Research Foreign Students

Research Skills

International students and their experiences

The Hague university of applied sciences
Research skills
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Executive summary

We started this research report in order to get a better understanding of how first year international students attending European studies experience their study at the HHS.

In order to get an overview of the students ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ we conducted several different parts of research.

We started of by doing desk research. From this desk research we obtained valuable information that we used in order to answer our sub questions.
We then proceeded by doing field research. We chose to use two different types of methods, them being a questionnaire and two interviews.

In the questionnaire we asked the respondents specific questions and gave them multiple choice answers to choose from.

In the interview we asked our respondents (the students) specific questions and gave them the opportunity to elaborate more on the subjects at hand.

In the results we have obtained the answers from the questions asked to our respondents and have made a summarized overview of them.

In the conclusion we elaborate on what the points for improvement are (obtained from the information in the results) and we answer our main research question and the sub questions that come with it.

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Methodology 6 Results 7 Field research 10 Desk research 10

Conclusion 11

Recommendations 13 Reference list 14 Appendixes

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Introduction

For the subject research skills where we supposed to do an research exercise. Our research is going about how foreign students experience their European studies at The Hague University. We have chosen this topic because we think that is a very interesting thing we are namely in contact with foreign students every day and even two of us three are foreigners but in another way. They live here for many years and are used to it but how do their companions experience it, and how big is the difference? So our main research question is: How do first years foreign students experience their European studies at The Hague University. I am sure that it will be hard to get an answer to it because the answer will depend by every single person. We have to do some desk research but definitely some more field research. That’s why we have decided to have interviews and make a questionnaire.

We have started with field research in the way of an interview we went to two foreign students and asked that what was necessary to get a clear answer to our main question, after we shared a questionnaire to many students and started to make an overview of the results.
We also did some desk research because we think that it will be always necessary to do some.
After all we have merged the information and made a conclusion of it.

Main research question:

• How do foreign first year students experience their European studies course at the HHS?

Sub Questions:

• How big is the cultural difference?

• How is the communication between the teachers and the students?

• Was studying at the HHS the students first choice?

• What does the HHS have to offer that the other institutes don’t?

• Are the students offered enough guidance by the University?

• Are the students offered enough guidance by the university?

• Does the course match their expectations?

• What would the student(s) like to see get improved?

• How do the students experience the overall workload of the course ?

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Methodology

Field/desk Research :

We have used for our research skills mixed methods. We worked most off al with field Research to get the best result, because having some interactive with the foreign students and their experience would give us the best overview.
That’s why we decided to make an interview and questionnaire. For the sub question we have used the method desk research. Multiple Internet sources were used, such as CBS.

Questionnaire:

Questionnaire this is made for International students first years. We came up with some questions what is related with the main question for our research skill.
So we can at all see what all students of certain subjects thinking.
As we proceed with a survey and various groups such as culture, different backgrounds, ages and so we immediately approached globally an overview. In an interview you assume an experience of a person.

Interview:

For this research, qualitative interview method was used to get deeper information of the foreign students.
We had to figure out which students we had to interview, so we did go to the person who is more in involved with the foreign students. That was miss de Louw but unfortunately she was not available in her room ( 4.85). Her other colleague who helped had given us the names of some students we could interview.

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Results
In order to have a better understanding of how (first year) international students experience their first year of European studies we set up an interview and a questionnaire.

In the questionnaire we asked the respondents specific questions and gave them multiple choice answers to choose from. All the questions were regarding the European studies course and the respondents personal experience of the course so far.
We dispersed this questionnaire among the number of 17 (international) students.

Here we will present the information and results which we obtained from these questionnaires.

1. How have you experienced European studies so far?

7 of the 17 respondents, 41 % answered; Excellent.
6 of the 17 respondents, 35% answered; Good.
4 of the 17 respondents, 24% answered; Poor.

2. How is the communication between teachers and students?

3 of the 17 respondents, 18% answered; Good
8 of the 17 respondents, 47% answered; Average
6 of the 17 respondents, 35% answered; Poor

3. Please rate European studies on the following attributes:

Course materials (books & readers)

9 of the 17 respondents answered; Good
8 of the 17 respondents answered; Average

Course programme (subjects)

6 of the 17 respondents answered; Excellent
9 of the 17 respondents answered; Good
2 of the 17 respondents answered; Average

The classes

2 of the 17 respondents answered; Excellent
10 of the 17 respondents answered; Good
5 of the 17 respondents answered; Average

Way of teaching

12 of the 17 respondents answered; Good
5 of the 17 respondents answered; Average

Personal guidance

9 of the 17 respondents answered; Average
8 of the 17 respondents answered; Poor

Integration with other students

1 of the 17 respondents answered; Excellent
4 of the 17 respondents answered; Good
7 of the 17 respondents answered; Average
5 of the 17 respondents answered; Poor

4. How satisfied are you with the following learning facilities:

The library

2 of the 17 respondents answered; Somewhat
10 of the 17 respondents answered; Neutral
4 of the 17 respondents answered; Somewhat dissatisfied
1 of the 17 respondents answered; Very dissatisfied

The computers

3 of the 17 respondents answered; Somewhat
6 of the 17 respondents answered; Neutral
1 of the 17 respondents answered; Somewhat dissatisfied
7 of the 17 respondents answered; Very dissatisfied

The student portal

4 of the 17 respondents answered; Neutral
10 of the 17 respondents answered; Somewhat dissatisfied
3 of the 17 respondents answered; Very dissatisfied

5. Did the course match your expectations?

9 of the 17 respondents, 53% answered; Very much
7 of the 17 respondents, 41% answered; Somewhat
1 of the 17 respondents, 6% answered; Not at all

6. How satisfied are you with the information (learning material) provided in the courses?

10 of the 17 respondents, 59% answered; Very satisfied
6 of the 17 respondents, 35 % answered; Somewhat satisfied
1 of the 17 respondents, 6% answered; Neutral

7. Was European studies your first choice?

15 of the 17 respondents, 88% answered; Yeas
2 of the 17 respondents, 12% answered; No

8. What played a big part in your enrolment into the European studies course?

11 of the 17 respondents, 61% answered; Multiple languages
6 of the 17 respondents, 33% answered; Political aspect
1 of the 17 respondents, 6% answered; Cultural aspect

For a more specific overview of the questionnaire, the multiple choice answers & the charts and graphs please consult the appendixes 2 and 3.

Along side the questionnaire we also conducted 2 interviews with 2 international students, who are both currently attending their first year of studies at European studies.
The interview that was conducted among the 2 international students was of a semi-structured nature. This means that the questions that were asked, were set up prior to the interview but the respondents were still left with enough room to elaborate on the topic in case they deemed this necessary.

The information & results obtained from the interviews are as followed:

Participant 1
Name: Melvin Matteo
Nationality: Guatemalan
Age: 23

He said the following:

He enjoys the HHS. He finds that there is a big difference between his native Guatemala and Holland. Guatemalans are more conservative, very religious, they show their feelings easier.
Dutch people are more direct, not so friendly and some not very polite.
Has not had bad financial experiences, receives financial support from his uncle.
Likes that before starting the study, he got to talk about his goals with the career supervisor, he liked the openness and advice.
He likes the Hague, he heard that the HHS is good university. The courses are not bad.
He has a complaint about the French course that it didn’t start from the basis, but rather with full sentences and he has never studied French before.

Participant 2
Name: Eugenia Ma
Nationality : Chinese
Age : 30

She said the following:

She decided to enrol to HHS because she lives nearby. She prefers to study by herself because that’s what she is used to back in China. She finds the teachers very friendly and does not feel a big distance between students and teachers. Here in Holland you can call a teacher by his or her name, in China you are not allowed to. She doesn’t need much guidance and she is enjoying her studies so far. The education at the HHS is good because of the reputation it has. The course materials are good, but some classes are very hard to understand because of the use of a lot of difficult English words such as the course Cultural dimensions.

For the more specific interview and the respondents answers please consult appendix(s) 1.

Desk Research

On CBS we found out that a lot of students came to Holland to study. Most of them are Germans
( 42 % ). Because studying is allot of cheaper. 10% are studying European studies.

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Conclusion

Research question:

How do international students experience their first year of the European studies course at the HHS?

The international students experience their first year of the European studies course at the HHS as positive and good. The majority part had also already met many of their expectations, which they set prior to their study.
There are however a lot of points on which they feel is a need for improvement.
These points are as followed; * the communication between students and teachers * the personal guidance provided by the teachers * the integration with the other domestic students * the offered learning facilities, especially the computers in the library * the student portal and it’s way of functioning

Sub Questions:

How big is the cultural difference?
There is quite a big cultural difference between the domestic and foreign students.
The differences are namely in the peoples nature (Melvin Matteo) and also in the sense of conducting oneself, such as being able to call teachers by their first name (Eugenia Ma).

How is the communication between the teachers and the students?
The communication between the teachers and the students is not that good. The students experienced it as average and sometimes even poor (47%).

Was studying at the HHS the students first choice?
Studying at the HHS was for the majority part (88%) of students their first choice.

What does the HHS have to offer that the other institutes don’t?
What the HHS has to offer above the other institutes is it’s reputation (Eugenia Ma).

Are the students offered enough guidance by the University?
The students are, according to themselves, not offered enough guidance by the university.
17 out of the 17 students experienced it as average and/or poor.

Does the course match their expectations?
For the majority part of the students (53%) the course did match their expectations

What would the student(s) like to see get improved?
The students would like to see the following points be improved: * the communication between students and teachers * the personal guidance provided by the teachers * the integration with the other domestic students * the offered learning facilities, especially the computers in the library * the student portal and it’s way of functioning

How do the students experience the overall workload of the course ?
The majority part of the students experience the overall workload of the course as doable.
But there are certain subject such as French that moves in a very fast pace, which makes it difficult to follow for someone that has never had French before (Melvin Matteo).
And some subject also use difficult English words which makes it difficult to understand and follow (Eugenia Ma).

The Majority part of the students experience their first year of studies at the European studies course as positive and good (when they were asked this question 41% answered, excellent and 35 % answered, good and only a minority of the students answered poor, which counted for 24 %).
They were however a lot of students who were disappointed about the communication between students and teachers. A staggering amount of students (47%) thought this was average, and 35% of the students would even go so far and call it poor. The communication between the teachers and students should therefore be given more attention so it can be optimised and improved.

The majority of the students (10 out of the 17) were also largely satisfied with the classes and the way of teaching. But there was also still a significant part (5 out of the 17) of the students that found the classes and the way of teaching rather average. There is therefore still room for improvement in this department.

A rather shocking discovery is the fact that the majority part (17 out of the 17) of students find the personal guidance provided by the teachers average and poor. This is an issue that needs a lot of improvement.
Also the majority part (17 out of the 17) of students experienced the integration with the other domestic students as average and poor. This is also once more, a point that needs much improvement, because the integration amongst students is one of the selling points of European studies.

The majority (14 out of 17 ) of the students is also apparently not al that satisfied with the offered learning facilities, especially the computers in the library. This is of course a crucial point for improvement because as a student it is very important to be able to have access to a functioning computer.
Another big majority (13 out of the 17) was also dissatisfied about the student portal and it’s way of functioning. This is, just as the previous point(s), very much so, still open for (crucial) improvement.

The Majority (53%) also got their previous made expectations matched about European studies so far.

When they were asked the question whether European studies was their first choice, the majority (88%) of the students answered yes. Also when asked, what played a big part in your enrolment into European studies?, the majority ( 61%) answered because of the large scale of different foreign languages offered & because of the political aspect (33%) of the course.
This is important information, because by knowing what attracts the students, the HHS can now put more emphasis on these certain aspects of the study. By doing this they can attract more students to enrol.

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Recommendations

Recommendation 1
Because the communication between the teachers and the students is deemed as average and insufficient by the majority part of the students (47%), this needs to be improved. Communication plays a crucial role within the student’s studies. We recommend this be improved by applying the following;

There should be a two time a week sit-down between the students and the teachers.
At these sit-downs the students will be able to ask questions, advice and be offered personal guidance by the teacher(s).
This should result into a better experience of communication between both sides.

Recommendation 2
The majority part of the students (14 out of 17) were not satisfied about the offered learning facilities by the HHS, with in particular, the computers in the library.
We recommend this be improved by applying the following;

There should be a larger amount of computers, these computers should be given a maximum time span of one hour per student. This would eliminate the long waiting periods for a computer and will provide each student with an equal amount of time to work on whatever it is they need to work on.

Another point for improvement is that many of the computers that are offered in the library are out of order for longer periods of time.
We recommend that the ICT department at the HHS develop a special team within their department that will be mainly in charge and responsible for making sure that these problems no longer occur and if they do, to fix them as soon as possible.

Recommendation 3
Also, 13 out of the 17 students said to be dissatisfied about the student portal and it’s way of functioning.
We recommend this be improved by applying the following;

There should be only one main page on which you only need to log in once in order to be able and access all the other pages. The interface should also be more simplified, this could be done by the implementation of different colours or by providing a short summarized pop-up manual per page.
These changes will make the student portal a lot more understandable and easier to use.

Recommendation 4
One of the more important and crucial points for improvement is that of the integration of international students and domestic students. The majority part of students (17 out of the 17) experienced the integration with the other domestic students as average and poor.
We recommend this be improved by applying the following;

The integration between the students should be promoted more by the HHS.
Throughout the year there should be several programs which will be deemed amendatory to participate in by the students. These programs will give students the chance to share experiences amongst one another and to work on their teambuilding.
Also, the implementation of several school road trips in the course program of one school year could improve the integration between the students. Travelling as a group to a country abroad will make the students bond more together and form a unity with each other.

Recommendation 5
When asked the question; what played a big part in your enrolment into European studies?
The majority ( 61%) answered because of the large scale of different foreign languages offered & because of the political aspect (33%).
Because of these obtained results we would recommend the HHS to emphasise more on these two aspects of the course. We feel that by doing so, that they would attract more students in enrolling into European studies.

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Reference list

http://www.duwo.nl/eCache/DEF/11/978.html

http://www.cbs.nl/nl-NL/menu/themas/onderwijs/publicaties/artikelen/archief/2010/2010-3022-wm.htm

http://www.cbs.nl/nl-NL/menu/themas/bevolking/publicaties/artikelen/archief/2012/2012-migratiekaart-art.htm

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Appendixes

Appendix 1

Interview
Questions:

1 First I would like to know why you have decided for the Hague university?
2 How big is the cultural difference between The Netherlands and your country and can you tell me how you experience that?
3 Do you struggle financially and how do you finance your study/stay here?
4 What do you think about the communication between you and the teachers, is you offered enough guidance? And does the course match your expectation so far?
5 What do you think about the course materials and the way it is presented to you?
5 Ok thank you I just want to one more thing what does the, The Hague University have to offer that the other institutes don’t ? I mean what makes them more appealing to you?

Name:Melvin Matteo, nationality: Guatemala, age: 23

I like the school and before I came to the HHS, I went to Inholland. I did study there HBO-Recht but I didn’t like the school and the city neither (Rotterdam) and my classmates weren’t so friendly.
There is a big difference between Guatemala and Holland. We are more conservatives, most of us are very religious, we are very friendly people, we can easily show our sadness and happiness. Dutch people are more direct, they are not so friendly and something in my opinion they not really polite.
I have work all the time and thanks God I didn’t have a bad experience about financial issues. My uncle help me too. What I really like is that before we started with the study at HHS, we had an appointment with our slb’er to talk about the matters, goals and what we really want to be in the future. He was really open and he did give us a lot advise about the issues we have discussed together. I like the building I feel a good atmosphere at HHS, I love the Hague but I have hear that this university a good one is, but what is good I mean quality of educations is the most important things for me. So far so good. The courses are not bad. I have just a complain about the French courses we haven’t started from the basis, we just stared with full sentences ( I didn’t have French in the past).

Eugenia Ma, nationality: China, age: 30

I haven’t decided to go to The Hague Universtiy for some special reasons it’s just because I am living to close to it. In china we just study ourselves but here we have to study with other students that’s very different for me I prefer to study by myself because I am used to that. Actually not, why not because of my husband he paid everything. I think the teachers here are very kindly and the distance between students and teachers is not very big. For example you can call the name of the teacher here, in China your not allowed to. I think so, I don’t need that much guidance actually. This is my first period I don’t know whats gonna happen in the future but so far it does. The education here in comparing with other studies is good because of the reputation of the school, for example the school ‘’in Holland’’ is not that good. The course materials are quite good but some classes with example cultural dimension is very hard to understand, it is written with a lot of difficult English words.

Appendix 2

1. How have you experienced European studies so far?

| Excellent |

| Good |

| Average |

| Poor |

| Very poor |

2. How is the communication between teachers and students?

| Excellent |

| Good |

| Average |

| Poor |

| Very poor |

3. Please European studies on the following attributes:

| Excellent | Good | Average | Poor | Very poor | Course materials (books & readers) | | | | | | Course programme (subjects) | | | | | | The classes | | | | | | The way of teaching | | | | | | Personal guidance | | | | | | Integration with other students | | | | | |

4. How satisfied are you with the following learning facilities:

| Very satisfied | Somewhat satisfied | Neutral | Somewhat dissatisfied | Very dissatisfied | The library | | | | | | The computers | | | | | | The student portal | | | | | |

5. Did the course match your expectations?

| Very much | | Somewhat |

| Not at all |

6. How satisfied are you with the information (learning material) provided in the courses?

| Very satisfied |

| Somewhat satisfied |

| Neutral |

| Somewhat dissatisfied |

| Very dissatisfied |

7. Was European studies your first choice?

| Yes |

| No |

1. How have you experienced European studies so far?

2. How is the communication between teachers and students?

3. Please rate European studies on the following attributes:

4. How satisfied are you with the following learning facilities?

5. Did the course match your expectations?

6. How satisfied are you with the information (learning material) provided in the courses?

7. Was European studies your first choice?

8. What played a big part in your enrolment into the European studies course?