This study aims to address the challenge of identifying the potential of the universities’ digital environment in relation to increasing the level of international students’ engagement in the educational process. The assessment of the existing experience of using digital tools in teaching is presented, and the difficulties of their use in teaching are revealed. The authors identify the possibilities of universities for digitalization, as well as the potential of improving the digital environment of the university to increase the involvement of foreign students in the learning process. According to the results of the study, the main aspects of digital transformation have been determined to increase the involvement of students in the educational process, such as improving the quality and accessibility of multimedia and visual content, including creative tasks in digital resources, using various services, improving online communication interaction, and using simulation computer environments.
Keyword(s) : international students
Survey of Indian Medical Students’ Adaptation in Kazakhstan: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Academic Dimensions
This study investigated international students’ adaptation experience in a higher education
institution. A sociological survey was conducted among one hundred and seventy Indian students in
their first and second year of medical studies at West Kazakhstan Marat Ospanov Medical University,
Aktobe, the Republic of Kazakhstan. Against the background of many studies in this field, this topic
is contextualized within the higher medical education system in the western region of Kazakhstan.
The study helps to improve understanding of such phenomena as international students’ dimensions
of psychological, sociocultural, and academic adaptation. The differences in the various dimensions
of adaptation from the gender perspective and the year of study were investigated. The impact of the
adaptation level on the students’ study achievements was assessed.
The study results demonstrated challenges in psychological adaptation in the first-year international
students, which decreased over time. The differences in the psychological, sociocultural, and academic
adaptability between girls and boys were not statistically significant. Second-year international
students felt more emotionally comfortable and psychologically safe in the group, and this reflected
their high grades GPA. Based on the findings, the authors propose recommendations on how to
improve the international students’ comfortableness in the Kazakhstani university setting.
Improving Foreign Language teaching for International Students
The processes of internationalization and globalization are ubiquitous. The growing number of international students in universities prompts the necessity of research into the best ways of teaching and learning the language of a host country. Language is a connecting link of prime importance in building up an efficient and suitable educational environment for an international student in a foreign country. This qualitative study sought to identify the most effective practices of teaching the host language as second language in leading universities of two countries: Germany and Russia. We interviewed ten teachers in each university regarding the specifics of organizing courses to teach the host country language as a second language. Our analysis revealed the difficulties teachers usually face in their work with international students, as well as effective methods and models of teaching international students. We interpret these findings using a framework for English Medium Instruction proposed by Dafouz and Smit (2012).