The learning processes of international students through the eyes of foreign supervisors

Abstract

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with external supervisors of international electives undertaken by Dutch undergraduate students, in order to gain insight into student learning processes during these electives. The interviews served to triangulate information on these learning processes that was obtained from students’ self-reports. The results of the case study reported in this paper were largely consistent with findings from prior studies of international electives in which learning processes and sociocultural differences were examined: experiential learning processes appeared to dominate and sociocultural differences occasionally seemed to blur productive learning, especially when the differences between the national cultures of host country and student home country were substantial. It is recommended that students’ experiential learning from international electives should be supplemented with ‘guided’ and ‘self-directed’ learning with a focus on the sociocultural dimension.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

S. Niemantsverdriet

SUSAN NIEMANTSVERDRIET, MA, is a researcher and is working on a thesis on internationalization of education at the Department of Educational Development and Research, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.

C.P.M. van der Vleuten

CEES P.M. VAN DER VLEUTEN, PhD, is professor of education and Head of the Department of Educational Development and Research, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.

G.D. Majoor

GERARD D. MAJOOR, PhD, is associate professor of immunology and coordinator of internationalization in the Institute for Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.

A.J.J.A. Scherpbier

ALBERT J.J.A. SCHERPBIER, MD PhD, is professor of medical education and Scientific Director of the Institute for Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.