International students want to keep some lectures online – survey

International students want a hybrid learning model with around a third of lectures taught online, according to the results of a major survey.

The annual International Student Barometer, which publisher Tribal i-graduate says is the world’s largest student survey, indicates that internationally mobile students who want a purely in-person learning experience are in the minority.

The survey, which draws on responses from more than 120,000 international students across 17 countries, found that just 8 per cent of international students globally would like all of their lectures to be online, and only 10 per cent would like all their tutorials to be virtual.

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Around a quarter said they would prefer to have none of their lectures online, according to the results from 146 universities.

“The key reason for this preference for a hybrid learning model seems to be around flexibility, allowing students to balance their studies with other commitments such as work, family or personal pursuits,” said Kyla Steenhart, director of Tribal i-graduate New Zealand.

Ms Steenhart also noted that international students appeared to value having access to online recordings of lectures that they could rewatch, which were likely to be particularly useful for non-native students struggling with what had been said.

She added that the ideal balance of online and in-person learning “varies from student to student depending on personal circumstances”, but the global average proportion of lectures that international students would like to be online was 36 per cent.

The data, which was collected between October and December last year, showed that the majority of international students did not want more than 30 per cent of lectures online, with only a quarter of students wanting more than half of their lectures to be online.

Computer science students were those most likely to want online lectures, preferring 45 per cent to be virtual. By contrast, those doing social studies wanted just 31 per cent online.

Chinese and Nigerian students had the highest average preferred proportion of online lectures (40 per cent), with German and American students preferring less online (30 per cent and 31 per cent respectively).

Post-pandemic, Ms Steenhart said, universities could theoretically return to full in-person delivery, but she urged them to listen to the clear preference of international students for hybrid learning.

“Institutions need to consider what delivery modes they will offer going forward and how these can be optimised for both academic quality and student satisfaction,” she added.

The report found that just 70 per cent of international students were satisfied with their overall learning experience during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, Ms Steenhart said, universities adapted at speed and feedback had improved since then.

“Institutional improvements to pedagogy and systems have paid dividends in student satisfaction with online learning, with a large increase in satisfaction in the year following the initial response, and a gradual year-on-year increase in satisfaction since.”

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com