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Teacher Development: An international journal ofteachers' professional developmentPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rtde20

Students' perceptions of a professional developmentprogramme: an international comparisonGraham Tall a , Graham Upton b & Azza Ghanem ca University of Birmingham , United Kingdomb Oxford Brookes University , United Kingdomc University of Sana'a , YemenPublished online: 20 Dec 2006.

To cite this article: Graham Tall , Graham Upton & Azza Ghanem (1999) Students' perceptions of a professionaldevelopment programme: an international comparison, Teacher Development: An international journal of teachers'professional development, 3:3, 355-372, DOI: 10.1080/13664539900200091

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Teacher Development, Volume 3, Number 3, 1999

355

Students’ Perceptions of a Professional Development Programme: an international comparison

GRAHAM TALL University of Birmingham, United Kingdom GRAHAM UPTON Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom AZZA GHANEM University of Sana’a, Yemen

ABSTRACT Social and cultural differences and their impact on overseas students studying in the West is widely recognised, but there is little comparative evidence of overseas students studying at home with those studying abroad. In this research the views of students taking a newly developed Master’s degree at Sana’a in the Yemen are compared with home and overseas students taking a very similar course at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. The fact that Yemeni students were spending as long studying as the overseas students whilst having to work full-time almost certainly explained the high drop-out rate of Yemeni students compared to that of Birmingham home and overseas students. The major research conclusion is that Third World universities must recognise that part- and full-time study is not equivalent.

For many years British universities have offered courses designed to attract international students. Whilst some students have their fees paid by the British Council, for most the costs are a burden either on them or their country. The gains for students coming to the United Kingdom are evident: few Third World countries can offer such a wide range of courses and many would have difficulty providing adequate facilities and sufficient well-qualified teachers. But the cost is more than financial; not only are the students unavailable for work but they face real social and cultural difficulties while studying abroad:

It is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another. Culture is learned, not inherited, it derives from one’s social environment not from one’s genes. (Hofstede, 1991, p. 5)

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Hofstede (1991) identified five dimensions which could be used to categorise different cultures. The first dimension was associated with a strong acceptance of authority; the second with a ‘collectivist’ rather than an ‘individualistic’ frame of mind; a third with masculine and feminine roles/characteristics. The fourth dimension is the ability to cope with ambiguity and uncertainty and the fifth dimension is a preference for either rule-based or ad hoc planning procedures.

The major hidden agenda facing students studying abroad is that their teachers:

are virtually programmed to introduce partnership, teamwork, delegation and decentralisation, all within the framework of open and participative leadership … there is a Western-centric arrogance in assuming that all transfer to other cultures. (Shaw & Welton, 1996, p. 2)

Whilst university lecturers primarily involved with international students are aware of the significance of cultural differences, the greater the opportunity for students to select modules widely, the greater is the likelihood that the course teaching style and content will have a British context. The University of Birmingham attempted in 1992 to help overcome this by producing a video entitled ‘Cross-cultural Tutoring’, yet, whilst the video is impressive, one of the Birmingham writers of this article who teaches overseas students was unaware of its existence.

Together with the problems involved with teaching international students in the United Kingdom, the School of Education at Birmingham has been involved in supporting students abroad. Some students have been allowed to take distance learning versions of course materials developed for United Kingdom students. In 1991, Birmingham’s School of Education transplanted individual staff for short periods of time to OyO Federal College of Special Education, Nigeria so that they could help prepare college lecturers for MEd and MPhil degrees in Special Needs. An underlying cultural problem was immediately apparent; one of the first issues faced was:

Who were the pupils under discussion? Were we talking about the same children? The British view is that learning difficulty is any factor, within an individual or within the learning context, which interferes with effective learning. It is, however, sometimes difficult for those of us from northern Europe to imagine what those contexts might be when the cultural and climatic factors are so different. Poverty might dictate that spectacles or hearing aids will not be available and the lack of electricity will most certainly affect the learning environment for all levels of vision. (Tilstone & Miller, 1999)

But what was also apparent was that even though the School of Education was aware of major cultural differences, and in the latter instance, wished to tailor courses to the local situation, the message was very much that overseas students did not want the programme unless they studied the same courses as the British. D

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The development of a new master’s degree in Education at the University of Sana’a in Yemen provided an opportunity to compare a programme developed in conditions of extreme economic stringency, but taught by the Yemeni, with a similar programme in the United Kingdom.

Background

The Republic of Yemen, which is relatively unknown in the West, has an area of 555,000 sq km (exclusive of Rub-Al-Khali desert) and is situated in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, bounded to the north by Saudi Arabia, to the east by Oman, to the south by the Gulf of Aden, and to the West by the Red Sea. It was formed in May 1990 by the unification of the Yemen Arab Republic and the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen. According to the last census (December 1994), the population is about 14.5 million (Statistical Year Book, 1994). The country’s economy is basically agricultural but development is slow and economic constraints on all aspects of life are severe. As a country, Yemen is characterised by rapid population growth of 3.7% – it has one of the highest populations under 15 years, 50.3%. The language is Arabic but English is taught as a second language in secondary schools.

A period of rapid development of education in the Yemen has resulted in an impressive expansion of primary student numbers from 69,200 in 1966 to 1,902,125 in 1991. In turn that has brought considerable pressure on secondary education. Unfortunately, teacher education has not grown at a comparable rate. School administrators, teacher educators and inspectors are inadequately qualified, most having only a bachelor’s degree, the qualification necessary for teachers at preparatory and secondary levels. Prior to 1990 and the Gulf crisis, large numbers of secondary school teachers (80%) were expatriate Arabs paid in foreign currency by Gulf states.

In Yemen all teacher education is conducted through the Faculty of Education at the University of Sana’a, where staff are far from adequate to cope with the task expected of them. Liberal intake policies have resulted in the acceptance of all students with minimum necessary qualifications and student/staff ratios have risen to well over 100:1. Solutions to this problem are not easy. Over the years, the University has supported staff to go abroad and this has resulted in the availability of a reasonable number of well-qualified staff in the Faculty with a master’s degree or higher. The costs of sending staff abroad, however, are high and the time required for a student to gain a higher degree too great to consider this a long-term strategy. A home solution was clearly needed. Consequently, when money became available as part of a World Bank development project, it was decided to set up a master’s degree programme staffed by appropriately qualified Faculty staff. It was felt that this would be a cost-effective way of helping to meet short- and medium-term staffing needs, improve student–staff ratios in the Faculty of Education and help meet the needs for qualified staff in the five new Faculties of Education being established. D

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The lack of previous experience at master’s degree level in the Faculty suggested a need for external support in the development of the programme. To provide this, a twinning arrangement was established with the University of Birmingham in England and consultants from the University of Jordan provided advice and participated in workshops on programme design and curriculum development with staff in the Faculty. Following the completion of the planning phase, all other matters relating to the implementation of the programme were the responsibility of the Faculty in Sana’a and the programme was launched in November 1995.

The Degree

In the student prospectus the aims of the MEd are stated as being:

to assist in meeting the needs of the educational system in Yemen in a variety of ways including enhancing the capabilities and qualifications of personnel involved in the process of education including educational leaders, administrators, supervisors, lecturers and teachers.

The design of the programme is based upon the concept of credit hours whereby all students are required to take two core courses, viz.:

1. Research Methods in Education 2. Educational Statistics

Specialist courses were planned to be available in five fields of study:

1. Curriculum and Instruction 2. Educational Administration 3. Educational Guidance and Counselling 4. Educational Psychology 5. Foundations of Education

Students are required to take a minimum of nine credit hours in their area of specialisation and complete a thesis which shall not normally exceed 20,000 words.

Evaluation of the Programme

In the context of the agreement with the University of Birmingham it was agreed that a ‘mid-term’ evaluation of the programme would be undertaken. This was carried out by one of the authors from 7–21 April 1996 at the end of the programme’s first semester. In that semester the two core courses had been taught along with one course in each of four of the five specialist areas for which provision had been made in planning the programme. No course was offered in Educational Guidance and Counselling because of lack of staff to teach in this area.

Following advertisement of the programme, over 300 applications were received and 105 students were accepted to start the programme. However,

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drop-out was very high and at the end of the first semester, the number of students who presented themselves for examinations was only 59. These students were spread across the four specialist areas as follows:

�� Curriculum and Instruction – 30 �� Educational Administration – 11 �� Educational Psychology – 7 �� Foundations of Education – 11

A high level of drop-out is not uncommon in the University of Sana’a, with only around 25% of new entrants completing undergraduate programmes. Nonetheless, a drop-out rate of 44% in the first semester amongst what was a highly selective and presumably well-motivated group of students was extremely high. Unfortunately, it was not possible to interview any of the students who had dropped out to ascertain why, though possible explanations became evident from other sources.

Views among the staff and the students who were interviewed suggest that a combination of factors had been involved. Foremost among these was the fact that while the programme had been planned principally for full-time students, the majority of the students had not been able to obtain financial support to allow them to pursue it on this basis. It was suggested that many had dropped out because of the difficulty in reconciling their work commitments with the demands of the programme. It was also suggested that some students had found some components of the programme more difficult than they had anticipated, a problem which, it was suggested, may have been exacerbated by the lack of adequate library and other resources.

Students’ Perceptions of the Programme

As part of the evaluation students were asked to complete a questionnaire to ascertain their views on the programme and their responses to it. This questionnaire was based on one used in the School of Education at the University of Birmingham with home and overseas post-experience and higher degree students. It comprised 16 questions, the first seven of which were aimed to elicit background information about the students, including, among other things, their gender, academic qualifications, present work situation and how they were financing the course. Further questions went on to identify their motivation for starting the course, their views of the course content, delivery on library and computing facilities and on the professional and personal impact of the course. Space was also allowed for free comments by the students. In order to facilitate responses, the questionnaire was translated into Arabic by staff in the Faculty of Education in Sana’a, who assisted with the subsequent scoring of responses and collation of additional comments.

As one would hope in relation to any course, this feedback was informative for the staff in the Faculty of Education at Sana’a in relation to their teaching and administration of the course. It was also useful in providing D

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the University with comments on the adequacy of existing resources for a new group of postgraduate students and guidance for the future development of the course.

Of particular interest to the present authors, however, was the opportunity it presented for comparison with students elsewhere. How, for example, might the views of students pursuing a new master’s degree programme in conditions of extreme economic stringency in the Yemen compare with those of students pursuing a long-established master’s programme in conditions of much greater affluence? Would the source of their motivation to do the course differ? What sort of things would they derive from the course? Would they be more or less critical of their lecturers?

The Birmingham MEd Degree

The Birmingham MEd is very similar to that developed in Yemen but is much bigger, offering a choice of 24 programmes of study. All students must study the compulsory research methods module as one of the seven course modules. Students must then submit a dissertation not normally exceeding 20,000 words in length.

The questionnaire was given to two groups of students: home students, who predominantly study on a part-time basis, and overseas students, who take the same programme full-time. The overseas students come from many parts of the world but almost half are currently from various parts of Africa.

The Samples

The Birmingham group comprised 41 home and 44 overseas students. Over half of these students were female (61% home and 51% overseas). All but three of the home students were registered as part-time students while the overseas students were all full-time. The Yemen group comprised 58 students, just 18 of whom were full-time. In contrast to the position in the United Kingdom, only 17% of the students in Yemen were female, although this is not surprising given the cultural mores of the country.

The majority of the Birmingham students were experienced professionals, over half of whom had worked for at least 10 years. By contrast, almost half of theYemen students (46%) had worked for less than 5 years. Far more of the home than overseas and Yemeni students taught in schools.

What was also evident was that the prime source of funding for almost 80% of the home and Yemeni students was the students themselves, the overseas students being more likely to have their fees paid by their government or organisations like the British Council.

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Motivation for Studying

Our assumption was that obtaining a degree would be the key factor in why students studied for a higher degree. Whilst this was generally the case, it was also much truer of Yemeni (95%) than overseas (83%) and home (73%) students. What was even more evident was the fact that the Yemeni students’ reasons for taking the degree differed considerably from those of overseas and home students. Yemeni students wanted to improve their teaching (see Table I), and, although just over half the students generally felt it was important to increase promotional prospects and improve their income, the difference in attitude of the three groups was vast; over two-thirds of the Yemeni felt both reasons were important compared to less than a third of the home students. Responses clearly linked to the much younger age range of the Yemeni.

Imp+V. Imp (%) Other (%)* Chi Square†

Q8f To improve how I teach 65‡ 35

Home Birmingham students 48 52 χ = 22.61 Overseas students 51 49 df = 2

Yemeni students 88 12 0.1% sig

Q8a To increase promotional prospects 57‡ 43

Home Birmingham students 32 68 χ = 26.12 Overseas students 49 51 df = 2

Yemeni students 81 19 0.1% sig

Q8i To improve my income 51‡ 49

Home Birmingham students 30 70 χ = 22.0228 Overseas students 41 59 df = 2

Yemeni students 74 26 0.1% sig

* The ‘Other’ column includes responses of those who did not circle any category. † Chi-square is carried out using raw data where number of home, overseas and Yemeni students are 44, 41 and 58 respectively. ‡ Mean data for each question.

Table I. Reasons for taking the degree.

Concerns that Students Bring with Them When They Study for a Degree

Students were asked to indicate how far work, families and social life affected their ability to study for their degree and to explain why, if it had a major effect.

In Table II it is evident that students saw coursework as being primarily affected by work and family aspects. Given that overseas students study full-time, it is not surprising that both have far less effect on their study than they

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have on home and Yemeni students; the underlying reason given was inevitably problems of time and organisation.

Work Family

H (%) O (%) Y (%) H (%) O (%) Y (%) Major effect 52 10 41 27 12 33

Effect 41 39 38 43 29 41

None/irrelevant 7 51 21 30 59 26

Chi Sq. χ2=29.11 Df = 4 1% χ2 = 13.29 Df = 4 1%

H = home students, O = overseas students and Y = Yemeni students.

Table II. Factors which affect study.

(i) The Effect of Work on Studying for a Degree

None of the part-time home or Yemeni students suggested that their employers reduced their work commitments:

I have a FT job, obviously if I had fewer work commitments I could devote more time to texts and study. (H16-PT) [1]

Doing the course has meant often working 4/5 nights a week. (H32-PT)

Conflict of time of study and work. Insufficient time for study and research. (Y30-PT)

Duties in primary schools are too much for the teacher and this is not considered by the staff at the University. (Y40-PT)

Indeed, seven of the home students in Birmingham indicated that their workload had increased.

(ii) The Impact of Family on Studying for a Degree

The family effect was clearly linked to problems with children and elderly relatives. Most emphasised that time studying for a part-time degree is inevitably time taken away from their family:

Time for young child and pregnant wife. (H29-PT)

With 3 children (one small baby) I have to spend more time with them. (O20-FT)

My family lives far away in Shabwa and hence I am absent for many days and worry about them. (Y03-PT)

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Problems Created for Students When They Study for a Degree

Work Family Social life

L (%) O (%) Y (%) L (%) O (%) Y (%) L (%) O (%) Y (%)

Pos 75 73 88 30 44 66 34 59 62

Neut/irrel 18 20 9 39 12 3 36 12 24

Neg 7 7 3 32 44 31 30 29 14

Chi Sq. 4.12 NS df = 4 13.02 5% df =4 12.86 5% sig df = 4

H = home students, O = overseas students and Y = Yemeni students.

Table III. Effect of the course on work, family and social life.

Whilst universities hope that their courses will eventually have a positive effect on a student’s work, we assumed that the work associated with the course itself would have an immediate negative impact. Surprisingly, this did not happen (Table III).

Where the groups differed was in the response of part-time home and Yemeni students to the ‘Family’ and ‘Social life’ questions, Yemeni students clearly perceiving the course’s positive impact (consider earlier reference to Hofstede’s ‘collectivist’ rather than ‘individualistic’ frame of mind).

(i) The Impact of Studying for a Degree on Work

Surprisingly, though the drop-out rate for Yemeni students is clearly eloquent, only four comments were directly related to pressures of work on the course:

The demands on my time have been considerable – to the point where I have seriously considered giving up the course this year. (H30-PT)

Has caused me to seek an alternative job. (H18-PT)

Far more comments were made with respect to how the course enhanced their work:

Classroom based research has been beneficial to both school and children. (H01-PT)

Has helped me to produce materials for use with pupils. (H11-PT)

Improve my teaching style. (O12-FT)

Helped me recognise my weakness. (O20-FT)

Developed my work methods. (Y52-PT)

This will involve studying the syllabuses, reveal their weaknesses and diagnose points of weakness. (Y18-FT)

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In explaining how they felt that the course helped their work, students referred to it as giving them greater confidence/status, enthusiasm, knowledge and understanding. Typical comments were:

Greater knowledge and increased self-confidence. Able to share knowledge with colleagues as I gained it. Improved teaching. (H28-PT)

I feel more open to ideas, have thought more about curriculum content, pedagogy and types of assessment/evaluation. (H23-PT)

New information has changed the way I thought about some aspects of my work. (O31-FT)

The course shows me direction to search for knowledge. (O13-FT)

Increase self-confidence, knowledge and skills. (Y56-PT)

Increased my knowledge of curricular methods which improve my teaching. (Y40-PT)

(ii) The Impact of Studying for a Degree on the Family

Table III showed, unsurprisingly, that more overseas students made negative comments about the effect of their study on their family. The level of stress was apparent. Comments included:

Stress and frustration are passed on. (H29-PT)

The little time left over from my school commitments OUGHT to be devoted to my family! (H30-PT)

Of course my wife would have liked me to be closer. But above all am missing my young daughter and am sure she is missing me too. (O03-FT)

I feel that I abandon my family and cost them a lot. (Y41-FT)

It affects the time I spend with the family since I am mostly busy reading. (Y55-PT)

The surprise outcome was the positive effect that overseas and Yemeni students reported on families. The major reason given could be summarised as increased pride and esteem:

Family like the effect of a lively, stimulated family member. Children like diminished focus on their study and whether they have done own homework, as more attention paid to my own. (H16-PT)

They are proud of me. (O32-FT)

They are satisfied with my personal improvement. (O31-FT) Dow

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Improved my dealings with children. (Y48-PT)

Better financial conditions. (Y30-PT)

(iii) The Impact of Studying for a Degree on Social Life

It was inevitable that the three groups would respond differently to this question. But the fact that no Yemenis explained their generally positive response may have been because they had just answered a question on family, and in the Yemen, social interaction is closely associated with extended family patterns and tribal connections.

Lack of time was the primary negative reason given by home students, and whilst overseas students inevitably referred to the fact that they were far away from home, many specifically referred to cultural differences:

My holidays are spent doing assignments/school work whereas before I used to visit friends in other parts of the UK. (H01-PT)

When I am at home I am a very important man, but here nobody recognises me … (O03-FT)

I am in a foreign country (with very different cultural expectations) and my social life outside University is very limited. (O23-FT)

Preparation and Study Time

With a large proportion of home students being part-time, it was perhaps not surprising that almost half of them reported that they spent no more than 1 hour preparation time per 3-hour lecture session. Yet, despite two-thirds of them being part-time, Yemeni students spent almost as much time on their studies as the overseas students (see Figure 1). 50mm Figure 1. Additional study time per 3-hour lecture/seminar session. D

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Such a high workload must help explain the high drop-out rate observed. If this finding is supported by other research, then overseas universities developing part-time courses must recognise the reality of cultural differences between their students and Western students. In Birmingham, for example, part-time home students have many advantages. At the simplest level a large choice of universities makes travel time much less important, the students’ greater experience and maturity helps them to balance study and work, and the School of Education supports them by making assignment deferments easy to obtain. Perhaps overseas colleagues need to study workload demands and reduce pressure.

Course Content

The general level of satisfaction with the courses was high, with over 90% of all three groups considering that the course descriptions fairly represent the course content and that their lecturers were well informed, and with two-thirds feeling that supervision of students is appropriate and a range of teaching styles are used. On four statements, however, the responses of the three groups differed significantly (Table IV) and on each of these the level of disagreement of the Yemeni students was higher:

�� 81% disagreed that aids are used appropriately; �� 52% disagreed that the reading lists are helpful; �� 32% disagreed that the major teaching style is appropriate; and �� 32% disagreed that the form of assessment is used appropriately.

Facilities Provided for Students Taking the Course

Although some of the differences in responses were statistically significant, a high level of agreement did exist with respect to using a library: over 85% of each group generally agreed (Agree [A]+ Strongly Agree [SA]) that they knew how to search for references using key words and at least 79% of each group generally agreed (A + SA) that they knew how to find a book/journal.

The differences which did exist were that the full-time overseas students were more confident they knew how to find a book/journal and the Yemeni students were most negative about there being sufficient copies of key texts.

With the wide availability of computers in schools in the United Kingdom, and a large specialist computing room in Birmingham, it was not surprising that it was the Yemeni students who did not know how to use a word processor and who disagreed with the statement that there are sufficient computer/word processors for students to use (Table V).

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Disagree (%) Agree (%) N Chi Sq

Q9F aids are used appropriately 46 54 126

Home Birmingham students 16 84 37 χ = 48.12 Overseas students 23 77 35 df = 2

Yemeni students

81 19 54 0.1% sig

Q9E the reading lists are helpful 24 76 135

Home Birmingham students 0 100 41 χ = 40.55 Overseas students 10 90 40 df= 2

Yemeni students 52 48 54 0.1% sig

Q9D the major teaching style is appropriate

18 82 134

Home Birmingham students 0 100 38 χ = 16.24 Overseas students 15 85 40 df = 2

Yemeni students 32 68 56 0.1% sig

Q9G the form of assessment is used appropriately

21 79 126

Home Birmingham students 5 95 39 χ = 9.90 Overseas students 20 80 30 df = 2

Yemeni students 32 68 57 5% sig

Table IV. Students’ perception on course administration and teaching (mean data for each question).

SD

(%) D

(%) A

(%) SA (%)

N Chi Sq

Q11D You know how to use a word processor 27 28 31 13 134

Home Birmingham students 5 12 59 24 41 χ = 61.47 Overseas students 21 21 41 18 39 Df=6

Yemeni students 48 46 4 2 54 0.1% sig

Q11E There are sufficient computers/word-processors for students to use

43 33 23 2 127

Home Birmingham students 25 31 44 0 32 χ = 30.79 Overseas students 27 37 34 2 41 Df=6

Yemeni students 65 31 2 2 54 0.1% sig

Table V. Students’ use of computers/word processors (mean data for each question).

Is Studying for a Degree Worth the Effort?

Nine questions were used to discover how valuable students considered the course they were taking. On every question almost 70% of the students in each group gave a positive reply. There were no significant differences between the three groups concerning the extent to which the course had increased understanding, provided useful information, helped them to understand theory, provided new skills for work, increased confidence, was relevant to their

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employment and had affected their views at work. This was a very positive response for both universities.

Small, though statistically significant, differences were, however, found when the four categories were reduced to two (Disagree [D + SD, i.e. disagree + strongly disagree combined]) and Agree [A + SA]) with respect to three questions (Table VI):

�� Has the course been interesting? �� Has the course been stimulating? �� Has the course been informative?

The more positive response to these questions by home and overseas students is almost certainly linked to the fact that their courses have not only been running longer but that the library was better endowed and an up-to-date information technology (IT) room was readily available.

SD (%) D (%) A (%) SA (%) N Chi**

Q1OI The course has been informative. 0 7 61 33 138

Home Birmingham students 0 0 63 37 43 χ = 6.63 Overseas students 0 5 63 33 40 df = 2

Yemeni students 0 13 58 29 55 Sig

Q1OJ The course has been interesting. 1 17 54 28 138

Home Birmingham students 0 5 60 35 43 χ=11.59 Overseas students 0 15 55 30 40 df=2

Yemeni students 2 29 47 22 55

Q1OH The course has been stimulating. 1 16 57 25 148

Home Birmingham Students 0 9 60 30 43 χ=9.03 Overseas Students 0 12 68 20 41 df=2

Yemeni Students 4 27 56 13 55

Table VI. Student response concerning the value of the course they attend (mean data for each question).

Positive Comments on the Course Studied

Whilst positive comments about the course were made by all students, the overseas and Yemeni students particularly referred to its relevance and suitability:

The course is certainly relevant to my studies, nature of job and my scholarship requirement. (O21-FT)

The programme is very useful in the way of knowledge acquisition. (Y36-PT)

What was very evident with all three groups of students was the wide range of comments made about the quality of the tutors/handouts etc. Typical comments included: D

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Excellent course materials. Module Tutor a great help and a mine of information. (H39-PT)

Students are encouraged by various methods of teaching, enjoying the freedom given to ask questions, clarify matters and even disagree. (O16-FT)

Interest of lecturers in the programme. Lecturers’ relations with students. (Y14-FT)

Relations with the lecturers were positive. (Y43-PT)

Negative Comments on Facilities

Library provision came in for most criticism from all three groups. Typical comments were:

Only 2 computer terminals in library … Library stock is disappointing (or maybe I haven’t spent enough time with catalogues). (H44-PT)

I think the library should consider stocking more books/working papers from America, Africa. International references almost entirely absent. (O15-FT)

We need a library and special lecture rooms so that we do not have to wait for BA classes to end. (Y26-FT)

Insufficient references. Some references are in English and hence preventing students, who are poor at English, from reading them. (Y17-PT)

Use of Computers

With very different levels of IT provision in the Yemen and Birmingham, it was not surprising that most negative comments were made by Yemeni students. What was surprising was that it was the full-time overseas, rather than the part-time home students that criticised IT provision in Birmingham. Typical comments urging better resources were:

More computers of better quality, more software, tutorials on using it. (O32-FT)

Computer studies are all theoretical. (Y32-PT)

Organisation/Administration of Courses

In spite of the positive comments referred to earlier, a number of practical deficiencies were highlighted. Issues identified as problematic or where students thought remedial action was needed included:

Feelings of isolation. Initially the mountains of information which arrived all at once was frightening! As has the terminology … (H42-PT)

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Received very little guidance on whether the course is appropriate for me. (H03-PT)

More individual attention for assignments. Twenty minutes’ tutorial is not enough. (O28-FT)

The support in English usage – should be improved. English class too big. (O22-FT)

More interest must be shown to practical aspects. More variation in evaluation methods. Provision of special rooms must be provided. (Y51-PT)

The programme is concentrated so students can’t manage previous work. The 3 hour lecture is too long, break required. (Y32-PT)

Teaching Approach and Attitude/Skills of Lecturers

Some students were clearly unhappy with their lecturers and some of their comments seemed to reflect cultural differences:

Would prefer more group tasks and active approaches. (H36-PT)

1. Tutors could not use difficult vocabulary. 2. They could not speak quickly. 3. They could devote more time to listen to my problems. (O31-FT)

Making the method more practical and less theoretical. (Y30-PT)

Conclusions

The questionnaire responses illustrated the differing cultural context, the wealth and maturity of the two universities. Yet, an underlying similarity exists, with over 70% of every group feeling that they wanted to gain intellectual stimulation and update their knowledge as well as obtain a degree. At least 70% of each group of students felt that the course had been interesting and informative. All three groups considered that the course descriptions fairly represented the course content and that their lecturers are well informed. Over three-quarters believed that the course had helped them to understand theory, had affected their views at work, considered that the course was relevant, had provided new skills at work as well as increasing their understanding and level of confidence. On these grounds it seems reasonable to assume that the three groups of students felt that their course was effective.

The differences between the groups of students appear to be as much a mixture of cultural and part-time/full-time differences as differences between the two university courses per se. Thus, whilst far more of the home and Yemeni students paid for their courses, it was evident that, relatively speaking, the younger, less professionally experienced Yemeni students considered that D

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obtaining a degree was more important. Similarly, whilst half the students felt that the course was important to increase promotional prospects and to improve their income, the difference in attitude of the three groups was vast, with over two-thirds of the Yemeni students considering that both reasons were important.

Inevitably, work was the major factor affecting the study of part-time home and Yemeni students. The pressure created for part-timers by lack of sufficient time was severe. When this is linked to the fact that Yemeni students spend as much time in preparation and study time as the overseas students, then the large drop-out rate by the Yemeni students is more than understandable.

Differences between students in the two universities was evident on a number of questions. The Yemeni students’ responses were generally less positive to statements concerned with the appropriateness of the teaching style and the helpfulness of the reading lists, and a very negative response was given with respect to the statement that teaching aids are used appropriately.

With a newly developed course it is not surprising that a much greater proportion of Yemeni students felt that their library did not have sufficient texts, but that cannot explain the fact that 20% of the students did not know how to find a book/journal. The presence of an IT room with numerous computers available for student use meant that knowledge of how to use a word processor was much higher at Birmingham.

Interestingly, both overseas and Yemeni students commented on the relevance and suitability of their courses.

Correspondence

Graham Tall, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston Park Road, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom (g.e.tall@bham.ac.uk).

Note

[1] Code in brackets: H = home student, O = overseas student, Y = Yemeni student. The number provides a unique identification for the student. PT = part-time student, FT = full-time student.

References

Hofstede, G. (1991) Cultures and Organisations: software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill.

Shaw, M. & Welton, J. (1996) The Application of Education Management Models and Theories to the Processes of Education Policy-making and Management: a case of compound cross-cultural confusion, paper for inclusion in the book of the Kuala Lumpur conference: Indigenous Perspectives of Education Management.

Statistical Year Book (1994) (Ministry of Planning and Development, Republic of Yemen: Central Statistics Organisation). D

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Tilstone, T. & Miller, C. (1999) Delivering a Staff Development Programme across Cultures. Who Has Special Needs? unpublished paper, University of Birmingham.

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