Keith Williams

EDLP 390: Internship

December 5, 2016

Title: Supporting Transition and Accessibility for Chinese Students at the University of Vermont

Key words
Higher education
International students
English Language Learners
First-year students
Student affairs

Summary
My original focus was to explore peer-driven academic supports at a particular institution of
higher education in mainland China, including, but not limited to, teaching assistants, research
assistants, residential advisors, and or tutors. Upon discovering that this kind of role for students
didnt really exist, I broadened my focus to address how an institution in the United States might
support students coming from mainland China. During my time in China, my goal was to explore
the context of the university setting and the student experience, especially as they may relate to
counterparts in the US. Upon returning, my goal was to use these observations to formulate
particular lines of questioning and topics to reflect on more thoroughly. My methods included
readings and research, as well as informal interviews with students and faculty at the Inner
Mongolia University Art College in the city of Hohhot, China, as well as interviews with staff and
faculty at the University of Vermont.

Background, Purpose and/or Context

At the University of Vermont, the number of international students has grown dramatically. Just
recently, as reported by the universitys Office of Institutional Research, international students
have gone from 110 individuals in the fall of 2010 to 528 in the fall of 2016 (2016). This growth is
expected to continue.

As an institution, UVM is concerned about the retention and graduation rates of its students,
among other metrics, and in addition to the overall student experience. All of these are directly
connected to the students successful transition and acclimation in an American higher
education setting. More experience, research, and reflection is essential, as it will potentially
reveal the many obstacles and possible solutions.

Aims and Objectives

With the opportunity to learn about higher education in China, my first, and incredibly obvious,
thought was to develop a plan to improve the overall experience and academic success for
Chinese students studying at the University of Vermont.
Based on my personal work at UVM, my initial hope for my study was to consider peer-driven
academic support. There is substantial research both nationally and globally that tutoring,
teaching assistants, the Supplemental Instruction program, and other models serve to support
students, and its entirely possible, and likely, that these models would support international
students just as they do domestic students. These kinds of positions and programs do not exist
at the Inner Mongolia University Art College, and so it was impossible to learn about opinions
and effectiveness through informal interviews of community members.

As a result, my objectives became more broad and considered instead supporting Chinese
students at US institutions generally, and not merely through these models. In the end, my
primary objective was still the same; I wanted to explore ways to improve the institutions
handling of international students.

Research Strategies
I spent 24 days on campus at the Inner Mongolia University Art College from May 23 to June 16.
I spoke in depth with twelve individuals, including seven students, four faculty members, and
one staff member. With each, I engaged in a series of informal interviews in a number of
different settings. Topics included high school in China, university in China, opinions on studying
abroad, cultural differences with the United States, and various social dynamics in Chinese
society, among others.

Upon returning to the US, I engaged in a literature review to support and interpret those
conversations. Further, I held additional interviews with staff members and faculty members
here at UVM. Topics included current systems of resources, programs for support, socialization
dynamics, and curriculum development and implementation.

My system of informal interviewing certainly changed over time. As the students with whom I
spoke had limited English ability, and I lacked entirely any ability to communicate effectively in
Mandarin, conversations had to be more indirect. I was forced to ask more questions, and
interpret more answers, that were adjacent to my intended topic as opposed to more direct
inquiries. I gathered data primarily through traditional note-taking, though they were
supplemented with photos while abroad and supporting documents while in the US.

Outcomes and/or Findings

My work has had no impact. My current end point is not too far from my starting point. After
much time and effort, I have little to show for it. I have come to some conclusions about how
one might potentially offer some modest improvements, but there remains a great deal left to
learn on this topic.

My original intentions quickly revealed themselves to be naive and poorly considered. With
additional self-reflection, I settled on a path that was too broad to be of any meaningful
consequence. Supporting Chinese students at US institutions of higher education is too far-
reaching; I instead should have narrowed my work down to some smaller aspect. Perhaps I
should have simply looked at language acquisition, a comparative study of university structure
in China versus the US, or something similar.

Key Learnings and Takeaways

I did not achieve my aims particularly well. While I have learned much related to the topics I
selected, any plans I might be able to sketch at this point are still vague. While not unexpected,
any change to the universitys systems would require an immense effort and a massive number
of collaborators. Each idea I have followed has led me to a bigger, more complicated issue.

If I could redesign my project, and or start from the beginning, I know that I would narrow my
scope. I would find some smaller aspect of the topic on which to focus. Further, if I had the time,
I would absolutely arrange to interview and or host focus groups among Chinese students
currently studying at the University of Vermont. This would help to both elaborate on and
triangulate with my conversations with students while in mainland China.

Of course, while ultimately unsuccessful, the conversations I had the opportunity to have - with
students in Hohhot, as well as staff and faculty here in the US - were incredibly informative and
valuable. These both reinforced some ideas I was able to develop on my own, but also made
me consider things that hadnt yet occurred to me.

Recommendations for Change

On this particular topic, there is much to do. More research, more planning, and more
conversations between various stakeholders are all needed. In the end, from my reading,
discussion, and reflection, four points for future focus become clear.

A) As with any group of students learning in a language that is not native to them,
acquisition and continued practice and support are essential to their success. Chinese
students at the University of Vermont are exposed to a fairly robust sequence of courses
targeted at English language learners, ranging from one to three semesters almost
exclusively focused on the English language (M. Coan, Personal Interview, November 2,
2016). Between the academic work in their home country, and their coursework on
campus at UVM, it is difficult to consider the students, or the institution, investing more
time and energy into their learning English.

However, there does still seem to be a gap in the learning of academic vocabulary.
More support, perhaps within the respective colleges and academic programs, could be
offered around discipline-specific language and context. Simple phrases and
grammatical patterns suffice in a variety of settings, but this additional learning could
really support students as they progress through complex academic programs.

B) One significant difference between domestic students and students from

mainland China is the choice of social media and digital communication tools. Domestic
students in the US may favor some combination of Facebook, iMessage, Snapchat, and
Gmail, while they often depend on Google Drive for file storage and sharing. However,
Chinese students in large part rely on WeChat for communication, and programs like
BeiDu for other functions (Y. Zhang, Personal Interview, June 13, 2016).

This disparity can create obstacles to socialization between domestic and international
students, as well as to international students trying to function successfully in an
academic environment.

To support our students fully, in particular those coming from mainland China, orientation
programs and continued advising ought to include these topics. Additionally, staff,
faculty, and domestic peers can and should be encouraged to consider adopting
applications such as WeChat, in order to be more accommodating to Chinese students.

C) Tyack and Tobin write about the established dynamics in our schools and how
difficult it is to change them (1993). This is especially relevant when outsiders enter
those institutions.

One of the largest obstacles, at least according to students, staff, and faculty in China,
and supported by staff here in the US, is the difference in primary objectives in academic
settings. In China, schooling has been established over millennia to push students to
memorize facts and particular skills (Y. Zhang, Personal Interview, June 13, 2016). In
the US, however, students are more frequently expected to develop and demonstrate
skills around creativity, innovation, and personal decision-making. To move from one of
these systems to the other can be difficult; the drastically dissimilar expectations can be
near-impossible for students to understand and meet.

I cannot speculate how it might be done, but it needs to be established as a priority to

support Chinese students, and really all international students, in learning American
expectations held by institutions broadly, but also by staff, peers, and instructors. It is
unfair for students to be expected to follow rules to which they have had little to no
exposure, and simply cannot understand.

D) Finally, encompassing all of the above points and going beyond them, there
needs to be more faculty training and development. My conversations with students,
staff, and even faculty themselves continually made me think of Universal Design for
Learning. If more faculty embraced the framework of UDL and created and delivered
curricula that valued accessibility more highly, many of these points could be addressed.

Specifically, relevant UDL guidelines include: Clarify vocabulary and symbols Support
decoding of text.... Promote understanding across languages Illustrate through
multiple media Vary the methods for response Use multiple media for
communication (CAST, 2011). These guidelines can help create classrooms that
minimize these issues for international students, and support academic success.
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