This research sought to examine the different teaching preferences of international students, with specific attention to the differences between STEM and non-STEM students’ preferences, to identify the promising teaching practices for teaching linguistically and culturally diverse international students. Researchers found that the student respondents described their experience with the teaching practices they experienced as positive. There was little difference in responses made by STEM and non-STEM students regarding their most preferred and least preferred teaching practices, or recommended teaching practices’ changes. Looking at the 22 teaching practices in which there is a statistically significant difference between STEM and non-STEM students regarding student satisfaction and perceptions of learning, the study identified many similar responses, with differences noted primarily in knowledge transmission, culturally-responsive teaching, and diversity and inclusion.
As North American postsecondary educational institutions continue to expand enrolment of international students, there is a growing need to ensure that instructors incorporate promising practices for teaching international students into their teaching. In order to achieve higher student satisfaction and perceptions of learning, instructors need to implement new teaching strategies that may better engage international students and analyze their role in facilitating their learning experiences abroad (Smith, Zhou, Potter, & Wang, 2019). This will require use of teaching strategies appropriate to the area of study. This is especially true for instructors who teach STEM and non-STEM subjects.
As further research is contemplated, there is a need to learn about international student preferences for both STEM and non-STEM students at other levels, including additional language instruction, lower-level undergraduate studies, and upper-level undergraduate studies. It may also be helpful to examine student teaching preferences for STEM and non-STEM students at other institutional types (e.g., community colleges), as well as within secondary schools.
This study had limitations that need to be acknowledged, which may limit generalization of the results. This study was conducted at one mid-sized, Canadian university and incorporated responses from only 27 student participants, most of which were students in course-based or thesis-based graduate programs. While research findings help to understand differences between the student preferences regarding the selected teaching practices, care should be taken in generalizing results beyond the research site.
Notwithstanding these limitations, this study demonstrates that there is little difference between STEM and non-STEM responses on most of the promising teaching practices. Differences noted are more in terms of priority given by each group, with STEM students more focused on knowledge transmission and non-STEM students preferring to construct knowledge through student engagement, group work, and class discussion. The research also found a clear preference by non-STEM students for culturally responsive teaching, and teaching practices that consider diversity and inclusion.