graduate program in higher education at the
Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College. The Center offers an M.A. and a Certificate of International Higher Education.

University Teaching in Global Times: Perspectives of Italian University Faculty on Teaching International Graduate Students

Recently, many Italian universities began offering graduate courses or entire programs in English to attract international students, assist domestic students with English language proficiency, and internationalize the learning experience for all. This research investigated Italian faculty’s perspectives on their experiences of teaching international graduate students. The article begins with an overview of European university internationalization and then reviews the literature on faculty perspectives on teaching international students and instructional professional development for internationalization of teaching and learning. Findings include participant demographics and faculty perspectives on teaching international graduate students as compared with domestic students, their current and desired ways of learning how to teach international students, and their recommendations for faculty teaching in international programs/courses with English as the language of instruction. Implications for instructional professional development, communities of instructional practice, and further research are offered.

Exploring the Educational Impact of Academic Field Trips Over Time

Experiential learning can be in the form of internships, field trips, service learning, and research projects. The practical nature of criminal justice is a logical fit for experience-based learning. Specifically, academic field trips may be viewed as examples of short-term experiential education. However, do experiential learning trips have an academic impact over time? Using survey data, the current study examines if students acquire and retain knowledge after a prison tour of Eastern State Penitentiary. Pre- and post-tour surveys of student learning outcomes showed a statistically significant gain between the pre- and post-tour survey results. A follow-up survey explored if students retained academic information from the trip over time. While analyses indicate students lost some of the knowledge gained about the penitentiary system, students’ scores continued to demonstrate a statistically significant gain between the pre- and follow-up surveys. Suggestions are made to enhance the impact of experiential learning, specifically related to social justice issues, on student knowledge.

Shaping a Humane World Through Global Higher Education: Pre-Challenges and Post-Opportunities During a Pandemic

In this book, each author reflects on events since the conference that occurred during the writing of this book and shares their vision of what still needs to be addressed to advance issues of higher education leadership, training, student development, disability education, and relevant programming in countries around the world. Within these discussions are targeted discussions on how to address some of the critical issues of our time, including a focus on access, diversity, and inclusion as elements intended to frame a just and fair Humane World. The authors represent five countries: Australia, Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal, and the United States. Their voices represent issues important in both the Global North and the Global South and what in particular is needed to design essential policies and training required to achieve success.

Ideal immigrants in name only? Shifting constructions and divergent discourses on the international student-immigration policy nexus in Australia, Canada, and Germany

The proposition that international students are not only sojourners but future immigrants has become well established in public policy. While education and immigration policy have become more intertwined, they continue to be analysed as separate spheres of influence. This paper compares Australia, Canada, and Germany, which between them host nearly 20% of all globally mobile students and where a nexus between international student and immigration policy has emerged. Using critical discourse analysis, a comparative case study design and based on a systematic literature review of over 300 studies published from 1990 to 2018, the findings revealed three ostensibly paradoxical discourses, which are discussed using the new term ‘discursive pairings’. First, international students are selected for success but remain vulnerable to policy shifts that may exclude them and cause them to ‘fail’. Second, international students are retained to fill economic shortages, but face difficulties being accepted on the labour market. Third, international students help build national reputation yet have been known to be exploited and subject to discrimination. The contradictions that emerge in the discourses bring into question the ‘ideal immigrant’ framing of international students, demonstrating that their role, acceptance, and ability to integrate into host countries is far from assured.

The Guide to COIL Virtual Exchange

Implementing, Growing, and Sustaining Collaborative Online International Learning
Edited by Jon Rubin and Sarah Guth
Contributions by Stephanie Doscher and Carrie Prior
Foreword by Hans de Wit

CAPA Online Publication Issue 1: New Pedagogies, New Spaces: Occupying Virtual Reality

CAPA is pleased to launch a new online journal that is intended to create a space for reflection, discussion, and the exchange of perspectives in a relatively informal format. We hope to replicate, however imperfectly, the kinds of face-to-face exchanges we have missed in recent months. This first issue focuses inevitably upon the impact of the pandemic upon our community, and the implications of working in virtual reality: the new space we have occupied over the last months.

International Higher Education Research: State of the Field

This white paper evaluates the state of international higher education research. It examines historical landmarks in the field and key challenges, frameworks, and trends in present day and future international higher education research.

NAFSA’s Guide to International Partnerships: Developing Sustainable Academic Collaborations

Increasing in importance over the past decade, institutional partnerships serve as both an internationalization tool and a function of the global higher education landscape. NAFSA’s Guide to International Partnerships: Developing Sustainable Academic Collaborations delves into the parameters of international partnerships, identifying sound practices for the cultivation of partnerships that foster deep, sustainable connections internationally. Reflecting the perspectives […]

Journal of International Students – Free Download

Vol 10 No 2 (2020): 10th Anniversary Series We invite you to explore the second issue of our 10th anniversary series! Issue 10.2 continues the journal’s yearlong celebration with special 10th Anniversary Essays from influential voices in the field like Karin Fisher and Rahul Choudaha who highlight the need for research in the face of the current pandemic, the affordability crisis […]