Designing a Successful International Course: What Can We Learn from Students’ Experiences on an Erasmus Intensive Programme?

Abstract

This chapter explores the experiences of a group of mature students from three European countries who participated in an Erasmus Intensive Programme, studying for an additional qualification, during a university summer vacation. The group was interviewed to discover their views of learning in a transnational education context and the challenges they encountered. They described enjoying the international learning experience, but all felt very anxious before attending the programme

they were worried about coping with language differences, the intensive mode of study and working with strangers. The “intensive programme” context exacerbated anxieties and situations that would usually take longer to surface and involve longer-term strategies to resolve. These perspectives are drawn upon to identify student-centred issues for universities to consider when planning and delivering international courses.