Transnational Higher Education Research Articles

THE IMPACT OF LEARNING STRATEGIES ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF TRANSNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS (TNE)

This study investigates the impact of learning strategies on the academic performance of transnational higher education (TNE) students. In the context of Pakistan, where traditional rote-learning methodologies are prevalent, this research focuses on understanding the learning strategies adopted by transnational university students and their influence on academic outcomes. The rote-learning methodology is a traditional technique adopted by the students in higher education degree programs in the universities of Pakistan. This technique has made domestic students the passive recipient of information during their lectures in classrooms and hence influence their learning outcomes (Bal-Taştan et al., 2018). The study aims to bridge the gap in research regarding the correlation between learning strategies and academic performance among transnational students. The significance of this study lies in its potential to shed light on how learning strategies affect academic success and satisfaction levels among TNE students. The research employs a cross-sectional, quantitative, survey-based approach to gather data from transnational students enrolled at the IVY College of Management Sciences (ICMS) in Lahore, Pakistan. The collected data is analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The findings reveal that learning strategies, particularly microstrategies and keys of memory and metacognition, are significantly correlated with academic achievement. Moreover, student satisfaction levels are also positively associated with academic performance. The results suggest the need for targeted training programs to enhance learning strategies among students and promote a deeper understanding of the relationship between learning approaches and academic success.

TRANSNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION AND E-LEARNING: A SPECTRUM OF OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES, AND FUTURE IN THE POST-PANDEMIC REALM

Higher education providers across the globe are confronting overwhelming disruptive patterns due to the COVID-19 epidemic. which has dramatically reshaped the face of global higher education. Transnational higher education (TNHE) is gaining traction as a method of bringing globally renowned learning to students' doorsteps. With competition heating up again following the disruption to foreign student flows caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, demand for global study opportunities closer to home is expected to surge, opening new opportunities for transnational education projects around the world. To deliver the same student experience as before the COVID-19 pandemic's temporary switch from the typical teaching practices setting to remote online learning, however, has been challenging for all parties. However, TNHE can assist in the rebuilding of the post-COVID-19 international education system. The difficulties that TNHE programs are currently encountering are examined in this essay along with prospective consequences on teaching, learning, and student assistance as the post-COVID-19 educational landscape evolves. This research is supported by both a detailed analysis of the literature and unofficial data from many parties. It also examines the best way to build a strong transnational education environment over the next ten years in order to improve the standard and sustainability of international higher education.

CONCEPTUALIZING PERCEIVED BENEFITS AND STUDENT ENROLMENT INTENTION

Innumerable research has been done on perceived benefits in transnational higher education, such as Desire, career aspirations, and Diverse Program Options, and how these facts could affect Student Enrollment Intentions. The concept of factors persuading students to select a TNHE program has always discussed several other factors such as Facilitating Conditions, Institutional Reputation, Perceived Price Value, Convenience, and so on. However, this study discovers the relationship between Perceived Benefits and Student Enrollment Intention with three dimensions in place, such as Desire for a western-based education, Diverse program options, and Career Prospects and the author would conduct a much more extensive literature review with a combination of statistical analysis that discusses the relationship. It was also identified with the literature support that Educational Aspirations mediate between Career Prospects and Student Enrollment Intention for which a thorough statistical backing would be discussed in this chapter. Since it is easy to understand by internal and external stakeholders and has theoretical, literary, and statistical support, the study "Perceived Benefits and Student Enrolment Intention Framework" is topical and pertinent. The framework guides those wishing to develop curricular and pedagogical initiatives to increase student enrollments in TNHE.

Increasing critical language awareness through translingual practices in academic writing

This study examines a student's translingual practices and language ideologies in her academic writing process in a transnational higher education (TNHE) context to explore how translingual practices can help increase students' critical language awareness (CLA), which has been found to prevent under monolingual ideologies. A case study was adopted to collect the student's screen recordings, stimulated recall interviews, and written products pertaining to one of her academic writing projects. The findings reveal a translingual feature of her language practices but a monolingual orientation to her language ideologies. This mismatch indicates the necessity of raising students' CLA in TNHE contexts, especially those with an English medium instruction (EMI) policy. Pedagogical implications, such as involving translingual practices in self-reflective writing, discussing social justice issues based on these translingual writing practices, and promoting rhetorical agency by challenging native speakerism/monolingualism, are provided to help increase CLA through translingual practices in EAP writing education. This study enriches the theoretical purport of scholarship on translingual practice (Canagarajah, 2018) and argues for the pedagogical values of increasing CLA through translingual practices in EMI-TNHE contexts.

China’s Regulatory Framework for Transnational Higher Education: Development, Impacts, and Rationales

China’s regulatory framework for transnational higher education (TNHE) is important for foreign higher education institutions (HEIs) to access the Chinese education market and for TNHE to operate in China. First, this research synthesizes China’s regulatory framework for TNHE. Second, through documentary analysis, this research examines policy development and its impacts on TNHE. Third, through institutional logics analysis, this research analyzes the rationales for policy development. It finds that the development of TNHE is driven by China’s development demands, the forces of social demands, and the challenges of globalization. China is expanding its openness to education by allowing for-profit, foreign majority-owned, and wholly foreign-owned HEIs and granting them legal status and more autonomy. TNHE is transiting from quantity to quality, China has established a quality assurance system. In the meantime, the development of TNHE is restricted by China’s concerns on national educational sovereignty. China always emphasizes its educational sovereignty and social values. This suggests that China aims to utilize TNHE to serve its development while guaranteeing its educational sovereignty and social values.

Benefits and Challenges of Transnational Education: Reflections From a Sino-British Joint Venture University

Since the turn of the 21st Century, the higher education sector has witnessed a proliferation of transnational education arrangements, including joint venture universities. Concurrently, there has been a surge in published literature on transnational higher education. While the current literature on transnational education explores various issues including with respect to regulation, management, quality assurance, and impact, there is a deficit of lived accounts of the benefits and challenges of transnational education from teacher perspectives and pedagogic tools used to deal with language and learning culture differences in transnational education settings. Based on the author’s own experience in a Sino-British joint venture university in China, this paper draws on in-class observations, reviews of seminar recordings, informal conversations with students, and anecdotal reflections to highlight the potential of using student audio podcasts to mitigate oral reticence and increase interactions in lectures and seminars.

Gateway cities for transnational higher education? Doha, Dubai and Ras al‐Khaimah as regional amplifiers in networks of the ‘global knowledge‐based economy’

AbstractThis paper investigates how the developmental ambitions of governments to attract university offshore campuses to Doha, Dubai and Ras al‐Khaimah and these universities’ internationalization strategies affect the three cities’ positionalities. It links interdisciplinary literature on globally uneven geographies of higher education to geographical debates on the intermediating role of cities in regional and global economies. The paper conceptualizes the three cities as a triadic ensemble of gateways for transnational higher education (TNE), thereby contributing to further theorization of gateway cities. The paper shows that the three cities fulfil two crucial gateway functions. First, they connect internationalizing universities with particular student segments from their regional hinterlands seeking access to TNE. Second, they thereby amplify and disperse hegemonic regimes of the globalising knowledge‐based economy in their regional hinterlands. While all three cities share similar functions and rationales, they also have distinct positionalities rooted in different strategies of the respective governments.

Servicescape in transnational higher education: the effects of campus design, physical environment and facilities on student experience and satisfaction

ABSTRACT Previous research suggests that campus design and facilities may influence students’ institution choice, perceived teaching and learning quality, student experience, and student satisfaction. However, to our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the possible benefits of a new purpose-built campus in a transnational education setting from the student perspective. It was found that campus design, physical environment, and facilities may influence students’ choice of institution, but these have less weight than other factors such as the university’s reputation and teaching quality. Most students believe that opportunities for higher quality teaching and learning exist at the new campus, as all participants reported that the new teaching rooms have improved layouts and incorporated more technology. Also, most students perceive their overall student experience at the new campus as good or excellent, and every participant rated their overall satisfaction as the same or higher at the new campus compared to the old campus. No student was less satisfied with the new campus. The research findings suggest that institutions and students may both derive considerable benefits from a new purpose-built campus that has been well-designed and constructed.

Challenges and success factors of transnational higher education: a systematic review

ABSTRACT This paper provides an analysis of the literature on transnational education to identify the key challenges and success factors for the sustainable operation of transnational higher education (TNE) programmes as perceived by key stakeholders. Probing the stakeholders’ perspectives and applying a systematic approach, this study analyses 227 English-written articles retrieved from the Web of Science database published from 2000 to 2021. Key challenges identified include difficulties in managing the TNE programmes, ensuring quality assurance, adapting the curricula to the local contexts, accommodating offshore students’ learning styles, creating studying environments for TNE students equivalent to those in the home institutions, ensuring preparedness of the academic staff, and facilitating the knowledge transfer in the host countries. The analysis also highlights six factors for the sustainable development of TNE programmes, including the effectiveness of the operations, the internationalization of the curricula, the transnational experience of the students, the development of the transnational staff, the existence of a proper regulatory framework in the host countries, and the development of a global systematic data collection for quality assurance. In addition, the evidence collected suggests that while the transition from domestic into a foreign programme can be rewarding, it demands appropriate planning and implementation.

Universities Need a Social License to Operate and Grow: Reflecting on the University-Community Engagement of two Transnational Universities

Transnational higher education is big business. However, it is unclear what transnational universities must do to behave in a responsible way or to gain a social licence to operate. Examining the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) and Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), we discuss what universities could do to gain approval from host communities. They have to meet home and host country regulations, and the expectations of local communities and other stakeholders. Consideration of their social licence and of the negative and positive social impacts they create will contribute to their reputation and ability to access local knowledge. To earn a social licence to operate and grow, universities must understand and respond to their local context, share benefits with local communities, and have effective community engagement practices. In the universities we studied, there was limited information provided to community stakeholders and poor stakeholder engagement. However, high levels of trust from residents existed, partly because of the good reputation of universities generally.

Research trends in English as a medium of instruction: a bibliometric analysis

ABSTRACT This study reviews 105 articles concerning English-as-a-medium-of-instruction (EMI) taken from the Web of Science database (2005–2021). The growth trajectory, the productivity, co-citation analysis, and bibliographic coupling were performed to present the procedural change, the ‘hotspot’ themes, influential publications, authors, countries, sources, and knowledge domains. The trajectory development of EMI increased steadily from 2018 onwards. The most influential authors are identified as Piller, Cho, Kuteeva, Mattoo, Neagu, and Özden. The most influential journals are Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Comparative Education, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Current Issues in Language Planning, Higher Education, System, and RELC Journal. Effectively, the most influential countries are Australia, the People’s Republic of China, Sweden, the UK, the USA, the UAE, Spain, Singapore, Denmark, Japan, and South Africa. The research fronts cover numerous key topics on EMI policy for achieving internationalisation, practices of EMI programmes, trans-languaging/bi-lingual/multi-lingual education in EMI, the effectiveness of EMI in higher education, and the challenges of EMI implementation, such as ‘nativeness’ and national identity. Hotspot themes emerge and the potential trends are trans-languaging, teacher development, and trans-national higher education. The results may serve as a framework for educators, administrators, and policymakers to pursue EMI practices.

How am I supposed to feel? Female students’ emotional reasoning about academic becoming in transnational higher education

This article centres on female students’ reasoning about their emotional (re)actions during the process of academic becoming. It builds on an ethnographical study of students’ subjectivity processes at a jointly run Sino-Danish university in Beijing. The article draws on a theoretical framework called emotional reasoning, bridging Sara Ahmed’s notion of emotionality and Thomas Popkewitz’ rules of reasoning, to investigate the affective structuring of students’ reasoning about academic identities in transnational education. The study elucidates how students’ reasoning about their opportunities for academic transformation is connected to racialising hierarchies of gendered and aged emotional characteristics. These interlockings can be read as reflections of the unequal interlocking of power relations in a transnational educational space. The study illustrates that, within this space, the students gain differentiated affective opportunities to act, depending on whether their bodies are surfaced as white-young-female or Chinese-young-female.

Transnational higher education partnerships in China: exploring the impact of Chinese students’ intercultural communicative competence on their motivation to study abroad

ABSTRACT This study explores how transnational higher education partnerships in China influence Chinese students’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and their motivation to study abroad. There is a growing trend for Chinese students to experience cultural diversity. However, not much research has been conducted to understand how transnational higher education (TNHE) partnerships play a role in preparing students for motivation and cultural skills. The current research is a qualitative case study of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, a university exemplifying TNHE partnerships in China. Byram’s model of ICC, published in 2009, was adopted as the basis for deductive thematic analysis. Research findings show that Chinese students purposively choose to study at a TNHE university for its English teaching and learning environment. This research found that TNHE partnerships in China positively affect students’ ICC development, and that ICC plays an important role in their intention to study abroad.

Neo-tributary geopolitics in transnational higher education (TNHE): a regional analysis of Sino-foreign higher education partnerships

ABSTRACT This research explores how geopolitics and ‘Neo-tributary’ relations influence the distribution of TNHE partnerships in China. Specifically, this research situates China’s TNHE cooperation in policy reforms and designs since 2010, and explores how geopolitics influences the regional practice of re-organisation of the joint programmes between 2018 and 2020. The findings show that, on one hand, China’s central government prioritises the TNHE partnerships in China’s local regions: East China, Central China and West China; and on the other hand, alongside the traditional partner countries, such as the UK and the US, the emerging BRI region enjoys more new Sino-foreign HE partnerships than other foreign partners. This research develops the discussion based on the categories of trade and diplomacy linkages; cultural assimilation; and image building (Pan, Su-Yan, and Joe Tin-Yau Lo. 2017. “Re-Conceptualizing China's Rise as a Global Power: A Neo-Tributary Perspective.” The Pacific Review 30 (1): 1–25.), and concludes with some of the implications of these trends on the ‘new’ geopolitics of knowledge in a Neo-tributary system.

Impact of Information Communication Technology Strategies on Learning Effectiveness

Transnational higher education is a multinational growth strategy requiring a foreign direct investment to establish a university or a campus in a new country and, if possible, to use articulation agreements with credible partners to increase domestic enrolment. Due to the potential international student learning style differences, we hypothesized there may be difficulties teaching Information Communication Technology (ICT) courses in transnational strategies due to the student origin or domestic campus location. The purpose of this study was to examine if student learning was effective within ICT graduate courses at an accredited sub-Saharan Africa-based university implementing the transnational education strategy. We found student learning was effective, but paradoxically, some factors indicated unusual results. Learning impact was higher when students disregarded the learning objectives, which we were able to explain theoretically. Conversely, learning impact was higher for many students who avoided tutoring, which we also rationalized.

The common factors underlying successful international branch campuses: towards a conceptual decision-making framework

ABSTRACT The last 25 years have witnessed the emergence of the International Branch Campus (IBC) as a means of providing Transnational Higher Education (TNE). The growth in the number of IBCs has not been without examples of failure and in some cases controversy, necessitating informed decision-making on the part of university leaders contemplating such a venture. Based on a systematic review of literature concerning the motivations for establishing IBCs; the drivers of sustainability and longevity; and case studies of successful and unsuccessful ventures by UK universities, this paper identifies key characteristics of successful IBCs. It proposes a framework – combining strategic, leadership, academic, financial and operational factors – for use by decision-makers in determining whether to establish and how to manage an IBC.

The Student Experiences of Teaching and Learning in Transnational Higher Education: A Phenomenographic Study from a British-Qatari Partnership

Transnational higher education (TNHE) of UK universities has been noticeably expanding during the last two decades in the Arab Gulf region, but few studies investigated qualitatively the different ways in which students in that region experience both teaching and learning. The aim of this study is to understand the ways that students conceptualise their learning and educational experiences at a British TNHE in Qatar. Employing a phenomenographic approach, we interviewed forty students in a TNHE UK programme within a Qatari higher education institution (HEI). The outcomes of our interviews generated three hierarchically related categories as follows: developing academic skills, acquiring self-learning skills, and acquiring employability skills. Our findings also suggest themes of interdependence in learning and transferability of skills developed by students. This study offers HEIs a better understanding and insight into the design of TNHE programmes that would respond to the students’ learning experiences and educational development.

Understanding International Joint and Dual Degree Programs

This empirical article examines the policies, perspectives, and practices of building and developing cross-border and transnational higher education (TNHE) programs, with special attention given to the international joint and dual degree programs in North America and Asia. Specifically, this paper reviews the historical, political, and social dimensions of two international collaborative academic degree programs between the United States and Mainland China using Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI) and Sun Yat-set University (SYSU) as the case study. Findings suggest that IUPUI’s most cited challenge with SYSU concerns alignment with general education requirements. On the other hand, SYSU’s biggest challenge with IUPUI concerns language and cultural differences. This article offers five recommendations for teacher-scholars, policymakers, and advanced practitioners interested in developing, designing, and implementing dual degree programs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Implications for future research on and applications and practices for TNHE programs are discussed.

Student evaluation of sino-foreign cooperative universities: from the perspective of internationalization of higher education

ABSTRACT With the development of globalization, transnational higher education is gradually becoming an essential means for many countries to achieve internationalization. Nowadays, Sino-foreign cooperative universities and programmeshave been turned into an important form of internationalization of Chinese higher education, increasingly attracting the attention among policy-makers and academic researchers. This paper focuses on student satisfaction with Sino-foreign cooperative universities by both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Based on the case study, the development trend of Sino-foreign cooperative universities is discussed. Therefore, this paper is of far-reaching significance in improving the student satisfaction of Sino-foreign cooperative universities and promoting the internationalization of other ordinary public universities in China. Through the mixed empirical methods and case study approach, this paper found that the student evaluation of Sino-foreign cooperative universities shows the characteristics of “integration” that effectively absorbs the maternal resources and characteristics of both Chinese and foreign parties, and also realizes self-management and education innovation.

Academic Careers in Transnational Higher Education: The Rewards and Challenges of Teaching at International Branch Campuses

This research investigates the attitudes, working conditions, experiences, and job satisfaction of academic staff employed at offshore campuses. An online survey questionnaire was completed by 72 academic staff in 10 different countries, which included China, Malaysia, Qatar, the UAE, and Vietnam. It was found that the desire for adventure and travel, and to experience a foreign culture, were the most popular motivations for working at an offshore campus. Common challenges and disadvantages of teaching at an offshore campus are the lack of job security, support for research, academic freedom, and opportunities for development and advancement. However, such academics often have motivated students, smaller class sizes, greater autonomy at work, fewer meetings, higher disposable income, and less of the ‘publish or perish’ culture. Almost three-quarters of our research participants believe that it is possible to have an attractive career teaching in transnational education, at offshore campuses.