Students’ perspectives on curriculum internationalisation policies in transition: Insights from a master’s degree programme in the Netherlands

ABSTRACT

Although many studies have investigated the overarching benefits of curriuclum internationalisation in various forms, there have been few investigations of students’ perspectives on changing university policies towards internationalisation. In this study, we considered master’s students’ perspectives on two changing internationalisation policies at a Dutch university: (1) the switch to English Medium Instruction (EMI) and (2) the increasing incorporation of internationally-minded materials into the curriculum. Through analysing 138 questionnaire responses, the relevancy of and comfort with internationalised content, the use of EMI, and overall teaching quality was explored. The findings suggested that, although most participants valued their overall internationalised learning experiences, factors such as students’ educational backgrounds and perceived confidence using English influenced the degree to which curriculum internationalisation policies were deemed relevant to students’ lives and careers. This article summarises with suggestions for university staff, programmes, and departments undergoing transition policies towards curriculum internationalisation.

KEYWORDS:

• Curriculum internationalisation
• curriculum development
• English medium instruction
• student experience

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jenna Mittelmeier

Jenna Mittelmeier is Lecturer in International Education at the Manchester Institute of Education, The University of Manchester. Her research expertise is in the area of international students’ transition experiences and curriuclum internationalisation. In her teaching capacity, she is Research Methods Coordinator for MA education students.

Bert Slof

Bert Slof is Assitant Professor in the Department of Education and Educational Sciences at Utrecht University. His research expertise relates to problem-based learning and computer-supported collaborative learning. He is coordinator of Utrecht’s Bachelor’s and Master’s programme of Educational Science and Teacher Education.

Bart Rienties

Bart Rienties is Professor of Learning Analytics at The Open University. He is programme director of learning analytics and has research expertise in learning analytics, computer-supported collaborative learning, the role of motivation in learning, and braoder aspects of internationalisation in higher education.