The digital explosion: It’s impact on international student achievement
Introduction
This study aims to address a gap in research regarding blended learning with a focus on digital interactive e-books and their impact on international students’ academic achievement within the UK. Higher education is a major economic contributor to the UK, with student numbers reaching 2,343,095 in 2017 (HESA, 2019). Due to its importance, much research has been conducted on improving the outcomes of students (Dziuban et al., 2018; López-pérez et al., 2011; Chetcuti et al., 2014; Jungic et al., 2015). However, there is a scarcity of research focusing on improving the attainment and experience of international students (Bartram, 2008; Madge et al., 2015). With numbers reaching 442,375 in 2017 (HESA, 2019), this is crucial considering the challenges these students face (Yu and Moskal, 2018; Norton et al., 2018). Due to the impact of both home and international students on the UK economy, and society as a whole (OECD, 2012; Madge et al., 2015), this is something that needs to be remedied.
Extensive research has focussed on the use of blended and flipped learning as tools to improve achievement with mixed results. Some research has found that blended and flipped learning enhance student interaction while others have found it does not as it relies on student independence and motivation (Boelens et al., 2017; Dziuban et al., 2018; Herodotou et al., 2018; Johnson et al., 2016). However, there is a lack of studies focusing on the use of digital interactive e-books, with the majority focusing on digital textbooks with no interactivity (Ju Joo et al., 2017; Junco & Clem, 2015; Smith & Carlin, 2012), and very often a lack of focus on the UK in comparison to the US. This distinction is important due to the social and political differences between the two countries (Norton et al., 2018). The rise of the so called education 4.0 (Dong et al., 2020; Hussin, 2018), along with wide scale changes to the social and technological environments in which students now find themselves (Judd, 2018), suggests that research is required in this area. Consequently, this research adds to the knowledge on the use of interactive digital technology as a form of blended learning, with particular focus on the impact on international students’ academic achievement. For the purposes of this study, impact on academic achievement is defined as a statistically significant increase in student marks. The key gap addressed is the lack of focus on interactive digital textbooks and their impact on international students studying in the UK.
The first part of this paper analyses the key changes that have occurred in higher education in recent years. The literature review then provides a critical analysis of blended learning and interactive e-books. The methodology adopted and the key results are then presented, before an analysis of the key research contributions. These include firstly the finding that interactive e-books significantly impact on student academic achievement, secondly the best way to engage students through summative, as opposed to formative assessment and finally the extension of the pedagogic theoretical literature on the international student population in the context of interactive digital technology. Suggestions for further research are then provided.
Section snippets
Changes in higher education
Now, more than ever, higher education establishments are facing an increasingly complex and competitive environment (Daniel, 2014). One of the complexities relates to the fact that, in recent years, numbers of international students in universities have increased dramatically (Brauss et al., 2015; OECD, 2012; Norton et al., 2018; Sablina et al., 2018; Holloway et al., 2012; Sidu et al., 2011). The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines an international student as
Methodology
A sample size of 399 Swansea University international master's students was used throughout the duration of this research. The students were from two cohorts, across two consecutive academic years (2017–2018 and 2018–2019). The international students countries of origin include China, Malaysia and India. Two modules, which took place during both academic years, incorporated the interactive e-book into the learning process. Data was obtained from students from both modules, across both academic
Results
In the first year of the study (2017–2018), Revel was optional for students and although it was an additional learning tool, students were not awarded with any marks for taking part in using it or completing the activities. Even so, 163 out of 225 students (72.4%) that were enrolled on the first module chose to use Revel. The uptake was much lower for second module, but almost half (46.3%) of the students still opted to explore the content and take part in the activities.
Although uptake levels
Discussion
The aim of this research was to investigate the impact of interactive e-books on academic achievement in a mainly international student cohort. The paper addresses a gap in the current literature through focusing on an international student cohort, the use of an interactive e-book as opposed to a traditional e-book, and through focusing on the UK. There are a number of key contributions that this paper makes, including the finding of the significant impact of interactive-e books on student
Author statement
All authors have seen and approve the final version of the manuscript being submitted. This is the authors own work, has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration with any other journal.
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