Perceptions of foreign professors’ engineering courses : Perspectives from professors and students

Abstract

Recognizing the rapid increase in the number of foreign professors as an important change in Korean higher education, this study examined perceptions of 7 foreign professors employed in Korean universities and 70 Korean college students concerning the effectiveness of foreign professors’ subject courses. Both quantitative (i.e., statistical analyses of surveys) and qualitative (i.e., thematic analyses of surveys and interviews) methods were used for this study. Regarding the foreign professor’s subject course, the students’ perceptions diverged into three types: positive synergy (i.e., effective in learning both content and English language), negative synergy (i.e., detrimental to content learning and no effect on English learning), and ‘if only’ position (i.e., effective only when students reach a high level of English proficiency). The study also found that the foreign professors emphasized their academic and professional expertise while paying little attention to English language use.