Classroom experience in international-faculty and local-faculty classes among university students in Thailand

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine university students’ perceptions of classroom experience in international-faculty and local-faculty classes in Thailand, and their connection with the type of university they attended. The sample included 510 undergraduates. The results demonstrated that students were less willing to participate, were under more stress, and experienced more difficulty comprehending course content in international-faculty classes. However, students felt that international faculty appeared more supportive and approachable than the local counterpart, particularly in private universities. Compared with public university students, private university students exhibited more positive scores on all of the classroom experience dimensions tested.

KEYWORDS:

• Classroom experience
• college teaching and learning
• international faculty
• local faculty
• higher education in Thailand

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the two anonymous reviewers, who made helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article. This research was supported by the 2018 New Southbound Project grant (Strengthening cooperation and exchanges with ASEAN and South Asian countries) from Ministry of Education in Taiwan, R. O. C.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Taiwan, Republic of China.

Notes on contributors

Te-Sheng Chang

Te-Sheng Chang is a professor in the department of Education and Human Potentials Development at National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan. His research interests include diversity in higher education, gender education, educational psychology, and college learning and teaching.

Chakree Kerdsomboon

Chakree Kerdsomboon is a doctoral student in the department of Education and Human Potentials Development at National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan. His research interests include equity in education, college learning and teaching, educational psychology, and gender education.

Udomluk Koolsriroj

Udomluk Koolsriroj is an assistant professor in the faculty of Education at Kasetsart University in Thailand. Her research interests include theory and techniques of teaching in English, teacher professional development and diversity in education.