Student Evaluation of International Interaction and Communication Opportunities at University

This paper addresses the university campus environment for international interaction and communication by studying self-evaluation of local and international students. The research aims to determine which factors of the formal and informal learning environment as well as social interaction outside university influence students’ quality perceptions of opportunities for international interaction and communication at university and how these factors affect student evaluations. The study developed and tested a measurement scale to assess the quality of international interaction and communication opportunities in higher education. The research is based on a quantitative survey of 200 students mainly from Nordic countries and Russia, and represent both domestic and international student perspectives. Item-by-item, factor and multiple regression methods were used for data analysis. Multicultural interaction and local community engagement are important driving factors of student quality evaluation of international interaction and communication. Multicultural interaction and worldview perspectives exchanges in class and ease of making friends with local students and international students had significant impact on quality perception of international interaction and communication for both international and local students. In order to improve students’ opportunities for international interaction and communication, universities should provide their students with regular opportunities to interact with one another during social campus events, clubs, and committees as well as extracurricular multicultural events organised by stakeholders.