Student Choice and Experience in a Joint Program at an Australian and a Chinese University

The changing landscape of Higher Education (HE), (discussed in previous Chap. 7) has transformed patterns of mobility for students and academics, resulting in the establishment of varied educational experiences and outcomes. The internationalisation of curriculum in the Collaborative Articulation Program (CAP) partnership, reported on in this book, has had significant influence on student learning outcomes and impacted on the design and aim of the EC program. A major focus is to provide graduates with an improved rate of employability by negotiating teacher registration and standards across international jurisdictions. Mounting pressure to meet external accreditation requirements in the two countries has intensified, resulting in an expanded workload for students and complexities in assuring contextual relevance. When universities move towards commodification of education and transform education through internationalisation, a more diverse student population is present in classrooms. Cultural, historical, social and political diversity means varied pedagogical approaches, different languages, modes of delivery, new kinds of obligations between students and their families exist. The growing global education market (Chap. 7) has altered relationships between students and academics (Chaps. 9 and 10) and there are calls for more innovative teaching, new learning environments and creative roles for educators and learners. The voices of the students are heard in this chapter. The educational experience across the two contexts are presented and their motivations for undertaking the 2 + 2 program are explored.