Advocate Online

Thriving in Academe

Multiple venues for teaching require faculty to make more adjustments than ever to effectively reach international students.

The adjectives we use to describe students from other countries do not tell the whole story! Students from other countries coming to study at a U.S. college were once referred to as “foreign students.” Later, they became “alien students,” and in recent years have come to be known as “international students.” None of these terms even begins to paint the diverse picture of who these students are, where they attend college, or through what means they receive their college or graduate education.

Three distinct settings provide the backdrop for these non-U.S. college students working toward U.S. college degrees. First, many students from other countries come to the U.S. to attend college on a U.S. campus. Second, students from around the world receive a U.S. college education in their home countries via the Internet through distance education (DE) courses. Third, students around the world attend college classes that are offered by U.S. institutions and generally taught by U.S. faculty in the students’ native countries. These are three very diverse teaching/learning environments, each with its own unique character, expectations, and requirements for success.

“Aha,” you say, “since we are talking about U.S.-sponsored programs, shouldn’t all students, no matter where they are, just make the adjustments to our way of teaching and learning?”

Keep reading to find out how faculty can work toward ensuring academic success for all their students.

Meet Leora Baron
Leora Baron is director of the Teaching & Learning Center (TLC) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The TLC is unique in that it works with the University’s teaching community of some 2,500 instructors (full- and part-time faculty and graduate teaching assistants) on both pedagogy and the integration of learning technologies. Leora serves on the POD (Professional & Organizational Development Network in Higher Education) core committee and chairs its publications committee. She has worked on intercultural communication and education at university, K-12, and corporate settings. She can be contacted at UNLV, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Mail Stop 3054, Las Vegas, NV 89154 or by e-mail at leora.baron@unlv.edu. The TLC’s Web site is at http://tlc.unlv.edu.

next "Thriving" article