TechTrends (2017) 61:479–485
DOI 10.1007/s11528-017-0209-x
ORIGINAL PAPER
Methods and Strategies for Working with International Students
Learning Online in the U.S.
Michael Kung 1
Published online: 17 June 2017
# Association for Educational Communications & Technology 2017
Abstract With the increase of internationalization and globalization in higher education, more international students are
arriving at U.S. higher education institutions, especially from
China. At the same time, the increase in online courses and
programs at U.S. colleges and universities has led to many of
the international Chinese students taking online courses while
in the U.S., whether voluntarily or involuntarily. This article
discusses methods and strategies for working with international students in online courses and ways to effectively teach
them (with a stronger focus on Asian learners) based on
existing literature and the results of a phenomenological study
of six international graduate students. There is a demonstrated
need for the instructors to be more culturally aware when
teaching to improve the online learning experiences of international students although the international students themselves also need to be more prepared for online courses.
Recommendations are provided for instructors as well as international students.
Keywords Chinese students in U.S. . International student
perceptions . Online learning
Introduction
With the increase of internationalization and globalization in
higher education, more international students are arriving at
* Michael Kung
mkung@ufl.edu
1
University of Florida, 130 Architecture Building, PO Box 115701,
Gainesville, FL 32611-5701, USA
U.S. higher education institutions, especially from China
(Institute of International Education 2016). In the 2015–16
academic year, over 1 million international students were reported as studying at U.S. colleges and universities, a 7.1%
increase over the past year (Institute of International
Education 2016). International students now account for over
5% of total U.S. higher education enrollment, contributing an
estimated $30.5 billion to the U.S. economy and according to
census data conducted by the Institute of International
Education (2016), 32% of the international students in the
U.S. in 2016 were from China alone.
These increases demonstrate the need to study and understand current cultural issues with these international students in
order to ensure they receive a quality educational experience, as
academic relationships established during a student’s time in
higher education often continue even after a student returns to
his or her home country. Increased communication between
people from different cultures has led to a dramatic increase
in international collaboration in terms of volume, scope, and
complexity (Yang et al. 2014). For instance, China and the
U.S. are already each other’s top collaborator in terms of science research with both governments funding scientific cooperation and providing support (Wagner et al. 2015).
Understanding international students, their experiences, and
their cultures is key to making these collaborations work.
At the same time, another key development in higher education has been the increase in online courses and programs as
they become more ubiquitous across U.S. colleges and universities. After over a decade of continual growth in online
programs and courses, there are virtually no public higher
education institutions that do not offer some sort of online
program or course, and approximately one out of every three
higher education students are taking at least one online course
(Allen and Seaman 2014). When academic leaders were surveyed, 90% felt that it was likely or very likely that all higher
480
education students would take at least one online course within the next five years (Allen and Seaman 2014). This has led to
many of the international students taking online courses while
in the U.S., whether voluntarily or involuntarily (e.g., when a
required course is only offered online). It should be noted that
according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
while international students on a F1 visa are not allowed to
pursue online degree programs in the U.S., they can be permitted to take one online course per semester or hybrid
courses when certain conditions are met (BSEVP’s
Governing Regulations,^ n.d.).
In the paper, I will discuss what can be done for faculty,
administrators, and staff to become more culturally aware and
culturally sensitive, as well as what the students themselves
should be doing to plan for an online course. These will also
include practical strategies for working with international students in online courses and ways to effectively teach them,
with a stronger focus on Asian learners. The target audience
will be for any educator working with international students
with the goal of trying to create a better educational experience
for everyone involved.
The recommendations will be divided into two sections.
The first section will be targeted for faculty, staff (which includes instructional designers), and administration. With roles
and duties often being intertwined, the recommendations in
this section can be useful for all positions and do not necessarily only apply to one role or another. The second section
will contain suggestions for international students taking online courses, although domestic students taking online courses
may find the information useful as well.
TechTrends (2017) 61:479–485
volunteer participants and not based off of objective learning
performance data.
Overall, the participants of my study had similar basic
opinions and demonstrated that culture was a big influence
on how a student behaved and what the student expected from
their classes. According to all the participants, the most important factor affecting their online learning experience was
the instructor (due to cultural issues); the format of the course,
whether face-to-face or online, was not as important. Only
when there was an experienced instructor did other factors
start to come into play, such as structure of the course, available resources, or activities.
This study investigated three research questions: 1) How
do certain Chinese students in the U.S. view participation and
discussion in the online classrooms?; 2) What do certain
Chinese graduate students report as differences in expectations and influences from previous educational experiences
in China?; and 3) What types of support do the participants
believe can help Chinese students in an online course in the
U.S.? The results of research question 3 were especially relevant for this paper as the participants all offered useful suggestions such as the need for improved interaction in the online classroom, supplemental content provided by the instructor, increased instructor guidance, and even program level
changes. Some of the recommendations from the participants
could be easily addressed by the instructor, such as holding
virtual office hours for distance students, while others would
require more work from the instructor, such as creating fill-inthe-blank PowerPoint templates for students to use when taking lecture notes or attending training on intercultural communication. All the recommendations could help make the online
course experience in the U.S. less stressful for Chinese students and have been echoed by existing literature.
Data Sources
The recommendations provided in this paper are based on
existing literature, combined with my own experiences and
observations, in addition to the results of a phenomenological
study of six international graduate students from Asia. The
participants in the phenomenological study were international
graduate students from China or Taiwan, and each had varying
levels of online learning experiences. For the purpose of this
article, the term Chinese will refer to anyone born in mainland
China and Taiwan. All the participants had taken at least one
online course after they had arrived in the U.S., and some had
experiences with online courses while in their home country.
This meant they had the advantage of experiencing both the
Eastern and Western education teaching styles and could provide a first-hand comparison. The data from their interviews,
combined with course review data, provided me with the essence of the participants’ lived experiences and their perceptions towards online courses. However, it is also important to
emphasize that these experiences are subjective perceptions of
Recommendations for Faculty, Staff,
and Administration
When it comes to teaching international students, each instructor has his or her own personal teaching experiences,
and similarly, the experience of each international student
also varies. From my observations, a variety of factors need
to be considered when considering international students taking an online course in the U.S. such as the student’s own
culture and the host culture, the student’s experiences with
online courses, the instructor’s experience with international
students, and the instructor’s experiences teaching online.
With all these factors coming into play, both instructors and
students can easily become anxious or confused. However,
by following some simple strategies, this can help be
prevented. As an added benefit, the instructor can also apply
these strategies to both their online and face to face teaching
due to the nature of the subject matter.
TechTrends (2017) 61:479–485
Intercultural Communication Training
Many of the challenges faced by instructors can be assuaged
by intercultural communication training. While it is unlikely
that faculty will purposely cause a poor learning experience
for their students, some online instructors simply lack international experience and cultural awareness (Liu et al. 2010;
Wang and Reeves 2007). As described by the participants
and current literature, the instructors need cultural awareness
training to improve the education experience for both the
instructor and the students. Wang (2006) emphasized that instructors especially need to keep an open mind to cultural
differences, and specifically, the instructors need to learn
what culture is and how culture affects communication and
learning. Chen and Starosta (1998) described how intercultural communication training can increase a person’s own communication skill while lessening the chance of misunderstandings during intercultural interactions.
Many types of possible training exist to teach these skills
and can range in format from an online course to a workshop. The following is one suggestion for a possible training
program. The training would include information about
cross-cultural awareness and intercultural communication in
general, how to become more aware of one’s own expectations and biases, as well as general information on specific
cultures, which could be determined by instructor interest or
by the number of international students from each country. It
would be designed for a live session or as a self-paced online
module, and could include brief presentations, case studies,
sharing of cultural experiences, and role playing activities.
By the end of the training, the instructors would need to
demonstrate cultural sensitivity competency, such as by revising one of their current course’s curriculums to be more
culturally sensitive. To test the effectiveness of the training,
Bennett and Hammer’s Intercultural Development Inventory
(1999) could be given to each trainee to see where each
instructor lies on the Bennett’s Developmental Model of
Intercultural Sensitivity (Durocher 2007) and if they change
after completing the training. The stages to this include ethnocentric stages (denial, defense, and minimization) and
ethnorelative stages (acceptance, adaptation, and integration)
(Durocher 2007), and the instructors could also receive specific custom training based on their stage.
It is important to note that the purpose of the training would
be to teach the instructors about cultures, how to adapt, stereotype understanding, and how to further develop intercultural skills on their own, not to try to teach them everything
there is to know about a target culture. Trying to do this would
be Bunethical at best and dangerous at worst^ (Martin 1986, p.
110). A culture is incredibly complex and accurately simplifying culture for a training is difficult; it is too easy to oversimplify the culture. Though the training would mention what
a specific culture is typically like, it would reinforce that it is
481
up to the individual to identify their own biases and learn how
to become culturally sensitive to all cultures.
Along with cultural awareness training, instructors could
also create acculturation orientation workshops for the international students that would be available online. These workshops would provide the students with answers to common
challenges and expectations and provide support for international students. For example, topics could include local customs, U.S. laws, safety tips including how to prevent scams,
basic financial management, and dealing with conflict with
advisors and professors. Most importantly, it would prepare
international students for what they will face as they become
immersed in the U.S. culture. Since the workshop could be
packaged into an online course or video, it could become a
requirement for all incoming international students to view.
The workshops could be used by university international centers to help other international students and could also be
shared with international universities who are sending their
students to the U.S. to study.
Target Audiences
Intercultural communication training should be offered to everyone who works with international students, especially online international students as the online component adds an
additional layer of complexity to the challenges an international student already faces. While some positions may benefit
more from the training due to increased interaction with international students, globalization in the world today makes it
difficult for someone to not encounter an international student,
especially in the academic arena. Training can be offered to
faculty who teach online courses, as well as face-to-face
courses, and it would also be useful for faculty and staff
who collaborate with international peers or travel abroad for
conferences or business.
In addition, it would be useful for student advisors to attend
cultural sensitivity training along with the faculty. Many
times, advisors and program assistants are the first line of
contact for international students, and in fact, may even be
the first native English-speaking person an international student has contacted, ever. For international students, they may
already be more reluctant and passive when it comes to seeking advising, and any sort of setback in the advising process
could dissuade or discourage them from seeking the assistance
they truly need. One of the international students from this
study specifically brought this up in his interview. When he
was trying to get a question answered about his online program (not a course related question), he said that his emails
were not answered on time and that they were often forwarded
to other departments. As an international student, not being
able to get a clear answer was a stressful experience for him.
While this situation is not unique to just international students,
it can be daunting for students who are already uncomfortable
482
trying to reach out for help. Having training can prepare the
advisors for the types of challenges the international students
tend to face. The training would prepare the advisors to become more empathetic towards the students’ situations and
how to appropriately handle the situation.
When to Offer Training
When it comes to training, getting the target audience to attend
is one of the major difficulties. If the workshops are voluntary,
participation rates would not be high, and the instructors who
voluntarily attend most likely have an interest already and are
more willing to change. If the workshops are mandatory, the
instructors may become resistant and might attend without
paying too much attention to the content.
However, based on my experiences, I have found some
opportunities that are ideal times to reach out to instructors
(this may vary based on each institution’s new employee policy). Organizing cultural sensitivity training during new faculty and staff orientation is a good chance to reach out, especially before they have become engrained with each department’s culture. At this point, the instructors are usually new
and more impressionable, and would be more willing to go
through cultural sensitivity training. This is also an opportune
time to look out for supporters or champions, who truly understand the importance of intercultural communication training and want to learn how to work with international students.
These supporters can then assist in advising or organizing
other workshops and can also demonstrate to senior faculty
the benefits of completing this type of training.
Another ideal time to offer intercultural training is during
workshops for teaching online. Teaching online is quite different than teaching in a face-to-face classroom setting, and
since the attendee is already going to be learning many new
techniques, they may be more open to learning other new
concepts as well. Many workshops and training are already
available for faculty new to teaching online, and it would be
simple to add a module on working with international students
while teaching online.
Cross-Cultural Instructional Design
Another recommendation is to consider cross-cultural instructional design when creating an online course. Since many
authors claim that online education is an education model
developed in the West and later adopted globally, when online
education is used to teach Eastern students, culture becomes a
major issue (Rogers et al. 2007; Wang 2006); if the core pedagogical values in one culture clash with those of another,
conflict will arise (Wang and Reeves 2007). For instance,
Eastern instructors are not familiar with the constructivist idea
of changing the passive student into engaging the student to
become part of the learning environment. This idea is not new
TechTrends (2017) 61:479–485
and has been investigated previously. Chan (1999) described
several issues that faced Western instructors: the applicability
of Western concepts to China; lack of student participation in
classroom activities; limited use of training techniques like
case studies and role-playing; inefficiency of group discussions; and the need to be teacher led.
While research has been done to explore pedagogy, instructional design, and task and assessment design to improve
cross-cultural online learning (Yang et al. 2014), cultural training is often overlooked in instructional design. Besides the
instructors, instructional designers also need to be culturally
aware when designing courses. Indeed, the increase in internationalization should have designers reevaluating how to integrate culture in design (Tracey and Unger 2012). A lack of
diversity in instructional design may put international students
at a disadvantage and affect their equal participation in online
learning due to language challenges (Liu et al. 2010). Rogers
et al. (2007) conducted a study on cultural competence and
instructional design and revealed that instructional designers
were not immune to the influences of their own Bcultural
blinders^ (p. 198). Part of the reason why cultural diversity is
often overlooked is because of a lack of time and resources as
creating culturally sensitive instruction for learners may require
the designers to quickly educate themselves on cultural differences and consider the effects they have on instructional design
and delivery (Rogers et al. 2007; Tracey and Unger 2012).
Culture is not something that can just be objectified as a factor
to be added into the design of an online course. Designers also
need to remember that there is no one-size-fits-all method for
creating a course. For instance, if the designer is following an
ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation,
and Evaluation) design for a cross-cultural situation, the analysis should take up much more than just a fifth of the time due
to the additional effort required.
As an example, one of the key issues pointed out by the
participants of this study was the need for interaction in the
online classrooms. Though Chinese students themselves may
or may not interact with the instructor and classmates, they
still need and expect to have an instructor in the online classroom, leading them and providing strictly guided instruction
(Liu et al. 2010). The instructors themselves may feel that
there is no need for too much interaction in the classroom,
but the international Chinese students may see this as an
instructor not doing his or her job. For instance, one participant from my study revealed that she felt the professor did not
do his job because he used pre-recorded lectures from the
previous year. The concept of the student taking charge of
their own education is foreign to the Chinese international
students. The instructors need to be prepared for this and find
ways to gently ease the international Chinese students into a
U.S. online course.
In sum, most instructional designers are aware of some of
the cultural considerations, but only have a limited awareness;
TechTrends (2017) 61:479–485
they know there are differences between themselves and their
target culture audience but do not quite know what these differences are (Rogers et al. 2007). To create a welcome online
course for international students, all instructors and instructional designers working with international students should
receive some sort of training or workshop experiences to become more culturally sensitive and aware. The training should
cover the recommendations provided by the literature and by
the participants in this study, further discussed below.
The participant suggestions for improvement overall reinforced the current literature on possible recommendations.
Multiple authors have provided their ideas of what should be
done by instructors and designers to create culturally responsive courses (e.g., Collis 1999; Ku and Lohr 2003; Liu et al.
2010; McLoughlin and Oliver 2000). Extending from the current literature and participant data, I have created a general list
of instructional considerations when working with international students for instructors and course designers.
Although designed for the online environment, instructors
and designers working with international students in a traditional classroom setting may also be able to benefit by following some or all of these recommendations:
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
Use a balanced mix of asynchronous and synchronous
communication, multimedia, external resources, and instructional materials to increase student engagement
Encourage students to interact with classmates and instructors in and out of class, such as having students create
their own social media network groups
Establish a network of former students willing to mentor
or guide new students as they adjust to the online course
Include an ice breaker assignment as having students
introduce themselves at the beginning of a course is a
good way start establishing a classroom community (and
also discreetly allows the instructor to identify international students)
Provide frequent and regular feedback, as well as emphasize student input to help keep students engaged and remind students of the instructor’s presence
State clear expectations and include examples and summaries when possible to help avoid miscommunication,
assumptions, or ambiguity
Be flexible and adaptable with course assignments and
interactive activities, as they may need to be changed
based on the student makeup
Incorporate features that accommodate different cultural
pedagogy and learning styles (such as increasing instructor presence) to prevent students from feeling lost or feeling dissatisfied with the online learning experience
Remind students and instructors to speak slowly during
synchronous sessions to provide international students a
better opportunity to follow and participate in the conversation and not become discouraged if they fall behind
483
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
Recognize, appreciate, and cherish cultural differences,
while avoiding cultural stereotypes to create a more welcoming environment for international students
Build up self-confidence at the start of courses by slowly
scaffolding skills required to succeed in course; this allows
students to ease into the online learning environment
Organize smaller groups to provide greater interaction between students and assign all students a role in the group
so no one gets left out
Ensure learning activities build on diversity and provide
bridges to students’ own culture, such as providing culturally specific case studies or examples or asking students to
share about their own culture
Provide opportunities for academic guidance and personal
and program support to limit feelings of isolation and
abandonment
Design and expect for minimal technical knowledge and
computer skills as each student’s technology experience
will vary
Complete cultural sensitivity training or review customs
and learning styles of different cultures to better empathize
with the international students
Recommendations for Students
International students taking an online course will encounter
many challenges, but there are steps that can be taken to help
make their learning experience more successful. The following recommendations may be most useful for new or incoming international students, but current international students or
domestic students in online courses may find it useful as well.
Establish Contact with Peers and Classmates
International students often feel isolated and alone, and this
feeling is often magnified when in an online course (Ku and
Lohr 2003; Wang 2006; Wang and Reeves 2007). Both the
participants I interviewed and students from multiple studies
in the literature also reported that they are more reserved
than domestic students and will sometimes feel isolated
and alienated, especially due to language issues (Ku and
Lohr 2003; Wang 2006; Wang and Reeves 2007). This can
be addressed by actively trying to establish contact with
peers and classmates.
This initial contact can be established even before the international student has arrived in the U.S. while the international
student is still in his or her home country. Most universities
have student organization representing various countries, and
the organizations are usually willing to provide support for
new students. Reaching out to these organizations or even
contacting a university’s international center can provide an
484
incoming student with useful guidance. International students
can also search for alumni through social media networks, and
these alumni are often willing to provide all kinds of advice,
from living accommodations to which courses to take.
Once in the U.S., support can also be provided by classmates
whether in an online class or face to face course. Forming study
groups with classmates is an effective way to achieve this and
can improve the online class experience. Many international
students may find it demanding and challenging at first, but
participating will help build their confidence and assist in the
creation of relationships. It makes a big difference for the international student when he or she realizes that others have going
through the same processes as them and have the same questions and anxieties. As an example of this, one of my participants pointed out that in her class, all the students introduced
themselves in the discussion board. She was pleased that she
could refer back to the discussion board when she had forgotten
what one of her classmate’s research specialty was. In a live
class, the students might introduce themselves, but she would
not be able to remember faces, names, and backgrounds. In the
online course, she was able to contact the classmate because
they had similar research interests, which led to her eventually
having an online support community.
Complete Assigned Tasks
While this recommendation seems simple, it is quite often
misconstrued. This can be intentional or completely accidental
due to language miscommunication, but if the instructor provides instructions, the international students need to know
they are expected to complete the assigned tasks. The instructors usually work hard preparing for a course, so many questions an international student might have about an online
course can often be found in the syllabus or a course page.
The same can also be said when it comes to training. As
with faculty and staff, training is often regarded as a chore by
students and considered optional if no points are assigned to it.
However, necessary training can be listed as a required component in the syllabus, such as how to use an online content
management system. In this case, training can provide the
student with instructions on how to navigate the course, how
to view lectures, how to submit assignments, and so forth. The
students need to understand that the training serves a purpose
and is designed to pass along critical information that will help
the student succeed in the U.S.
Be Realistic of Online Course Expectations
A final recommendation for international students is for them
to think carefully about whether the online format is appropriate for them and to be realistic of what to expect. An online
instructor may be able to assist with this by preparing an
online preparedness document for each international student
TechTrends (2017) 61:479–485
to review at the start of class, when the student is still able to
adjust their course schedule. Many international students take
an online course with preconceived notions, which may or
may not prove true in the online course. For instance, participants from my study revealed that online courses were more
work than they had expected, but also that they learned more
than they expected.
International students need to accept that the online course
format is going to be different than what they are accustomed
to. Online courses are quite different than a traditional face-toface course, especially if the student is not prepared for it. In
the U.S., online learners are expected to be independent, responsible, motivated, adaptive, able to learn with minimal
instructor guidance, and able to establish an online community
group. Any students who do not have all of these traits could
struggle with their online classes and may prefer to take faceto-face courses (Reisetter et al. 2007).
The participants in my study did not demonstrate all of the
expected traits of an online learner, especially since some of the
traits are the opposite of what the Chinese culture expects of
good students. For instance, online students are expected to be
able to work independently, but Chinese students are expected
only listen to the instructor’s lecture and memorize the lesson
content (Chan 1999; Liu et al. 2010). The participants in my
study were mainly fixated on the instructor and what the instructor did or did not do in the class since the instructor is the
most important aspect of the course to them. Any activities,
such as group discussions or talking with peers, was not as
good as receiving a lecture and could not be considered true
learning. Western ideas of learning by discussion go against the
Eastern idea of learning by lecture (Liu et al. 2010), and the
international students were not prepared for this in the course.
Concluding Remarks
Internationalization and globalization in higher education are
increasing, and it is crucial to be prepared as more and more
international students arrive at U.S. higher education institutions. International students will encounter difficulties in all
aspects of adjusting to the U.S. culture, so having a better
understanding of them will make it easier for higher education
institutions to assist them. By combining the reported data
from the participants in this study with existing literature, I
was able to come up with suggestions on how to improve
cross-cultural awareness for instructors and students. With
the rise of international Chinese graduate student enrollment
in U.S. higher education institutions, these results can be used
to assist the institutions in creating a more welcoming and
effective online course experience for international students.
As educators, it is also crucial for the instructor to be there to
support the international students, especially Chinese students. The instructor and designer both need to be aware of
TechTrends (2017) 61:479–485
culture and keep it in mind when designing and teaching a
course with international students.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Conflict of Interest Author A (Michael Kung) declares that he has no
conflict of interest.
References
Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. (2014). Grade change: Tracking online education in the United States, 2013. Babson Survey Research Group and
Quahog Research Group, LLC, 3(5).
Chan, S. (1999). The Chinese learner – a question of style. Education and
Training, 41(6/7), 294–305. doi:10.1108/00400919910285345.
Chen, G.-M., & Starosta, W. J. (1998). A review of the concept of intercultural awareness. Human Communication, 2, 27–54.
Collis, B. (1999). Designing for differences: Cultural issues in the design
of WWW-based course-support sites. British Journal of
Educational Technology, 30(3), 201–215.
Durocher, D. O. (2007). Teaching sensitivity to cultural difference in the
first-year foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals,
40(1), 143–160. doi:10.1111/j.1944-9720.2007.tb02858.x.
Institute of International Education. (2016). Open doors report on international educational exchange. Retrieved from http://www.iie.org/
opendoors.
Ku, H., & Lohr, L. (2003). A case study of Chinese student’s attitudes
toward their first online learning experience. Educational
Technology Research and Development, 51(3), 95–102.
Liu, X., Liu, S., Lee, S., & Magjuka, R. (2010). Cultural differences in
online learning: International student perceptions. Educational
Technology & Society, 13(3), 177–188.
485
Martin, J. N. (1986). Training issues in cross-cultural orientation.
International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 10(2), 103–116.
doi:10.1016/0147-1767(86)90001-5.
McLoughlin, C., & Oliver, R. (2000). Designing learning environments
for cultural inclusivity: A case study of indigenous online learning at
tertiary level. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 16(1),
58–72.
Reisetter, M., LaPointe, L., & Korcuska, J. (2007). The impact of altered
realties: Implications of online delivery for learners’ interactions,
expectations, and learning skills. International Journal on ELearning, 6(1), 55–80.
Rogers, P. C., Graham, C. R., & Mayes, C. T. (2007). Cultural competence and instructional design: Exploration research into the delivery
of online instruction cross-culturally. Educational Technology
Research and Development, 55(2), 197–217. doi:10.1007/s11423007-9033-x.
SEVP’s governing regulations for students and schools. (n.d.). Retrieved
April 21, 2017, from https://www.ice.gov/sevis/schools/reg#wcmsurvey-target-id.
Tracey, M. W., & Unger, K. L. (2012). A design-based research case
study documenting a constructivist ID process and instructional solution for a cross-cultural workforce. Instructional Science, 40(3),
461–476. doi:10.1007/s11251-011-9184-3.
Wagner, C. S., Bornmann, L., & Leydesdorff, L. (2015). Recent developments in China-U.S. cooperation in science. Minerva, 53(3), 199–
214. doi:10.1007/s11024-015-9273-6.
Wang, H. (2006). Teaching Asian students online: What matters and
why? PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning, 15, 69–84.
Wang, C.-M., & Reeves, T. C. (2007). Synchronous online learning experiences: The perspectives of international students from Taiwan.
Educational Media International, 44(4), 339–356. doi:10.1080/
09523980701680821.
Yang, J., Kinshuk, Yu, H., Chen, S., & Huang, R. (2014). Strategies for
smooth and effective cross-cultural online collaborative learning.
Educational Technology & Society, 17(3), 208–221.