1. Working with international
students as co-researchers:
towards an inclusive education
community
Julie Wintrup and Kelly Wakefield
Research-Teaching Practice in Wales Conference
9th – 10th September 2013, Gregynog Hall, Newtown, University
of Wales

2. Overview
• Context of research
• Research questions
• Methodology / methods
• Response from students so far
• Hopes and plans
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3. Context of research
• International competition hotting up, UG seen as
growth area
• UK: seen as having ‘stringent immigration policies
…will divert students to US, Australia, Canada’
(WES, 2012) yet strategic goal of HEIs
• UoS: of 20 000+ students, one fifth international
• Project funding – from internal transition project,
small scale, university-wide
• Feedback – a strategic goal for improvement
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4. Forkert: Cash cows and job poachers?
• http://www.metamute.org/editorial/articles/cash-cowsand-job-poachers-non-eu-students-and-austerity-politics
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5. Video: Daniel Corradi Stevens, NUS
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6. Contributions from the literature
• Scudamore: students often remain in ‘in-country’ groups
• Scudamore: Language skills not thinking ability generally
assessed
• Preston-Shoot: Students’ words and perspectives usually
interpreted / expressed by others (academics)
• Numerous authors: the importance to students of a sense of
belonging
• Barnett: ‘ecological’ engagement and ‘feasible utopias’
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7. Personal experience
• National / professional frameworks inform curriculum
(often not abstracted or critiqued) esp. in vocational
subjects
• Gender issues may compound social isolation (eg student
societies) and influence study / work groups, relationships
• Religious beliefs / cultural norms often a no-go area
• Reticence to use support services, counselling, finance, GP
• Added vulnerability / visibility in student areas
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8. Research question/s
• What can we learn from international students about verbal
forms of feedback?
• Are there common issues or ideas for improvement across
Faculties / disciplines?
Methodologically:
• Is participatory-type research possible / practical given
students’ other commitments and priorities?
• Are we learning new or different things from student-coresearchers?
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9. Methodology
• A (limited) form
of participatory
/ action
research, with 1
PI (me) and 1
SRA (Kelly)
• With the aim of
improving
verbal feedback
practices
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10. Practicalities
• University ethics approval
• Volunteers sought by email
• Followed by workshops
• Interviews, by students and by SRA, using conversational
techniques + interview schedule, in pairs and small groups
• Some Skype interviews (remote campuses)
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11. Response so far
• 113 original enquiries regarding participating, 88
participants replied to secondary email
• 23 interviews so far (5 by Skype), 5 interviews
planned
• 38 Amazon vouchers given out
• 1st workshop in July, 26 attendees
• 2nd workshop planned later in September, 18
attendees (no requirement to attend workshops)
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12. Interviews to date
• Interviewees from all 8 Faculties, all PG (M or D)
• Attempt to match interviewees with those from other
Faculties and with an interviewer if requested to be an
interviewee (some students said they would be happy to do
both).
• Most interviews conducted reciprocally in 2s, some
interviews have been done in 3s by student choice.
• Either conversational or more traditional interview,
depending on their preferred style.
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13. Students from..
• China, Iraq, India, Pakistan, Malaysia,
USA, Germany, Netherlands,
Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mexico, Hong
Kong, Venezuela, Taiwan, Ghana,
Kenya, Ukraine, Turkey, Vietnam, Italy.
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14. Workshop 1: generating
the questions
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15. 15

16. References:
•
Barnett, R. (2013), THE, Head in the Clouds, Feet on the
Grouhttp://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/head-in-the-clouds-feet-on-theground/422221.article
•
Forkert, K. (2012) Mute (blog) Cash cows and job poachers? Non-EU students and
austerity policies http://www.metamute.org/editorial/articles/cash-cows-and-jobpoachers-non-eu-students-and-austerity-politics
•
WES (2012) Trends in International Student
Mobilityhttp://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/research-trends-internationalstudent-mobility-education-2012-en.pdf
•
Scudamore, R. (2013) Engaging home and international students: A guide for new
lecturers. HEA. Available at
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/RachelScudamoreFeb2013
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