Facilitating Effective Engagement of International Students to Achieve Academic Success

Higher education is becoming increasingly globalized and internationalized， and the number of international students studying in U.S. institutions of higher education is continuously growing. Based on the Open Door Report， there were 819，644 international students in America during 2012-2013 academic year， and 886，052 international students during 2013-2014 academic year （2014）. International students have contributed to their own success， campus diversity， campus internationalization， and also the U.S. Economy. In order to provide improved educational programs and services， an understanding of how students perceive their learning experiences is detrimental. It is not enough to enroll international students in U.S. institutions of post-secondary education; it is important to help them， retain them， get them involved， and develop them.

The necessity of persisting international students

Persisting international students has profound influence and significance on economy， political， and academy. According to The Institute of International Education （IIE）s website， the United States has been the destination of choice for most foreign students seeking to study abroad in the twenty-first century. For economy， as an example， the 2003 Open Doors Report noted that， in the 2002/2003 academic year， international students contributed $12.9 billion dollars to the U.S. economy， making higher education the countrys fifth largest service sector export. From a political point of view， “educating the future leaders of foreign countries helps spread U.S. political values and influence， creating goodwill towards the U.S. throughout the world” （NAFSA： Association of International Educators， 2003）.

Academically， international graduate students have become a key component of teaching and research in higher education， particularly in the scientific fields. International students obtain the understanding of U.S. culture， and meanwhile they can also help broaden American students minds by the perspective of internationalization and globalization; and American students can also appreciate different cultures around the world. This process can improve students international awareness to adjust to globalization. Carini， Kuh， and Zhao （2005） assert that there are educational value-added properties of having international students on campus. The value-added properties include international university students academic skill， added cultural insight， resulting potential strategic partnerships， global good will， and revenue generation.

International students differ from the majority student population in terms of cultural and academic preparation for university and employ various strategies to be successful. This presents a challenge to educational leaders to understand how international students perceive their engagement in academic behavior. In order to let international students gain better college experience and achieve their academic success， more effective engagement should be involved.

The relationship between student engagement and academic success

Student engagement has been related to academic success for domestic students in previous literature and has been deeply discussed and researched. Student behaviors and institutional characteristics are considered to be the most powerful contributors to learning and personal development. Student engagement is correlated with academic performance and personal development. A diverse body of educational research has shown that academic achievement is positively influenced by the amount of active participation in the learning process. Greater involvement will lead to better college experiences， and it will also impact the outcomes of students. Therefore， the more actively engaged students are， with college faculty and staff， with other students， and with the subject matter they study， the more likely they are to learn， to stick with their studies， and to attain their academic goals.

Student engagement always includes a psychological and behavioral component， and it also is a sense of belonging and participation also indicated that “college students learn more when they direct their efforts to a variety of educationally purposeful activities”. Based on this， in order to assess the extend of student engagement， National Survey of Student Engagement （NSSE） established five benchmarks of effective educational practice based on 42 key questions： level of academic challenge， active and collaborative learning， student-faculty interaction， supportive campus environment， and enriching educational activities. International students reported gaining more in thinking critically and analytically， and acquiring a broad general education. However， they had lower engagement in student-faculty interaction which enriching educational experience benchmarks. Literature described the direct relationships between student engagement and academic success. Researchers discussed the relationship between student engagement and academic performance of international undergraduate students. The researcher s mixed-method study looked at the relationship between engagement and academic performance as measured by GPA. The researcher explored and described a paradox where international students， who seem to have lower than average campus involvement， had higher than average GPAs. International students were found to be more engaged in activities that are positively correlated to GPA， including library and computer use， reading unassigned material， hours on academic work， use of the scientific method， and experimentation. Their means are lower on personal and social engagement， including acquainting with peers， asking friends for help， and talking to counselor or staff， which are negatively related to GPA.

For international students， they are lack some degree of cultural capital， and this situation give their relative inexperience with American educational institutions. Thus international students are placed at a disadvantage to engage academically. Foot （2009） researched how international students perceived their academic engagement activities by researching academic engagement patterns that emerged among international students at a Midwest regional state university. This research was also based on the NSSEs framework， and by a qualitative case study with focusing groups which were comprised and sorted into newly arrived and experienced international students and further sorted into geographically or culturally similar groups where possible. And the cultural differences are central to international students experience and may impact their academic engagement in various ways. International students academic needs vary depending on country of origin and home culture and these needs change over time.  Ren and Hagedorn （2012） examined factors associated with the students academic performance in the United States. The findings indicated that factors associated with masters and doctoral students academic performances were greatly different. This study suggests policies， services and programs to meet this populations unique needs and to assist in their academic success in the United States. Also， Yebei （2011） described direct relationships between student engagement and academic success. This researcher examined the background and demographic factors that explain international student engagement， and found that background characteristics， such as past volunteering experience， parents education level， gender， length of residency in the U.S.， and socioeconomic status of the family， were important explanatory variables.

International student engagement is really important， in order to give them better college experiences and help them achieve their academic success as an major outcome. Also， the U.S. is facing competition from other nations who are increasingly attracting more international students， resulting in declining net numbers of international student applicants to U.S. institutions. According to NAFSA （2003）， the United Kingdom（U.K.） and Australia have achieved average annual growth rates of new foreign students in excess of 20 percent in recent years. The British and Australian success has heightened the competition for foreign students， and the U.S. may be losing its competitive advantage in the face of such combined governmental and institutional initiatives.

Therefore institutions that would like to continually attract and retain international students need to put into motion activities to increase their understanding of how international students participate in educationally meaningful activities. So after enrolling the international students; in order to persist these students， the institutions need to know how to help them， retain them， get them involved， develop them， and make them achieve their academic goal.

【作者簡介】唐欣雨（1992.08-），女，广西玉林人，西安医学院，助教，硕士研究生，研究方向：英语教学，高等教育。