Education Commons^™

Levels Of Development Among Saudi Arabian Students Studying At An American University, Drew Boatman

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand Saudi students’ level of epistemological development and the extent to which intellectual development was connected with factors of academic success. The Measure of Epistemological Reflection was used to allow seven students to expound on their view of the roles instructors, peers and others play in the pursuit of knowledge and the truth. Using William Perry’s intellectual and ethical development theoretical framework, students were assigned to domains of development and their written answers were used to create holistic narrative pictures representative of how they individually view truth and knowledge. The researcher finds connections …

International Students’ Transition Experiences In Rural Texas: A Phenomenological Study, Ian Lertora, Richard C. Henriksen Jr., Jesse Starkey, Chi-Sing Li

The Qualitative Report

Due to the growth in the number of international students attending universities in Texas and the need to provide appropriate counseling services to them, nine international students were interviewed about their experiences of transitioning from their home country to college in rural Texas. The authors employed the transcendental phenomenological approach to qualitative research (Moustakas, 1994) which allowed for the following seven emergent themes were identified that described the participants’ experiences: American TV; Knowing Someone; Like a Movie; Everybody Saying Hi; Transportation is Inconvenient; I Miss Noodles; and Being Optimistic. The emergent themes provided the basis for implications and recommendations for …

From The Middle East To The Midwest: The Transition Experiences Of Saudi Female International Students At A Midwest University Campus, Alia K. Arafeh

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the essence of the transition experiences of 10 female international students when they made the decision to study and live in the U.S. through their third semester in college. The main research question that framed this study was: How do Saudi female international students navigate their transitional experiences to study and live during their first two academic years in an urban Midwest university?

Most research about international students does not account for their national, religious, cultural, and linguistic differences. Much of this previous research focuses on the students’ academic challenges and language barriers and non-academic challenges such …

Factors That Predict Persistence For Non-Immigrant, International Students At A Private, Four-Year University In Georgia, Shawn Adams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore factors that predict the persistence of international, non-immigrant students in higher education. A sample of international students from a four-year private university in Georgia served as the focused population for this study. Persistence research asserts that six factors predict persistence: academic integration, social integration, support services satisfaction, degree commitment, institutional commitment, and academic conscientiousness. These six predictor variables were measured via the College Persistence Questionnaire (CPQ). However, cultural intelligence (CQ) is another predictive factor that merited consideration for the unique population of international students. The Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS) quantifies CQ and …

Myth Or Reality: Catholic Inclusivity To Students From Other Religions, Nasser Razek

Nasser Razek

This qualitative study explored the multifaceted issue of cultural and religious challenges for an international Muslim group at a Catholic research institution. Measures employed by the university community to assert the friendliness of campus to students from other religions and student perceptions of the effectiveness of these measures are surveyed to reveal the inclusion of students from several religious affiliations, especially Muslim students. The study was based on in-depth interviews with Muslim students.

Data analysis revealed constructs that are pivotal to the case including consistency in affirming the Catholic identity of the university; intentionally avoiding the usage of solely Christian …

A Longitudinal Study Of Middle Eastern Women’S Experiences Studying Engineering Abroad: Emerging Results, Shannon Chance, Bill Williams, Allison Wagner

Conference papers

What is it like to study engineering in Ireland when you are female and you come from somewhere far away, in the Middle East, which has different social customs and norms? What is the lived experience? What aspects of the experience are common to all Middle Eastern women enrolled in your course? As education researchers, we aim to understand the essence of the experience such women have had studying engineering Ireland; we focus on what life has been like for them and what unique challenges they have faced that may be invisible to us as instructors. In this work-in-progress, a …

Experiences Of Students From The African Diaspora At Predominantly White Institutions (Pwi)., Sarah M. Ray

Adult Education Research Conference

Experiences of profiling, racism and discrimination are a part of life for many students in America. Perceptions of non-white, African International students about African American students is influenced by stereotypes and inadequate historical context of Black American experiences. This qualitative study addresses Black students from various parts of the African diaspora's experiences of racism, and perceptions of race/ethnic-based biases during their educational experiences in a predominantly white institution (PWI), through semi-structured interviews.

Cultural, Linguistic, Curricular And Financial Stories Of Andrews University International Undergraduate Students And Their Experiences Of Coping During The Academic Year 2014-2015: A Narrative Study, Renaude Etienne Saint-Phard

Dissertations

Problem

The internationalization trends indicate that global growth of international students moving from one country to another is predicted to exceed 7.2 billion in 2025 (IIE, 2011)). This crossing of borders inevitably evokes that international students confront multifaceted challenges in their host country. Although many facets of research have addressed their multilayered challenges, most of these studies do not give a voice to international undergraduate students nor do they seek to understand their cultural, linguistic, curricular, and financial narratives. Most importantly, these studies do not explore how international undergraduate students cope with their challenges. It is essential to understand how …