Question:
Discuss about the Data and Information Research Proposal.
The research report is developed to discuss the various types of data and information that have been collected and analysed based on the proposal of the research. According to the research questions and responses provided, the report will be created for focusing on the needs and preferences of the international students. This will also prioritize on their opinions and responses to the issues or challenges faced while coming to another country to pursue higher education. A particular sample size is chosen, and the survey questionnaires have been provided to them for obtaining relevant answers to the questions in the form of quantitative data and proper qualitative data. It will help in assessing the major issues and challenges that have been experienced while traveling to Australia for studying and the views and opinions of the students regarding the international education and its impact (Altbach 2015). There will also be responses of the students related to the ways by which CDU can assist the students to overcome these challenges with ease and effectiveness.
The qualitative analysis is done to assess and review the various questions that have been asked to the students who visited Australia to pursue higher education. The questions were asked regarding the major challenges that had been faced by these students who arrived in Australia to study. They also provided their varied opinions and feedbacks regarding the difference between the academic style and difficulty levels within the Australian Universities. The things that they liked and disliked about the international education in the form of academic and personal opinions should be illustrated here as well. The ways by which CDU could help in overcoming these challenges were included here as well (Bernard and Bernard 2012). Based on the data and information collected from the research survey questions and the proposal, the major challenges faced by the students while traveling to Australia had been language barriers, academic and personal choices difference, climatic conditions change along with time zone differences, cultural barriers, and even financial challenges or issues. The purpose of traveling to another country for the students was to pursue higher education facilities and learn better values, beliefs, and culture to gain better job scopes and opportunities, furthermore become successful in their professional career (Brannen 2017).
The major questions that were asked to the respondents had been illustrated below:
Based on these questions, the answers were provided by the people who had been selected as samples while managing the research proposal.
When asked to the first respondent about the challenges that were faced, the individual stated that management of time had been a major issue and even issues while doing a particular assignment was quite different from what was done earlier. The person also stated that there was an absence of lecturers and assignments, which hindered the progress in higher studies within the Australian Universities (Bryman and Bell 2015). The responses of the student regarding the international educational facilities provided were quite positive because he believed that the workload, i.e., the study pressure was less and exam schedules were convenient as well. The negativities though were showed regarding the high living expenses and excessive numbers of assignments provided. According to the student, CDU could overcome these kinds of challenges by making online quiz available and increase the frequency of exams, though reducing the quantity of assignments provided to them (Collis and Hussey 2013).
The same questions were asked to another student who told that the education system of Australia, being different from that of the home country had created certain issues, and English was present as the 3rd language. The cultural differences and staying away from home also made the student depressed, which was also considered as a major challenge. Based on the responses of the student, the differences between academic style and difficulty level included the ways by which lecturers taught, facilities provided and the complexity of the assignments, which were much easier for them when they studied in their home country (Davies and Hughes 2014). The positives, according to the student were embracing a different culture helped them to now people from different backgrounds and develop a good networking base as well. The disadvantages were the high cost of education and lack of extra curriculum activities. The CDU could overcome these challenges by organizing more extra curriculum activities and decrease the cost of education faculties provided to the international students (Doiz, Lasagabaster and Sierra 2012).
The third student responded differently by pointing out the lost passport as a major challenge while it was the response of students who believed that the academic styles of teaching were quite different than that of the Dutch Universities. Based on the qualitative responses, it could be understood that the student had learned new values through the management of good cultural aspects while the disadvantages of the international education, according to the student, was difficult to work as a team due to the existence of people from different cultures. According to the student’s response, CDU could enable the individuals within the University to speak in English, rather than speaking in their mother tongue (Eriksson and Kovalainen 2015).
Based on the responses provided by the 4th respondent, it could be analysed that the experiences were not satisfactory and this happened because of the numerous challenges that were faced. Few of the potential differences between the complexity level and academic teaching style were pressure due to study load including huge amounts of tasks and practical assignments. Based on the response of the student, the difficulty level was same like it was for the Dutch Universities though quality seemed to be different. One positive thing about the international education was the ability to meet people from various cultural backgrounds and working in coordination, through exchange of knowledge and ideas. The areas that lacked certain strengths were the lack of skills among the faculties and lecturers, which created issues to make the tasks clear to the students (Folsom et al. 2012). To overcome these challenges, a dedicated educational workshop is different countries could be created, and requirements for managing a course must be clear and precise.
This was something unexpected, though the responses should be gathered as important data to conduct the research efficiently. According to the responses, it could be analysed that the styles of teaching and study were different from that of the Dutch Universities and teachers had played a major role in influencing the students to study. It has enabled to think critically, and thus the difficulty level was mediocre. The responses provided by the students were mainly positive regarding the international education because it had improved their ability to speak English more fluently, ensured better exposure and became socialized with people from different backgrounds (Hair 2015). As there were no such negative aspects related to the international education, so it could be interpreted that CDU had nothing to do regarding the overcoming of challenges faced.
From the research questions and answers collected during the survey, it could be understood that one student faced difficulty to maintain academics and could not manage time properly to get involved in social life and language also proved to be a major barrier. The differences in international standards and standards in Australia further created more difficulties. The positives of international education were traveling new places, making new friends and learn different cultures, new things while the things that had been disliked by the student include the high cost of study facilities, teaching styles were different, and education system could not fulfill the requirements of academics (Hussein 2015). The CDU could overcome these issues by creating an effective fee structure and make considerations for the international students to study and progress in the career with ease.
From the responses, it could be understood that management of time was difficult and the education system of Australia was different from the education system present in the home country of the student. The student though believed that it would be convenient once they would get into the right flow. The advanced technology and proper diversity of culture were the main things that were liked whereas few negative responses were provided regarding the lack of proper skills among the professors to teach them. The analysis and interpretation of data had helped to understand how CDU could provide training and developmental sessions to them to improve their knowledge, skills and expertise level (Lampard and Pole 2015).
According to the data presented in the form of responses, it is not valid and justified for 75 % as D, though 74.8 % can still be justified to a certain extent. It is a huge difference from that of the other Universities outside and the cultural difference has been a major challenge faced by the international student. One of the major positives that has been brought through international education could be the exploring of new horizons and gaining the ability to adopt new environment, furthermore becoming accustomed with the cultural diversity of Australia. Few of the students also provided negative responses in terms of the unnecessary study or teaching plan and no summer semester for the international students in case they fail in any subject (Luo and Jamieson-Drake 2013). The study plan would be difficult as well as challenging for both students and staff because of the consistent lecture arrangements.
Few other challenges faced by the international students were lack of time to complete the assignments, and many of them preferred English and few not because of belonging from a non-English speaking country. There were cultural differences along with the difference in climatic conditions and even not getting an Australian girlfriend was a major issue faced by the international students. The language barriers made it difficult for the students to find relevant jobs and practical assignments along with the plagiarism, where similarity was found though the students did not copy the same for the assignment (Mertens 2014). Regarding the differences in academic style and difficulty level, academic styles were different, classes were smaller, and the difficulty level was much less, which meant that students had found it easy to pass the exams. Though the academic style was different for the students who previously tried the Chinese, German and Dutch educational systems, still they believed that the course units had been quite easy for them in Australia. There are other courses such as piano, guitar, extra curriculum activities and quick time for project execution, which have been quite different for the international students (Morgan 2013).
Few things that the students think are beneficial to the international education have been gaining the ability to stay and study without remaining dependent upon their parents, learning new languages, semester-long holidays, ease of working on the units, easy ways of pursuing education, etc. With the benefits, there are few things that are not liked by the students as well including adopting some different culture, difficulty to take part in seminars, lack of ability of lecturers to teach the students, many difficult courses, and differences in language, ineffective study plan and no summer semester, which have created issues while adjusting the study plan (Myers 2013).
Based on analysis of data and information, it could be understood that to overcome these challenges, CDU must provide a lesser number of assignments to the students, reduce the fee structure to keep the academic difficulty level low and provide them with placement opportunities so that they could get a good job in the future. Seminars should be arranged for making the students interact with the professors and lecturers and even develop an app for supporting the education system with convenience and ease (Reiche et al. 2016).
The student aged between 18 to 20 were from India, Timor Leste, Netherlands, Hong Kong and they had been studying there for nearly five months and as such few had not decided about what career path should be chosen while few of them wanted to get a job in their own country. Few of the students believed that they wanted to continue their education in their own country while the responses of others showed that they could even manage their job in Australia where they would be studying for the next few years. Many of the students who have been studying for less than six months have lesser knowledge and information about whether the CDU has provided enough support to the international students or not, so they are not sure. They have also interacted with the students quite less, and thus the quality of education system and its services are also considered as satisfactory for them (Sekaran and Bougie 2016). To improve the services for international students, the living expenses should be reduced largely. Many students who have studied for one year believed that their focus is to get a job in Australia only and this can help them to pursue their education as well as work at the same time. Because they have been working for nearly a year, it is quite evident that they have become more socialized with the other students and due to this, they find the quality of services quite good and noteworthy along with the convenience of staying in Australia just after their arrival (Smith 2015). From the responses, it could be understood that the cultural differences should be overcome by CDU to meet the international students’ requirements as well as organize the various activities based on their demands and preferences. Many students believed that CDU had provided enough support and help to the international students and for them, the quality of services is far more than just better. One of the Indian student’s response was positive because he found that the studying tenure was enough to understand how well the facilities were provided and getting a job at India only would be favorable and convenient as well (Sreejesh, Mohapatra and Anusree 2014).
Based on the response of one of the Chinese student, it could be understood that getting a job in Australia would be easier and convenient because he or she had been studying at the same time and wished to get the job through placement and job opportunities. The student though remained neutral while providing an answer regarding the support made available for the international students by the CDU. According to the responses, the services’ quality has been satisfactory, and it has been easy for him to connect to a large group of audiences with ease. The students between 24 to 29 have provided responses, which showed that they plan to get a job in Australia only after the graduation would be completed (Venkatesh, Brown and Bala 2013). To improve the quality of services, it is important to reduce the fee structure of the international students, and few interactive sessions shall be arranged for the international students for improving their skills and abilities and make them get jobs through the development of skills, knowledge and expertise level. Based on the responses, it could be understood that the students who came from China and had experiences of studying for 1-2 years wished to continue education in Australia only. But, according to their responses, the CDU had not provided enough support to the international students, and thus the quality of services was termed as fair and just good (Wilson 2014). According to the views and opinions, The international students who were above 30 years of age and had been studying for less than six months provided multiple choices or options such as getting a job in own country or a job in Australia or even in other countries. Though the responses related to the support provided by CDU for the international students were negative or neutral, still the international students believed that becoming less independent would be important because much support was not expected. The quality of services was rated as satisfactory when compared to the quality of education system and services of the institutions where the international students used to study previously (Zikmund et al. 2013).
During the international student survey, it was analysed and interpreted that international students who had more than three years of studying experience had been expecting to get a job in their own country and thus the responses were quite positive regarding the support provided by CDU along with the quality of services delivered to the international students. Though it is not a good thing, still the students feel for the absence of a bar that may have been opened for few nights in a week (Altbach 2015). There were neutral responses as well because few of them did not know how and whether to continue the education after graduation or not. In respect of the views and opinions provided, it is quite clear that Brett Smith has supported the international students and the responses are positive for being able to fit in the country after arriving in Darwin. Few of them are exchange students, because of which, they cannot find any such differences in the quality of services for the full-time and long-term students (Brannen 2017). Most the data collected in the form of responses are positive, and it shows that the Australian system of education has been satisfactory and proper help and support has been provided to the international students with ease and efficiency. The majority of choices after the completion of graduation has been either getting a job in own country or Australia, though few of the responses are neutral, which means a decision has yet not been taken (Hair 2015).
Conclusion
The research report was developed to focus on the research proposal related to the emergence of issues or challenges for the international students while coming to another country, i.e., in Australia. From the proposal, the data was collected in the form of qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative data were collected by asking certain questions to the international students such as challenges that were faced, differences in academic style and difficulty level, things that were liked and disliked by the students and even the approaches undertaken by CDU to overcome the challenges with ease and effectiveness. The most important challenges faced were the improper management of time, lack of skills of lecturers and professors to make the students understand, different study style, high costs, etc. Based on the analysis, the things that were liked by the international students had been good cultural diversity, less pressure of study, semester-long holiday, gaining better scopes of learning English and Australian language and gain a secure place to get a good job in their home country or Australia. Most of the international students had socialized with the other students, and CU provided proper support as well. Therefore, these had been the data and information that was collected for analysis and interpretation and finally the report was prepared.
References
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