International support programme Experiences & reflections from MSc Leadership & Management Programme

No-one turned up to first session! We sent invitations to the support sessions to each student but no-one turned up to the first session. They had a preconceived impression of hierarchical structures & were intimidated. When asked (face to face) they said they were afraid they would be the only person there. One student was told by his family not to attend as he may be sent a bill afterwards. We learnt that we need to arrange the first session next year for after we have met them as this was the turning point. Have to be persistent to get them to come - they were very anxious at the start & we did most of the talking

The support sessions Surviving studying in the UK & sources of help Understanding the assignment task Selecting appropriate reading material Reading & writing critically Planning & structuring your assignments Academic integrity & referencing your work Preparing drafts & seeking feedback Questions about first assignment Social event 9 x weekly 2hour sessions Room so we could sit around a table & discuss Difficult to get them talking Some of them had done the pre-sessional courses, but still never asked a question & interaction was key to helping them understand each word (said yes if we asked if they understood; but evidently hadn’t). Using exercises to get them to demonstrate their understanding was key. Gave plenty of opportunity during sessions to ask questions but they still saved their questions until after the session when they wanted to speak to us individually – need to leave half an hour at the end of the formal session to see them individually.

What we learnt Massive culture shock Importance of them bonding & supporting each other Majority had never been assessed via essay Had difficulty persuading the students to produce practice paragraphs or drafts Being given support by academic staff was a new concept for the majority & it took a while for them to accept they could ask for help. Having said that, they then seemed to become over-dependent e.g. they all wanted a tutorial for their 3rd core module, but when seen the majority had understood the task & were on the right track but lacked self confidence. It’s not easy to strike a good balance. Living & studying in the UK is very different for a lot of them & cultural differences take time to overcome – you won’t make a difference in one session! Having the support sessions helped them bond as a group. The advantages of this are great e.g. it helped them get over their homesickness & loneliness; they helped and supported each other; The support sessions cleared up some mis-conceptions e.g. we stressed that reading should be targeted (the Asian students especially are used to reading text books from cover to cover). They were all very anxious about writing essays in English They seemed more comfortable to participate in class & British students commented on how great it was to mix with the International students on the modules

Language barriers On-line dictionaries are used to by the students to translate words they didn’t understand but that was not always appropriate e.g. Reflection When told to narrow the focus of their REMPB question they asked us what words to take out of the question It’s easy for lecturers to cause confusion because of the language used Quite a few of them had very poor English when we started. I managed to confuse them on my module by saying that “do nothing” was a viable strategy when I meant change nothing or carry on doing the same things Putting them in a group for the sessions forced them to speak English As they socialized together English was the common language so they got to practice more Providing PowerPoint slides before sessions gives them time to look up words they don’t understand. Specifying sections of text books to read pre or post sessions helps them understand the concepts being discussed in class

Happy students! Learnt how to plan essays Able to target reading & cut down on workload ALL of them passed the first assignment & two of them had the highest mark of the entire module cohort! Formed strong supportive friendships Actively seek support Enjoying studying with UoS & feel fully supported Planning essays helped them stay focused on the task – most had never written an essay in their own language so writing in English was an additional challenge. Being able to focus on what they were including in the essay made the task easier Reading & understanding in English takes them hours of study time so knowing how to target their reading helped reduce their workload They actively seek advice which is something they might not have done without the sessions (depending on culture)

A quote from Delawar Behzad in March 2016; used with his full permission I did my bachelor in Afghanistan where teaching methodology is quite deferent, it is classic and teacher centred. What I mean by this is that as an undergraduate student all I have to do was to attend lectures and study the specific learning material for the exams at the end of the terms; no research or written assignment at all. Even if there is any assignment, Wikipedia and Google is the only valid source to use. When I found out that we have to write a 3500 essay for the assessment our first module, I was completely lost and at some point I wanted to give up and return back home. Then I started reading about academic writing, but I barely have an idea how to start my assignment, because I have never written a paragraph of academic work even in my own language. I started to panic and was so much stressed. Luckily, Yvette and Julie organized some unofficial session in order to help us with our first assignment, where we were provided with a step-by-step guidance and instruction for the assignment. If those ‘sessions’ were not held I don’t think I would be able to make it. Those sessions not only helped me with that particular assignment, but beyond that. I learned how to reference and what plagiarism was, and I learned that Wikipedia and Google are no longer a valid source to reference.