Learning and teaching strategies in an intercultural context: offshore programme in Vietnam

The number of New Zealand higher education institutions collaborative programmes in Asian countries is increasing. Students enrolled in offshore programmes have developed a range of learning strategies that meet the needs of their home learning environment. However those same learning strategies may not match the needs of their foreign education provider. Further to this, offshore students may not be familiar with the foreign lecturers’ teaching approaches. The rapid internationalization of universities in countries such as New Zealand, and the adoption of the teaching of foreign degrees in countries such as Vietnam and China, makes it evident that a better understanding of offshore students’ academic needs, expectations and study habits will enhance the students’ learning experiences. Understanding the lecturer’s role in adapting teaching and learning in offshore delivery is also a useful lens to apply. In this paper, we document the learning and teaching strategies adopted by the students in Vietnam and lecturers from a university in New Zealand to overcome the issues identified by the students themselves. The paper proposes cultural awareness and intercultural competence as vital requirements for academics who are involved in course planning, operations, and management, as well as subject and paper development and delivery offshore