Abstract
The Eynesbury Institute of Business and Technology (EIBT) is one of a growing number of private providers partnering with universities to attract international students early in their commitment to tertiary studies. EIBT offers diploma programs that comprise the equivalent courses as the first-year of a Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Technology (IT), or Engineering at the destination Higher Education Institution (HEI). EIBT provides a period of academic acculturation for international students whose English proficiency and/or previous academic results are below direct entry requirements. In 2015, 200+ ‘new' students were required to complete a mandatory online questionnaire during orientation. First-person narrative data was derived from students' responses to the open-ended question: What is cheating and why is it wrong? The findings provide insight into their understandings, which has helped facilitate opportunities for faculty to mitigate opportunities for academic misconduct in the context of this Institute.
TopIntroduction
Founded in 1998, the Eynesbury Institute of Business and Technology (EIBT) is a private pre-university pathway provider that has partnered with two South Australian universities to attract ‘international’ students and secure their tertiary destination prior to them satisfying direct entry requirements (Fiocco, 2006). EIBT offers diploma programs with the same or approved equivalent eight courses that constitute the first-year of a Bachelor of Business, Information Technology (IT), or Engineering at the partner institution (Velliaris & Breen, 2014; Velliaris & Coleman-George, 2014; Velliaris, Willis, & Breen, 2015a, 2015b; Velliaris, Willis, & Pierce, 2015). A distinct advantage of EIBT diplomas is that students can complete the equivalent of their first-year university degree in a minimum of two-trimesters (i.e., approximately 6-months), rather than two-semesters (i.e., 12-months/one calendar year).
The impetus for this research was recognition that the diversity among EIBT students has implications for lecturers and the Academic Integrity Officer (AIO), who face a range of academic, cultural, linguistic, religious, and social challenges to navigate so that the Institute can provide an optimal learning environment to enable its international pathway students to be ‘university-ready’ (Velliaris & Coleman-George, 2015c). Each trimester, there is considerable diversity within EIBT’s student population, with individuals from countries/regions including: Bangladesh; Cambodia; China [mainland, Hong Kong and Macau]; Colombia; Egypt; France; India; Indonesia; Iran; Kenya; Malaysia; Nepal; Nigeria; Oman; Pakistan; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; South Korea; Sri Lanka; Taiwan; Uganda; and Vietnam. With reference to Table 1, international student intake is presented over the last three-years whereby trimesters are indicated by the year (e.g., 2012, 2013, etc.) and then by the entry; February (-01), June (-02) or October (-03).
Table 1. Citizenship/ethnicity of EIBT students over the past three years
| Country | 2012-03 | 2013-01 | 2013-02 | 2013-03 | 2014-01 | 2014-02 | 2014-03 | 2015-01 | 2015-02 | 2015-03 |
| Australia | 7 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| China | 113 | 154 | 139 | 137 | 205 | 202 | 256 | 305 | 247 | 252 |
| Hong Kong | 48 | 65 | 51 | 50 | 51 | 29 | 30 | 27 | 25 | 33 |
| India | - | 5 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 7 |
| Indonesia | - | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Kenya | - | - | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Macao | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | 20 | 18 | 15 |
| Malaysia | 6 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
| South Korea | 7 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Vietnam | 10 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 24 | 26 | 23 | 15 | 18 |
| Other | 13 | 17 | 9 | 14 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 20 |
| Total | 206 | 286 | 249 | 245 | 341 | 315 | 374 | 424 | 337 | 362 |
Note: Trimester 1 in 2012 (= 2012-01), Trimester 2 in 2012 (= 2012-02), and Trimester 3 in 2012 (= 2012-03) etc.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Articulation: The process by which a university matches its courses or requirements to coursework completed at another HEI e.g., EIBT. Students use course articulation to assure that courses they have previously completed will not have to be repeated at the HEI to which they wish to transfer.
Diploma: An EIBT diploma comprises 8-courses that take between 6-months and 2-years to complete. Diplomas are generally considered equivalent to first-year at the degree level. Such diplomas in Australia are delivered by universities, technical colleges and other private Registered Training Organizations (RTOs).
Subject: A distinct unit or component of study within a course. Each subject is identified by its title and contributes a fixed percentage towards the requirements for an award. Subjects are often allocated credit points which measure their workload. Subjects are typically completed in one (tri)semester.
Eynesbury Institute of Business and Technology (EIBT): EIBT offers full fee-paying pre-university pathways for predominantly international students entering one of two South Australian HEIs: The University of Adelaide ; or University of South Australia .
International Student(s): Individuals enrolled in the Eynesbury Institute of Business and Technology (EIBT) on temporary student visas and who are almost exclusively Non-English Speaking Background (NESB). An international applicant must be eligible for an Australian student visa and may be liable for international tuition fees. Students are not ‘international’ if they are an Australian citizen, Australian dual citizen, Permanent Resident (PR) of Australia, and/or a New Zealand citizen studying in Australia.
Course: A syllabus item offered by EIBT or one subject leading to a diploma award (8-courses required for graduation). Such courses are identified by a subject area and catalogue number e.g., ECON1008 is a first-year ‘Principals of Economics’ course.
Commencing ‘New’ Students: Those students enrolling in a course for the first time during the reporting year, including students transferring from another course within the institution.
Pathway Provider: Educational institutions that offer students alternative forms of entry into university programs. Applicants may include: early school leavers; those that have not achieved the academic and/or English requirements to obtain direct entry; or students looking to return to study after a period of absence.
Pedagogy: The art and science of teaching, and not in its narrower sense of teaching the ‘young’. Its common usage is now sufficiently broad that there is no need to import the word ‘andragogy,’ a term which has only limited currency in the mainstreams of HE practice.
Acculturation: In its simplest sense, this includes the changes that arise following contact between/among individuals from a different cultural background. This may lead to progressive adoption of elements of the other culture (e.g., ideas, words, values and/or behaviors).
Learning Environment: Refers to: 1. The physical setting in which a learner or community of learners carry out their work, including all the tools, documents and other artefacts to be found in that setting; 2. The physical setting, but also the social/cultural setting for such work.