Chapter Overview
This chapter contains two major sections. Section I provides a conclusion of the thesis by highlighting the areas that are favorable and areas of concern so that the necessary measures can be taken by the organizations that are involved in international higher education in Taiwan. Section II provides recommendations to scholarship institutions, educational institutions, international students, and the MOE of Taiwan that may assist in making students’ satisfaction and subsequently their academic lives better.
Lastly there is a recommendation for future research in Taiwan on this topic.
Conclusions
Generally, the international scholarship students who take courses in English and who have spent at least a year or more in Taiwan are satisfied. When looking at the issues that cause dissatisfaction, there is none that cannot be addressed easily and that does not require time. Those that cause satisfaction just needs to be encouraged and increased.
This is encouraging when taking into consideration that foreign students have to adjust socially and culturally to a different academic system. However, when their satisfaction level is looked at as a determinant of their academic success, the results show that international students face similar issues in Taiwan when compared to those studied in other countries. These issues can lead to academic difficulties if not addressed. More favorable to Taiwan and the affiliated organizations is that students’ academic performance is not affected too greatly and only a couple factors may cause decrease in the GPA. In the research the focus is not on individual variables; instead, it is important to study the relationship or interaction of these variables designated to be important, because in reality the variables do not exist or exert their influence independently.
The students want more openness and class interaction, more recognition for their academic contribution to each other and host nationals, more intercultural activities and a better diet. However, they do not wish to assimilate Taiwan’s culture or partake too much in activities that will take away from their studies; the participation is moderate but not enough to assimilate. Lastly, from the results it is inferred that students do not want to rely too much on teachers and their instructions; they prefer to be more independent and learn through exploration.
Unlike research findings in other countries, there is no indication of gender or age determining student’s performance. There is concern for those regions that are having lower performance than others. All scholarship students are performing at similar levels but there is great difference between graduates and undergraduates. This calls for greater attention to investigate the low performance of undergraduates.
The comments gathered deal with language and communication, loneliness, appreciation, accommodation and financing, and most importantly the school systems.
The academic problem is the difference in class curriculum and the teaching methods of the professors. The education system varies across different countries, where the structure of the class and teaching methods shapes and thus distinguishes an individual’s thinking processes. The responses also indicate that a principal concern of the students is the major cultural difference. International students not only have to adjust to a whole new environment, they also have to become accustomed to a completely different culture. The students are quite satisfied with Taiwan’s environment and many appreciate their scholarship and the opportunity to come to Taiwan to study. The technological advancement in Taiwan and in Taiwan’s education institutions contribute greatly to their success.
In conclusion, the international student in Taiwan is not merely faced with cultural and environmental diversities, but also academic dissimilarities. As an international student himself, the researcher too had to learn how to live in a society with totally different ideologies, religions, and customs. But I was overzealous to succeed. I had to adjust to the academic requirements of my university. It was not an easy task;
however, this experience allowed my self-awareness to emerge and my self-reflection to develop. I was rendered with the opportunity to concurrently review, analyze, challenge,
87 and develop my skills, my knowledge, my abilities, my maturity, and my common sense in order to succeed academically. I believe that most if not all international students have the same ethic I have. Therefore, there is no issue too great that the parties concerned cannot address and make situations in Taiwan better; Taiwan does not want reach high negative levels of dissatisfied international students like other countries. In fact, this study is part of an effort to understand how student satisfaction and student demographics impact on their academic life. The results of this study are encouraging as they lay the ground work for future research. The recommendations below should assist.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Ministry of Education in Taiwan
While attracting foreign students as a means to encourage social friendship between Taiwan and other nations and to educate foreign students will develop Taiwan’s international goals and competitiveness, the MOE of Taiwan needs to ensure that the policies and procedures in place will help foreign students to cope. Maybe they can develop a Policies and Procedures Handbook for international students that institutions should follow.
The MOE cannot just recruit a mass of international students without arranging and implementing the necessary resources to accommodate these students. There need to be programs and services in the universities that will induce the students learning and interactive experiences to a positive degree with the ultimate goal of academic success. Such programs can be two weeks to a month of cultural workshops that will provide students with the culture of Taiwan. Such workshops could include field trips. They may also be programs to highlight to international students the expectation of them while they are in Taiwan.
The MOE of Taiwan should assess how institutions internationalize programs and how they deal with international students. This can be done through annual or bi-annual surveys of the institutions’ systems in making the internationals students sojourn more conducive to learning. By attending to the needs of international students and building on their strengths, the institutions and the MOE will be improving experiences for all students and enhancing the process of internationalization.
Since some students question the ability of professors and their grading systems, MOE needs to delve deeper into the matter. To increase the accountability of teachers, the MOE needs to establish a teaching evaluation system for better teaching quality that will raise their level since that quality will influence the students’ learning attitude and ability.
Recommendations for scholarship organizations
While the scholarship organizations do not have control over the institutions operations, they are responsible for the international students and thus should: ensure that universities facilitate smooth and successful transitions of the students; check that housing arrangements (dorms) are conducive to learning and satisfactory for easy adjustment; form a liaison with universities on students academic life and such on a regular basis; assist the
89 schools in formulating programs and/or workshops that will help their transition to Taiwan more easily.
Likewise, the scholarship programs could increase efforts with educational institutions to develop campus-based employment opportunities for international students and provide for more of their needs especially when it comes to research even if students must go home to conduct their research. Maybe this can be done as a merit or incentive whereby the best performing international student would get this privilege. Finally the scholarship organizations could become an integral part of the circle of separate but complimentary parties’ – department heads, professors, international affairs office etc – roles in facilitating the transition of international students physically, emotionally, psychologically and most importantly, academically. Thus a committee can be formed which includes a member of the mentioned sections and a student representative that can meet monthly and discuss and implement ways to make better the foreign students’
academic lives.
Recommendations for education institutions
International students need more encouragement to participate in extra-curricular academic and social activities. They need to be taught to use student services. Service areas also need to have personnel that can speak English. More department and faculty orientations should be designed specifically for international students especially for newcomers and should include information about services available on campus and explanation of benefits of using them. Of special interest is that there need to be more student services provided in English. Any documentation given on bulletin boards etc on Campus and in the dorms need to have English versions as well. Library and other department handouts need to be in English as well.
The universities should facilitate the sharing of cultures on campus: there should be more opportunities for participation in class discussions; there should be more efforts to attend to the needs of people from different cultures; and there needs to be more integration of international materials and perspectives in the curriculum.
Given that the international student may not be familiar with Taiwan’s education methodologies, institution should encourage teachers to use a style that will bridge
learning and not be a barrier. Students have complained about teacher’s competencies and grading systems and examination techniques. Seeing that students are more open to discussions, presentations and the like teachers methodologies can adapt to suit these needs. Local students likewise have to be kept in mind so the onus on professors is to employ methodologies that will suit different learning styles. This is an element for maximum student participation and success.
While it is necessary for teachers to keep abreast with information and develop their potential, they should be very cautious that students do not become too dependent.
Methodologies should be in place to promote students learning development. Teacher’s competence will not come to be questioned if at higher levels professors are required to have some kind of teacher training and not just hired to teach because of having a PhD.
Recommendations for international students
Try as best as possible to grapple with the linguistic and socio-cultural differences between Taiwan and your home country. It does not mean you assimilate Taiwan’s culture and forget your own. In fact it means finding a balance between the two; while you get to learn and adapt to Taiwan, you still keep your own culture and practice. It will make dealing with daily demands in order to survive in this new environment easier. This will develop your independence, courage, confidence and perseverance all in the effort to make your academic lives more successful and fulfilling. This is for all students regardless of age, gender or nationality; undergraduate and graduate students may share the same personal outcomes.
There will be trial times but the idea you need to embed in your mind is that you are here to achieve academic excellence. That ultimate goal will maintain your courage and motivation. One way to do this is to create social circles where you can assist each other in times of needs. Also you are given a great opportunity to experience a whole new culture and system of education, so the more you learn about other cultures and systems of life, the more you come to appreciate your own.
91 Recommendations for further research
First, the institutions and other interested parties who share responsibility for monitoring the quality of student life should determine the extent to which the international student experiences on their campus are similar to, or differ from, these findings. Different mixture of students, different curricular requirements and methodologies, and different campus cultures and activities would produce varying patterns of engagement that may add or deviate from the results of this study.
Despite the many researches on international students, there is very little research on the impact of international students on domestic students, the community, the teachers and the educational process in their move towards internationalization of education. As a result if researchers interested in pursuing an even stronger understanding of international students’ studying in Taiwan may want to investigate the role of local classmates, teachers, and the community. The following list specifies the type of research.
1. Research with host national students investigating their attitude, perceptions and interactions with international students.
2. Research with the community gathering their attitudes, perception and interactions of international students.
3. Research with teachers that will establish the extent of change (if any) that has occurred in the educational process and content.
4. Research on the effects of communication and language barrier to the performance of international students. This can be done by individual countries.
5. Research on the effects of Taiwan’s culture (norms, rules, regulations) on international students.
6. Research on international students by countries. That is because international students are not homogeneous. They only have common experience of change when coming to Taiwan and the need to try to fit in to complete their academic goal.
7. Research on the learning experience of the students by country. Each country’s grading criteria and requirement differs. The research may compare their academic performance from host country to their performance in Taiwan.
8. Coupled to this a research can also be done on time series whereby the students’
academic performance may be compared through long term and short term orientations like Hofstede’s fifth dimension.
Finally the researcher recommends that this research be extended to all higher education international students since this research focuses primarily on scholarship students who take classes in English.
93
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