Search

The simultaneous global growth in higher education's student population and demand for English-medium instruction (EMI) have created various models of transnational education (TNE) partnerships that use EMI to recruit students and increase opportunities for international collaboration. Inevitably, in transnational collaborative efforts, stakeholders have far more conflicting considerations as they navigate multiple countries' academic policies and norms, diverse student, staff and faculty expectations, and the myriad of linguistic and cultural differences. In response to these concerns, this qualitative case study analyzed instructor discursive positioning in a TNE partnership between a US and a Vietnamese institution. Using a collaborative action research approach, this article features the experience of two instructors teaching in a TNE partnership using an EMI model in Vietnam. Using identity and positioning theory as guiding theoretical frameworks, instructors' and students' discourses were thematically analyzed. The findings reflect dominant discourses and language ideologies surrounding the "Englishization" of higher education, in addition to highlighting stakeholders' challenges of working between two institutions and having conflicting responsibilities as both instructors and administrative staff. Similarly, the students' interview data reflected their navigation of being participants at two universities with different academic systems and norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article responds to scholarly calls to engage with diaspora in the context of transnational educational mobilities in global higher education. It maintains that transnational academic mobilities produce a particular kind of academic diaspora, that is often valued by both home and host countries but in ways that vary and serve different interests and aspirations. While the contrasting perspectives on brain circulation and brain drain persist, what this article argues is that systemic inequalities are (re)produced through the processes of transnational academic mobilities, which privilege the mobility of some and not others, and at the same time under-value the home-grown academics and overseas-trained academics that return home. The current diaspora politics is located within this complex, hierarchical, and dynamic cultural, political and economic space. In particular, it pinpoints how the promoted desirability of diasporic brains and talents in policy and practice has co3ntinued to reproduce and consolidate academic inequalities. The article then argues for place-based/at home transnationality, seeing it as productive counter position to help reduce inequalities. The article employs self-study research and is informed by a bricolage of data on Vietnam and its Vietnamese transnational academic diasporas gathered at different points in time and in different contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

STEM education in Vietnam is prioritized, yet effective learning may be difficult for students attending transnational universities. The purpose of this study is to examine the self-regulated learning experiences of STEM undergraduate students attending a collaborative transnational university in Vietnam. Challenges included English language instruction and STEM-specific terminology. Despite barriers to their learning, students describe strategies for navigating their learning process. Strategies included extensive rereading of the material, using Google to look up new terms/ideas or to translate words, asking instructors for translation, and reviewing online resources. Implications for practice include instructors providing more detailed feedback and guidance and leveraging technology use for learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education institutions in Vietnam have embraced opportunities to collaborate internationally to address specific educational needs that have emerged as a result of an accelerated economic and political society. The shift to a global market-driven economy has resulted in the need to produce better prepared graduates, advance in technology, and a shift in teaching and learning practices. In this study, we examine the motivations of 22 Vietnamese graduate students to attend Vietnamese-German University (VGU). The site is of particular importance because VGU is a true collaboration between two different governments, resulting in a collaborative transnational university. The findings from this study indicate three connected pull factors for graduate students: instruction conducted in English, benefits of a German degree, and the low cost for an international degree. Implications from findings illuminate why Vietnamese graduate students make educational choices and provide insights on their academic experiences as they relate to societal priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses work-integrated learning program issues from the perspective of work supervisors of interns from a foreign university in an offshore market environment -Vietnam. Universities expanding their markets overseas must research all relevant aspects of the local environment when making operational expansion decisions, and continue research activities on an ongoing basis to ensure that program elements meet evolving local stakeholder requirements. At this stage in Vietnam, collaboration and communication between higher education and industry is rare. Therefore, this paper investigated work supervisors' perceptions of the university's WIL program, and their views on their own role in the intern's learning process. Their feedback about how internship processes can be improved can help guide the foreign university in Vietnam (FUV) to continue to deliver effective work integrated learning in Vietnam, as well as offer insights useful for other universities running WIL courses in overseas locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, there is little research into how Western universities can establish and implement effective WIL (Work Integrated Learning) in their offshore campuses. Given global concern with university graduates' general workreadiness, combined with a need for foreign universities to deliver relevant outcomes to its offshore students, greater insight is needed. This paper examines WIL in an offshore education context. It reports results from work supervisor evaluations of interns in a foreign university that delivers its WIL/internship program to undergraduate business degree students in Vietnam. Although preliminary results indicate that work supervisors are generally satisfied with intern performance on employability skill measures, the authors propose further research that would enable universities to deliver locally relevant WIL programs. The paper concludes by proposing WIL research initiatives aimed at incorporating richer communication and involvement with the company representatives/ frontline supervisors; understanding relevant factors of importance held by industry; and building closer connections with industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]