Project title: Building bridges to strengthen mental health among International students

Background
The move into higher education can be challenging for all students. International students
face additional challenges including those relating to adjustment, cultural differences and
language difficulties. These issues have the potential to impact on mental health. Although
some studies suggest that International students are less likely to experience poor mental
health than their local counterparts (Said, Kypri, & Bowman, 2013), most studies indicate
that the reverse is true. International students are more likely to experience distress (Lu,
Farran, Johnston, Wootton & Titov, 2014) and anxiety (Rosthenthall, Russell & Thomson,
2008) than domestic students.
English proficiency and academic success both act as protective factors (Roshethal, Russell
& Thomson, 2008; Wong, Jourbert & Chan, 2007). Forbes-Mewett and Sawyer (2011) and
Pan, Wong, Jobert, and Chan (2007) agree that differences in culture play a big role. Students
who expect a transmissionist style of education and come from cultures where the group is
valued may find it incredibly hard to adapt to an education system where individualism is
more dominant but that paradoxically socially constructivist approaches to education are
used. This suggests that cultural competence in International students is helpful as it makes it
easier for students to understand pedagogical approaches in Australia.
Cultural competence is also an issue for domestic students. The beliefs, behaviours and
feelings of local students can impact on how welcome International students feel. Bianchi
(2013) draws a link between feeling unwelcome and loneliness among International students.
Jia-Yan, Wong, Joubert (2007), Kashmia & Loh (2006) and Lin (2012) all agree that
relationships play a vital role in promoting feelings of connectedness among International
students and their overall mental health.
Aims of the study
The aims of the study include:

Identifying possible links between social support and mental health and how these

links may differ depending on whether one is a domestic or an International Student.

Improving the experiences of International students studying in Higher Education
Improving the experiences of domestic students studying with students from
culturally diverse countries

Improving the capacity of course designers to build inclusive curriculum and employ
pedagogical approaches that bring students from diverse backgrounds together for

mutual benefit
Improving the capacity of educators to facilitate courses that are designed to build

bonds between students from diverse backgrounds

To develop a guide for best practice in supporting International Students.

Significance and innovation of the proposed study

Students from overseas studying in Australia contribute a great deal to the economy. For
example, in the financial year 2010-2011, students from overseas added $16.3 billion dollars
to the Australian economy (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011). Furthermore 20% of
students studying in Australia are International Students (Australian Bureau of Statistics,
2011). It is true that there are financial benefits to retaining and attracting International
Students, however educators also have a moral obligation to ensure that the well being of
International students is considered.
Expected outcomes / implications for practice
This project has the potential to equip teaching staff to better respond to the needs of
International students. As a consequence, International students are more likely to have a
better experience while studying which in turn may mean they achieve better educational
outcomes.
Research plan: Methodology (including sampling, data collection, and data analysis)
The research plan is divided into two parts:

Part 1 A comparative design

Part 2 Participatory action research
Part 3 A quasi-experimental study

Part 1
The first part of this research plan involves an assessment of students from an earlier teaching
period who have studied the unit and are now studying at a second year level. A comparative
design will be used to establish whether the relationship between social support, mental well
being and cultural competence.
Participants
Potential participants are 1490 students who were enrolled in a first year onboarding subject
on Communication and Scholarship in teaching period 2, 2015 and submitted at least one

assessable task. Data about age and gender will be drawn from Salesforce (the database
where student records are retained)
Materials
Each participant will be provided with a link to an electronic survey (using Google Forms).
This survey will contain a plan language statement, a demographic questionnaire, the General
(GH) Subscale of the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36v2) (Ware & Sherbourne, 1992);
Modified Cultural Competency Self-assessment Questionnaire (M-CCSAQ); the Depression
and Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS 21) (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1985) and the
Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet & Farley, 1988).
Demographic questionnaire: A demographic questionnaire will be used to elicit information
about gender, age, language spoken at home, status as an International or domestic student,
highest level of educational attainment prior to enrolment, marital status, socioeconomic
status (as measured by income), employment status (number of hours worked each week) and
other responsibilities (caring for children, caring for parents, community responsibilities)
General (GH) Subscale of the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36v2): This survey is
designed to be used with all people. It captures information beliefs about ones health now, in
the future and in comparison with others.
Modified Cultural Competency Self-assessment Questionnaire (M-CCSAQ): This survey
covers the general concept of culture, specific cultural content, stereotyping and racism and
access. This survey has been shown to have content validity and internal consistency (Godkin
& Savageau, 2001).
Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS 21): This survey is designed to assess
depression, anxiety and stress. This survey is suitable for clinical populations and members of
the wider population.
Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Support: This instrument contains three subscales
relating to different types of social support. A 7 point Likert scale is used to assess the degree
to which students feel supported by different categories of social support.
Data analysis: Bivariate correlational analysis will be conducted to identify possible
confounding demographic variables including general heath and well being. Bivariate
correlational analysis will also be used to identify whether any significant relationships exist

between the three key variables of interest: Social support, mental health and cultural
competence. Hierarchical regression will also be used to see whether social support is a
predictor of mental health. A step wise hierarchical regression will also be used to identify the
relative contribution of cultural competence and social support to mental health.
Part 2
A Participatory Action Research will be used to evaluate current practices and identify areas
for development. This will include a number of stages:
Stage 1 Working with a group of facilitators to identify:

Feelings about International students

Ideas about best practice
Challenges associated with working with International students

The participants will be 4 to 6 educators with experience delivering the first year unit
(Communication and Scholarship) focussed on in part 1. These will be selected from a pool
of existing teaching staff on a volunteer basis. If possible, the educators will vary in age,
background and ethnicity. The information will be gained through semi-structured
interviews.
Stage 2 Working with students (International and local) to identify:

Positive and negative experiences associated with interacting with others from other

cultures in an educational setting

Factors that enable interaction with people from other cultures in an educational

setting
Factors that act as barriers to interaction with people from other cultures in an
educational setting

The participants will be a mix of International and local students who have studies in the unit
Communication and Scholarship. Information will be gained through one to one interviews.
Stage 3 Developing a set of draft guidelines utilising the information gleaned in stages 1
and 2
Stage 4 Communication with the lead Instructional designer to identify ways in which the
unit may be improved to better create links between students from culturally diverse
backgrounds.

Stage 5 Reworking the learning materials.

Stage 6 Delivering the new course
Part 3
The activities carried out in part 1 will be replicated with the new iteration. A comparison will
be made between the outcomes of part 1 and part 3 to identify whether:

The changes made in part 2 have impacted on the experiences of students

The degree of impact

In addition comparisons will be made between measures of success in part 1 (completion

rates and GPA) with the same measures in part 3.
Ethical considerations
The issue of informed consent is reliant on participants understanding the material in the
plain language statement. It is possible that not all International Students will understand the
material. It is recommended that the plain language statement also be provided in key
community languages.
There is a degree of deception as the participants will be informed that their opinion on their
experiences at university is sought as disclosing the true nature of the study may impact on
how the respondents answer. This deception is relatively benign.
Asking questions about social support and overall well being may cause some participants to
feel distress. Links to university counsellors and phone counsellors will be provided.
Participants will be debriefed. This will be done by email for those responding to the survey
who indicated that they wished to hear about the study outcomes. Participants involved in
group or face to face interviews will be involved in debriefing face to face or telephone. Care
will be taken with the data to ensure that anonymity is protected. The data will be deidentified and securely stored. Participants will also be informed of their right to withdraw.
Study limitations
This study looks generally at social support. A greater focus on types of social support
particularly the role of peers would enhance the study. The study is also limited only to those
students studying a first year unit online. As such, the results may not be readily transferable
to other contexts (such as face to face or online).

It is also probable that students engaged in their learning will be more likely to respond to
surveys and participant in interviews. As such, there is a likelihood that the results will be
skewed and not indicative of the broader student cohort.
Administration of the research (including resource requirements / budget, timetable)
Resource requirements
The following resources are required:

Access to student records

A learning management system
Educators
Students
Instructional designers
SPSS (for data analysis)

Budget requirements
Most activities fall within the scope of normal quality assurance and continuous improvement
processes. Students and staff are routinely interviewed and the information is feedback to all
stakeholders as part of the unit review process. As such, most of the research would not
require additional expenditure.
There are exceptions, notably:

Seeking ethics committee approval

The administration of the survey instruments as the only survey currently used are the

Student Feedback Surveys.

Data analysis.

It is envisaged that this would take:

38 hours in part 1
38 hours in part 2

The hourly wage for a suitably qualified person is $45. With on-costs (superannuation and
HR costs) of 30%, the real cost per hour would be $58.50 bringing the total costs to
$4446.00.
Some translation work may be required particularly the plain language statement. It is
envisaged that this would take no more than 2 hours. Translating the plain language into the

following community languages: Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Hindi would cost
$85 per translation at a total of $340.
Timeframe

Part
Part 1

Teaching period
Teaching period 1
2016

Part 2

Teaching period

Week
Week 1
Week 4
Week 5

Action
Seek ethics approval
Download data from Salesforce
Email participants with details about the

Week 8
Week 9
Weeks 10 to 11
Week 12

study and the survey link

Close survey
Collate results
Write report
Disseminate information to stakeholders

Weeks 1 to 3

Carry out debrief

Stage 1 Working with a group of

Weeks 4 to 6

facilitators
Stage 2 Working with students

Weeks 7 to 9

(International and local)

Stage 3 Developing a set of draft

2, 2016

guidelines utilising the information

Weeks 10 to 12

gleaned in stages 1 and 2

Stage 4 Communication with the lead
Instructional designer to identify unit
improvements

Teaching period 3

Weeks 1 to 6

Debrief participants
Stage 5 - Redesign unit

2016

Weeks 7 to 9

Stage 5 (Continued) Seek and act on

feedback from stakeholders about the

Teaching period 1

Weeks 10 to 12

draft unit
Stage 5 (Continued) Refine draft unit

Weeks 1 to 12

Stage 6 Deliver the course

Weeks 1 to 7

Review teaching period three following

2017
Part 3

Teaching 2, 2018

the steps outlined in part 1

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