Supporting Offshore International Students: Creating a Community
Ms Kristen Sharma1
1Victoria University Of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
When Covid-19 hit, many international students returned to their home countries to continue studying remotely. Since then, new international students have enrolled at universities as offshore students doing remote learning, often with the hope of studying onshore once borders open. Remote learning poses some difficulties for students, with feelings of isolation and disconnection from peers and teachers being common (de Haas et al., 2020). To support the cohort of international students both academically and socially, Victoria University of Wellington piloted a weekly Chats and Tips session over the course of eight weeks. Staff from Student Learning (academic support) and Wellington University International (pastoral support) collaborated to run the 50-minute sessions over Zoom. Each session was based on an academic topic, but also facilitated social interaction in break out rooms. Contact outside these sessions was also encouraged. These sessions go some way towards mitigating the isolation issues caused by remote learning, particularly by giving an opportunity to ‘belong’ (Choy et al., 2002). They are an attempt to foster social support, as suggested by Wilczewski et al. (2021), McMurtrie (2020), and Chen et al. (2020). Students reported that they appreciated the sessions and felt ‘seen and heard’ by the university. They especially valued the chance to connect with other students in the same situation. This talk will describe the nature of Chats and Tips sessions, their implementation and promotion, and the benefits for students.
Biography:
Kristen is a Senior Learning Adviser at Victoria University of Wellington, where she has responsibility for Student Learning’s international programmes. Kristen has worked extensively as a teacher of English for Academic Purposes with international, migrant and refugee-background students. She is particularly interested in cross-cultural communication, and enjoys the reciprocal nature of ako (teaching and learning) with her students.