The Lived Experience of International Students Taking Online Degree Courses in a U.K. University

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: International Student Adaptation and Cross-Cultural Identity (Table 12)

Abstract

This study explores the one-year long experiences of international students studying online at postgraduate taught level (master’s) at a UK university through the lens of students’ learning environments. In doing so, I use the revised Ecological Systems Theory that integrates both virtual-physical and home-host dimensions into the traditional Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory as the key theoretical framework to analysed the longitudinal stories from four participants who took the course in different countries. It was found that the participants’ learning were impacted by both environments created by the university and the existing environments that they live in, and the interplay of the virtual-physical and home-host environments was clearly demonstrated. Suggestions on how universities can improve their online provisions are proposed.

Author

• Daian Huang, University of Manchester