Internationalisation and
good academic practice
York St John: open workshop, June 2015
Pollyanna Magne
Educational Developer & Programme Director: PGCAP
p.magne@plymouth.ac.uk
In this session . . .
 Consider interpretations of
internationalisation
 Identify related agendas
 Discuss classroom strategies
 Consider internationalisation in the wider
context . . .
 . . . and how we might develop practice
accordingly
p.magne@plymouth.ac.uk
p.magne@plymouth.ac.uk
What is
internationalisation?
Internationalisation of HE: the integration
of an international/intercultural dimension into
all of the activities of a university, including the
teaching, research and service functions
(OECD, 1999).
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What are the issues around
internationalisation?
 a
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Common issues
related to internationalisation
 Arise from a lack of intercultural
awareness
 Are based around a deficit model,
which focuses on issues rather than
opportunities
(Bently et al, 2013)
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The problem with osmosis
Students are expected, with very little help or support,
to negotiate a pedagogic shift. In case of some cultures
the shift may be as extreme as . . . (Griffiths, 2001)
‘Filling the pot’
‘Lighting the fire’
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Developing intercultural understanding
What is behind each of these cultural practices?
 The British like to queue
 The British will offer a firm handshake,
other nationalities a much more gentle
handshake
 Some students will stand up to give an answer
Quatar and Iraq
 Some students will only use your formal title
African, Asian, American
 Some students may not cite sources
correctly in their work
Chinese, Norweigan, 18 yr old British
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Stereotype
+
Can offer a basic understanding of important cultural
behaviours
Can be unhelpful, may use
incorrect assumptions
Individual
Recognition of
cultural distinctions and the
individuality of the
person may offer better
understanding of needs
(Trahar, 2007)
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Supporting students: Case study
Plagiarism
‘The intentional use of other people’s words or ideas
without due acknowledgement’. (Race, 2001:18)
‘The act of passing off as one's own the ideas or
writings of another’ (Cornell University, 2006 [online]).
The submission for assessment of material (written,
computer-generated, visual or oral) or ideas originally
produced by another person or persons, without
clearly indicating that the material is not original, such
that the work could be assumed to be the student’s
own. (Plymouth University, 2012)
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Developing good academic practice
Plagiarism
For each of the following situations decide
whether the student(s) are involved in
plagiarism, poor academic practice, another
assessment offence, or acceptable practice.
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Saed began his essay by saying that the issue
of climate change was a much debated topic
at the time he was writing. Because he
believed this to be common knowledge, his
word limit was tight and he
knew it was unlikely to
provoke debate in itself, he
didn’t include any
reference.
A. Plagiarism
B. Poor academic practice
C. Other assessment
offence
D. Acceptable practice
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Amillie has submitted a piece of work that
includes new ideas, but also seems to
include a substantial amount of work that is
relevant, but that you recognise from another
assignment that she has previously
submitted. Is this plagiarism?
This is ‘self-plagiarism’
A. Plagiarism
B. Poor academic practice
C. Other assessment
offence
D. Acceptable practice
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Liz took lots of notes from different sources.
Her essay contained a couple of paragraphs
where she criticised an author’s work. She
wrongly believed that this material from her
notes contained ideas that she had thought
of herself, so she didn’t reference them.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Plagiarism
Poor academic practice
Other academic offence
Acceptable practice
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Chris is in the first year of his geology degree
and has severe dyslexia. His partner, June, is
good at language and writes his assignments
in discussion with him
A.
B.
C.
D.
Plagiarism
Poor academic practice
Other academic offence
Acceptable practice
‘The representation of work produced in
collaboration with another person or persons as
the work of a single candidate.’
(Plymouth University, Academic Regs, Asmt ofences 2.10)
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Mthanwe has clearly read around the subject
and used a range of sources to piece together
her essay. Some of these sources are
paraphrased and there are a number of direct
quotes in speech marks. All are properly cited,
but there is not much evidence
of her own development of the
key themes.
‘Patchworking’
A.
B.
C.
D.
Plagiarism
Poor academic practice
Other academic offence
Acceptable practice
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Joachim developed a number of themes which
drew from referenced material in the main
body of his text. He pulled these key ideas
together in his conclusion without using any
references in this section.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Plagiarism
Poor academic practice
Other academic offence
Acceptable practice
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Developing good academic practice:
What strategies do you already use?
A few useful techniques:
Classroom time on developing good information
literacy and academic writing skills
 Literature/source searches on relevant topics
 Comparing good and bad examples of
‘student’ writing against marking criteria
 Critiquing articles and developing argument
 Low stakes, short tasks to develop skills and
get fast feedback
Use expert support available at your institution
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Developing good academic practice
Identify the
(link)
significance
in relation to Implications
4
the central
focus (and
link to next
3
Support
paragraph)
Introduce your
Claim point. This
1
sentence directs
rest of paragraph.
2
Justification
Unpack the controlling
Use:
 Theory (& references) statement
Explain
 Evidence, e.g. case
studies, stats, images
 Analysis – your own
and other people’s
(Adapted from
p.magne@plymouth.ac.uk
Mitchell & Riddle,
2000)
Developing good academic practice
HE therefore has a duty to
integrate opportunities to
address this within the (link)
curriculum . . .
Implications 4
These differing
cultural practices
need to be
3
Support
understood.
Claim
1
Academic writing
practices vary across
international
boundaries
2
Justification
Different approaches arise
For example in Norway ‘positioning’ through the out of the accepted cultural
development of one’s own argument is
norms of a given context.
important (Ongstad, 2002), whilst in the UK it is
important for students to indicate how research
has informed those views (Pears, 2013). As
reported in Zhang and Zhou’s (2010) research
Chinese students may be unfamiliar with
(Adapted from
p.magne@plymouth.ac.uk
Mitchell & Riddle,
2000)
citation conventions as . . .
Flipping the classroom
Aaron Sam: Chemistry teacher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H4RkudFzlc
 Sets the scene
 Allows students to prepare
 Accessible
 Better use of class time to ‘do something with it’
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Flipping the classroom
What approach should you use when
some have not done the prep?
A. Ignore them and carry on
B. Tutor summary of key
points
C. Ask students to summarise
D. Design group activity which
enables all to contribute
E. Catch-up reading whilst
others do advanced task
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Listening to the student voice
Experiences of international students
https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/your-university/teaching-and-learning/inclusivity/inclusivity-student-experiences
Supporting, but not singling out
https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/your-university/teaching-and-learning/inclusivity/inclusivity-key-issues
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p.magne@plymouth.ac.uk
What is
internationalisation?
It is ‘transformative . . . a holistic approach in
which universities become internationallyminded communities, not simply institutions
with ever increasing numbers of international
students’ (Robson, 2011:626)
‘An international curriculum is designed for both
domestic and international students’ (Mark Brown,
2015)
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A paradigm shift is required
We need to shift from neo-liberal (economically
driven) to social-liberal (socio-ethical focussed)
paradigm?
Galleryhip.com
Stop thinking deficit – start thinking opportunities
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Internationalisation: . . .
Why?
We live in a globally interconnected world
 Vast array of new opportunities has created
need for greater intercultural understanding
(Koehne, 2006)
 HEIs recognise need to enable graduates to
operate effectively in 21st century (Bremner &
Van-der-Wende, 1995; Shiel, 2006)
 Rich source of opportunity (Magne,
2014)
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p.magne@plymouth.ac.uk
Developing ideas
 Design some classroom activities that could
be incorporated into your curriculum
 Develop ideas that could work across your
subject to share with your disciplinary team
 Put together strategic ideas for your
institution and identify appropriate channels
to propose, share or disseminate
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Feel free to leave me some feedback
Many thanks
p.magne@plymouth.ac.uk
p.magne@plymouth.ac.uk
References
Bentley, A., Magne, P. & Wyness, L. (2013) 'Creating an international curriculum: why
and how?'. Internationalisation conference. Plymouth University.
Brown, M. (2015) 'Internationalising the curriculum: teaching and learning for the new
digital world'. SEDA Spring Teaching Learning and Assessment Conference 2015.
Internationalising the Curriculum: What does this mean? How can we achieve it?
Manchester: 14-15 May 2015 SEDA.
Griffiths, S., Wisker, G., Waller, S., Illes, K. & Wu, S. (2001) 'The Learning Experience of
Postgraduate Students: Matching Methods to Aims'. Innovations in Education and
Teaching International, 38 (3). pp 292-308.
Magne, P. (2012) 'Gap analysis tool: towards transformative internationalisation'.
Plymouth University: Plymouth.
Magne, P. (2014) 'Internationalisation and curriculum development: why and how? Vol.
4: 3'. Journal of Pedagogic Development, 4 (3). pp 74-81.
OECD (1999) Quality and Internationalisation in Higher Education. OECD Publishing.
Ongstad, S. (2002) 'Positioning Early Research on Writing in Norway'. Written
Communication, 19 (3). pp 345-381.
Race, P. (2001) Assessment: A guide for students, York: LTSN Generic Centre.
Trahar, S. (2007) 'Teaching and learning: the international higher education landscape
some theories and working practices'. ESCalate Discussion in Education series.
Zhang, Z. & Zhou, G. (2010) 'Understanding Chinese International Students at a
Canadian University: Perspectives, Expectations, and Experiences'. Comparative and
International Education, 39 (3).
p.magne@plymouth.ac.uk