UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH WITH INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Abstract

Over the last decade, pedagogies have shifted toward high impact practices, asking students at US universities to engage in undergraduate research, for example. At the same time, the enrollment of international students, especially in the business and economics disciplines, has increased substantially until 2019. This study focuses on student performance and the pedagogical strategies of teaching a required undergraduate economics research capstone course with a majority of international students from China and South Korea. Differences between the pedagogical practices of the home and host countries are highlighted with reference to Confucian Heritage Learners. Ten years of performance data from the capstone course reveal that international students are more likely to successfully complete their undergraduate research experience than domestic students but earn lower grades in the process. This corroborates the hypothesis that Confucian Heritage Learners may struggle with undergraduate research requirements at US universities. A number of strategies are discussed that were implemented to help international students complete their capstone experience course. International students received focused help with ideation, application of the scientific method, language preparation and plagiarism, as well as cultural knowledge.