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The Panther University International Accelerator Program (IAP) A Program Evaluation
Boney, James
Boney, James
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Thesis/Dissertation
Date
2020
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Educational Psychology
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http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/274
Abstract
While it is true that a variety of research has been conducting regarding the acculturation of international students to U.S universities, little research is available on the impact of international accelerator programs (otherwise known as pathway programs) on international student adjustment. This dissertation focuses on how the International Accelerator Program (IAP) affected the student satisfaction of new undergraduate international students enrolled at Panther University for Fall 2016.
Responses from 115 first-semester undergraduate international students in the IAP (treatment group) were contrasted against 92 first-semester international students not in the IAP (control group) by employing an independent measures t-test. The survey included questions measuring academic, cultural, and satisfaction attitudes along with one demographic category.
The sample above was used to run two multiple regression analyses to determine how well the adaptation categories predicted academic and cultural satisfaction. Responses from 79 students in the IAP were also compared via repeated measures t-test to their earlier responses in an IAP Survey conducted as part of the IAP coursework.
The emerging themes from the research included (1) academic success, (2) personal initiative, (3) cultural risk-taking, and (4) cultural engagement. By the end of the Fall 2016 term, the course participants tended to be more informed with regard to the full array of programs at Panther University and how to utilize university services than their nonparticipant counterparts. They also endeavored to be more involved in the campus community, engaged more with domestic students, and were more willing to explore their surrounding environment.
However, while the IAP does seem to provide a launch-pad for student learning, the moderate results of the study did not provide strong evidence of substantial academic adaptation in the three and a half months of the 2016 Fall term for the IAP students. More specifically, even though the IAP provided a significant learning environment for participants in terms of how to be successful students at Panther University, as a variable, participation in the IAP was not significant.
Recommendations for practice and future research included IAPs designed solely for undergraduate and graduate international students to be included in a comprehensive international student engagement strategy and expanding research into IAPs to include a domestic-student component.
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