Research and psychological experiences of international postgraduate students

Abstract

The greater mobility of students and academic staff has enhanced and forced a rethink of both curricula and assessment practices. Moreover, the diversity of students in an educational setting, be it a classroom or seminar presentation, evokes interesting patterns of interaction with other students, staff, learning material and context for learning. This paper explores the research and psychological experiences of international postgraduate students embarking on research at the School of Education, in an Australian university. The experiences of twelve international postgraduate students from diverse geographic, cultural, professional and educational backgrounds are documented. Supervisors, the academic interactions and communications come under scrutiny. The management of the research process often ignores the wealth of experience, expertise as well as knowledge that these students bring to the learning environment. The students were interviewed to document their experiences of the research culture in the Australian university where they are pursuing their study program. A case study was conducted to analyse factors affecting drive of institutions, research support and their impact on the learning outcomes. The study further examined how these experiences reflect on learning outcomes student and satisfaction. Twelve postgraduate students from the school of education were participants in this case study. Data was collected and analysed quantitatively.