Culturally diverse health care students' experiences with teaching strategies in Finland: a national survey.

BACKGROUND: All over the world, current health care students come from a variety of cultural, linguistic and educational backgrounds. Their expectations and learning needs vary, yet little is known about how our current education system meets their needs.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore culturally diverse health care students' experiences of teaching strategies in polytechnic faculties of health care in Finland. Specifically, we aimed to compare how international students and Finnish students experience the same curriculum.

DESIGN: A cross sectional survey.

SETTINGS: Ten polytechnic faculties of health care in Finland offering English-Language-Taught Degree Programmess (ELTDPs).

PARTICIPANTS: 283 students studying nursing, public health nursing, or physiotherapy in English. Of these, 166 were international students and 112 were Finnish students.

METHODS: The data were collected using a questionnaire designed specifically for this study. The survey included items grouped into seven dimensions: 1. concreteness of theoretical instruction, 2. encouragement of student activity, 3. use of skills labs, 4. variation among teaching strategies, 5. assessment, 6. interaction in the English-Language-Taught Degree Programmes, and 7. approach to diversity in the English-Language-Taught Degree Programmes.

RESULTS: The most positive experiences for all students were with the approach to cultural diversity and the concreteness of theoretical instruction, whereas the most negative experiences were with assessment. International students' experiences were more positive than Finnish students' in the following dimensions: encouragement of student activity (p=0.005), variation among teaching strategies (p<0.001), and assessment (p<0.001). Compared to the Finnish students, more than double the number of international students were dissatisfied with their lives (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: The implications for education include the strengthening teachers' leadership role in small group activities, providing individual and detailed feedback, and ensuring appropriate support mechanisms for all students.