Voices of the “recruited”– Including
international students’ perspectives in
designing university curriculum

Mai Anh Doan
UFV
March 14, 2019

Outline

• The context
• Some key theoretical issues
• The project

• Canada growing as one of the most popular
destination for post-secondary studies (CIES,
2014)
• Different priorities in federal and institutional
discourses; and differences in the flow
• Scarce research
• Internationalization of higher education in
Canada
• International students (Guo and Chase,
2011)
• Personal interest

The context

Theoretical framework

Internationalization
at home

Internationalization
of the curriculum

Theoretical framework (2)
Curriculum is the external manifestation of an underlying conceptual
system about (a) nature and structure of the subject-matter that is
being taught, (b) students’ conceptions (sometimes pre-conceptions or
misconceptions) of the subject-matter, and (c) a mechanism of
cognitive change, i.e., learning and development (Strauss, 2000, p. 30).

Curriculum analysis

The stated

The enacted

The
experienced
(McCormick and Murphy, 2000)

Some issues
• Internationalizing the curriculum is instructorcentred e.g. Bond (2006, 2011), Leask (2015),
but…
• International students often face pedagogical
and curricular adjustment difficulties due to
teaching methods, styles, and expectations
• International students often don’t relate to
content of the curriculum and are concerned
that instructors aren’t interested in their prior
knowledge

The research project (1)
• Purpose: To seek international students’ input into the process of
internationalizing the curriculum
• Literature review
• Research question: How are UFV’s international students
experiencing the internationalization of the curriculum?

The research
project (2)

• Research methodology:
• Sense-making methodology by Dervin and
Foreman-Wernet
• Focus group and journaling
• 20 international students in three groups
• Discussion topics:
• Built on prior knowledge (pre-conception,
misconception)
• Built on prior learning style
• Opportunity to reflect
• Classroom environment
• Link between individual learning and
institutional learning outcomes

References
• Beelen, J., & Jones, E. (2015). Redefining internationalization at home. In The European higher education area (pp. 59-72).
Springer, Cham.
• Guo, S., & Chase, M. (2011). Internationalisation of higher education: Integrating international students into Canadian academic
environment. Teaching in Higher Education, 16(3), 305-318.

• Knight, J. (2004). Internationalization remodeled: Definition, approaches, and rationales. Journal of Studies in International
Education, 8(1), 5–31
• Leask, B. (2009). Using formal and informal curricula to improve interactions between home and international students. Journal of
Studies in International Education, 13(2), 205–221
• Mestenhauser, J. A. (2011). Reflections on the past, present, and future of internationalizing higher education: Discovering
opportunities to meet the challenges. Global Programs and Strategy Alliance at the University of Minnesota.
• McCormick, R., & Murphy, P. (2000). Curriculum: The case for a focus on learning. In M. Ben-Peretz, S. Brown, & B. Moon (Eds.),
Routledge international companion to education (pp. 204-234). London and New York:Routledge Press.
• Shubert, A., Jones, G., Triloketar, R. D. (2009). Introduction, in Canada’s universities go global
• Strauss, S. (2000). Theories of cognitive development and learning and their implications for curriculum development and
teaching. In B. Moon, S. Brown, & M. Ben-Peretz (Eds.), Routledge international companion to education (pp. 28-50). London and
New York: Routledge.

Thank you!