The Application of American Models to the Experiences and Outcomes of Canadian and International Students Studying in Canada
Author: Grayson, J. Paul
Date: 2005-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Students,International Education,Universities,Grade Point Average,Educational Objectives,Outcomes of Education,Academic Achievement,Study Abroad,Credits,Foreign Countries,Educational Experience,Models,Educational Benefits,Educational Quality

The presence of international students in universities has several benefits for the economies of students' countries of origin, the host country's economy, and international and domestic students themselves. Although increasing the number of international students may be a desirable objective, figures analyzed by the Canadian Bureau of International Education (CBIE) suggest that Canada is falling behind other countries in attracting foreign students. Despite the fact that models are often used in examinations of American educational outcomes, they have not been employed in studies of international students, nor have they been used extensively in Canada. As a result, there is little systematic information on the experiences of international and Canadian students and the relationship of these experiences to educational outcomes. In order to test the general utility of models developed in the US for explaining university outcomes of Canadian and international students, a three-year study is currently under way at four Canadian universities. As a first step in this research, a pilot study with two objectives was conducted at York University in Toronto. The first objective is to compare the experiences and outcomes of domestic and international students in their first year of study. The second objective is to test the applicability of a general model of student outcomes derived from examinations of American students to Canadian and international students studying in Canada. The specific outcomes examined are academic achievement, credit completion, and program satisfaction in the first year of study. With regard to objective one, it was found that in terms of outcomes, in the first year of study, there were no differences in the GPA and program satisfaction of domestic and international students; however, domestic students completed more credits than international students. With respect to the second objective, it was found that a general model based on American models emphasizing the importance of pre-entry characteristics, formal and informal institutional experiences, and external events had utility in explaining the outcomes under consideration. Importantly, there were no statistically significant differences in the models that related to domestic or international status. In terms of explained variance, the model was of most use in explaining, in descending order, completed credits (35% of variance), grades (28%) and program satisfaction (23%). While different outcomes were affected by different variables in the models, professor performance and not having problems meeting the expectations of others had the most consistent explanatory power. Findings such as these indicate that continually attempting to increase the quality of classroom instruction has multiple benefits for students. (Contains 7 diagrams and 2 tables.)