Navigating “Studying Abroad” Remotely: International School Graduates’ Transition to Higher Education During the Pandemic

• In Event: Advancing Cultural Responsiveness: Moving Beyond Push-Pull Factors

Proposal

Research Purposes: The purpose of this study is threefold. The primary purpose is to explore and describe the college experiences of the international school graduates who are “studying abroad remotely.” The study participants are academically high-achieving, linguistically and culturally prepared, and financially secure. In other words, they are the “best cases” for investigating the process and impact on issues relating to studying abroad. The second purpose is to apply the transition model and examine their experiences, so this study aims to add knowledge to the understudied population of international school graduates in higher education. Thirdly, as the global pandemic continues with new variants emerging, this study responds with empirical examination on differentiated student experiences in transnational higher education. It hopes to provide educational researchers and practitioners with evidence and direction on supporting students who are and will continue to “study aboard remotely.”

Research Questions:
1) What are the experiences of international school graduates in receiving remote college education during the global pandemic when they cannot move across borders?
2) What challenges exist in this process, and what strategies do they adopt to cope with unexpected situations?

Research Background: Limited research has focused on the students who graduated from international schools and their transition into college, although they are a growing population seeking international degrees, as over 12,000 international schools teach more than 6 million students in 2021 (ISC research, 2021). A majority of these students continue into higher education pursuits outside their high school or home countries. College success is strongly correlated with pre-college academic preparation and achievement (Kuh et al. 2016), which suggests the case of international school graduates, who grow up in linguistically and culturally diverse environments, might differ from other college international students new to another country. Many previous studies point out the link between English proficiency and cultural familiarity would influence international students’ experiences (Gümüş et al., 2020; Jing et al., 2020). Although the literature is rich on international student experiences in higher education, there remains room for research to determine whether students who attended English-medium international schools in Asia would encounter similar linguistic challenges levels in anglophone colleges.

Theoretical Framework: This study applies the person-environment theoretical framework in college student development and Schlossberg’s theory of transitions (Bronfenbrenner, 1993; Goodman et al., 2006; Schlossberg, 1981). The transition model consists of three process stages: “moving in,” where the individual trying to figure out the new environment, “moving through” as the individual adjust to the new environment, and “moving out” as the individual leaves the environment (Anderson et al., 2016). Going to college was a voluntary anticipated event for these first-year college students, and the context of students' backgrounds and global pandemic would affect their reactions, which impact their daily lives in many ways.

Method: This research project began in February 2021 and concluded in September 2021. The research population is students who graduated from international high schools in summer 2020 and then finished their first year in college by summer 2021. As the literature suggests that their experiences differ from domestic students, the participants are screened to fulfill two criteria: 1) attended college in a country different from their home country or high school country, and 2) received some classes in a hybrid or online format. This research project was designed to be a mixed-method study to understand international school graduates’ first college year experiences during the global pandemic. After passing the ethical protocols set by the institutional research board, an explanatory sequential design began with a cross-sectional survey and then phenomenological interviews to explain the results (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).

Data and Analysis: Ten student interviewees and 48 survey responses from 5 international schools located in Asia are sampled and studied. All the interviewees were “studying abroad” in countries different from their high school locations. Survey data were imported and analyzed in SPSS. Interview data were coded and analyzed using an ethnographic approach involving three rounds of coding in NVivo.

Finding: In summary, this study provides a snapshot of the students who have graduated from international high school and spent their first year of college during the pandemic in remote learning mode. If measuring college student success by GPA, grades, and completion, all participants would be viewed as having a year of academic success. However, although students reported overall satisfaction with the grades, their college experiences were not directly comparable.

The results suggest that while all the students attend college with online learning components, their physical locations resulted in vastly different first-year satisfaction and experiences. Although all students were unsatisfied with online learning, studying in different time zones was particularly detrimental to students’ mental and physical health. Correspondingly, students devised various strategies for coping with “studying abroad remotely.” Maintaining a strict routine, engaging with normal society, and locating peers through social media platforms are the most effective ways to support their transitions.

Implications:

These student experiences aligned with previous findings that social media in education could positively contribute to students' overall educational experiences, such as accommodating student learning needs informal and informal learning contexts (Manca, 2020). Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Snapchat (photo-messaging services), Instagram (image-sharing services), YouTube have gained overwhelming popularity amongst college students (Neier & Zayer, 2015; Shane-Simpson et al., 2018). In light of the current situation, it is beneficial to utilize social media platforms to reach out to students and facilitate students to find their peers. Tagging individual students via institutional Instagram posts with university and cohort-related hashtags proved to be one method that students prefer and frequently use.

Even with prior academic success, students had different exceptions for what a college education entails of them and how to manage time once there was no coordinated high school schedule. Cultivating skills such as time and routine management would be useful before setting out to university. This point is important to stress at both high school and university levels. Inviting alum back to share the experience with the network communities would be another option to keep current students informed of what to expect.

Author

• Lizhou Wang, Center for International Higher Education at Boston College