Promoting outbound student mobility by mapping the barriers and drivers and developing the current situation through students’ perspective : Case: Centria University of Applied Sciences
Halkola, Elina (2020)
2020
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024060721988
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024060721988
Tiivistelmä
Internationalisation is one of the most current and permeable forces of higher education. It exists in various ways and retains a wide range of elements from at home to abroad. One of the foremost elements of internationalisation is student mobility, which has become one of the key elements of internationalisation of higher education. However, there has been a decrease in the numbers of outbound student mobility and it concerns the higher education institutions.
The development research was commissioned by Centria University of Applied Sciences. The aim was to find ways to promote outbound student mobility by mapping the student perceived barriers and drivers, and developing the current situation and practices through students’ perspective.
The knowledge base of the research consists of three main themes. It introduces internationalisation of higher education as a comprehensive concept, discusses student mobility in higher education as whole and as a key function of internationalisation opens a few outlooks on developing student mobility.
The research was executed as an applied research, following the first steps of design research. The barriers and drivers were surveyed with an online student survey and the current situation was viewed by journey mapping during a development day. Development proposals were derived from the results of student survey and development days.
The results from the survey showed, that the most common barriers were responsibilities in home country of study, financial issues and lack of individual guidance. Barriers and drivers were emphasized differently between students been or applied and students not been interested nor applied for an exchange. Some of the current information channels and practices were not seen as the best possible.
Development proposals suggested considering different students and personal life situations, providing for all study formats, exploring new ways for providing services, ensuring the information is transparent and easily accessible at any time and providing the staff with adequate tools and knowledge for supporting their students. Making the survey annual and conducting interviews might be useful for further action and provide deeper understanding and follow up.
The development research was commissioned by Centria University of Applied Sciences. The aim was to find ways to promote outbound student mobility by mapping the student perceived barriers and drivers, and developing the current situation and practices through students’ perspective.
The knowledge base of the research consists of three main themes. It introduces internationalisation of higher education as a comprehensive concept, discusses student mobility in higher education as whole and as a key function of internationalisation opens a few outlooks on developing student mobility.
The research was executed as an applied research, following the first steps of design research. The barriers and drivers were surveyed with an online student survey and the current situation was viewed by journey mapping during a development day. Development proposals were derived from the results of student survey and development days.
The results from the survey showed, that the most common barriers were responsibilities in home country of study, financial issues and lack of individual guidance. Barriers and drivers were emphasized differently between students been or applied and students not been interested nor applied for an exchange. Some of the current information channels and practices were not seen as the best possible.
Development proposals suggested considering different students and personal life situations, providing for all study formats, exploring new ways for providing services, ensuring the information is transparent and easily accessible at any time and providing the staff with adequate tools and knowledge for supporting their students. Making the survey annual and conducting interviews might be useful for further action and provide deeper understanding and follow up.