This document summarizes a study examining academic and social adjustment of students in different internationalization contexts at the University of South Africa (UNISA). The study compared students in internationalization at home (IaH), internationalization abroad (IA), and internationalization at distance (IaD). It found no significant differences in academic or social adjustment between the three groups. IaD students had significantly higher access to technology and lower personal-emotional adjustment and attachment than IaH students. Access to technology positively predicted academic and emotional adjustment. Being from South Africa and having better access to technology positively impacted adjustment.

1. Internationalisation at a Distance and
at Home: Academic and Social
Adjustment in a South African
Distance Learning Context
Prof Bart Rienties
Institute of Educational Technology
Open University UK
Bart.Rienties@open.ac.uk
Twitter: drBartRienties
16 July 2019
1

2. UK BasedTeam SA BasedTeam
Prof Parvati Raghuram Prof Ashley Gunter
Prof Bart Rienties Prof Clare Madge Mrs Katharine Reedy
Dr Markus Roos Breines
Prof Paul Prinsloo
Dr Reuben Lembani Dr Mwazvita Dalu
Dr J Rogaten Dr J Mittelmeier Dr M Cin Dr A Chisalle Dr Dianne LongDr G Sondhi

3. Internationalisation at a Distance (IaD).
■ This term was first suggested by Ramanau (2016), but we define it as:
■ All forms of education across borders where students, their respective staff, and
institutional provisions are separated by geo-graphical distance and supported by
technology
Mittelmeier, J., Rienties, B., Rogaten, J., Gunter, A., Raghuram, P. (2019) Internationalisation at a Distance and at Home: Academic and Social Adjustment
in a South African Distance Learning Context. International Journal of Intercultural Relations

4. Performance
(e.g., Grade,
Adjustment,
GPA)
Time
A-student
B-student
C-student
■ A vast body of research shows thatAffective, Behavioural, and Cognitive factors (Searle andWard, 1990; Jindal-
Snape & Rienties, 2016) influence academic and social adjustment over time, which in turn predicts learning
outcomes (Crede et al. 2012; Rienties et al. 2012). Some students develop appropriate ABC and ac + soc. Adjustment
strategies and become “A-students”, others progress reasonably well (B-student) and some students drop out over
time (C-student).

5. What predicts (international) student progression?
Input Process Output
Learner characteristics
(incl. prior education, gender,
cultural background)
Academic adjustment
(incl. personal-emotional adjustment,
attachment to institute)
Social adjustment
(incl. study support, satisfaction with social
Environment, financial support)
Family characteristics
(incl. support, finance, child-
care)
Learning design
(incl. assessment, learning
materials, communication)
Engagement with learning
(incl.VLE engagement, attending sessions,
submitting assignments, social media)
Academic performance
over time
(incl. grades, credits,GPA)
Degree outcomes
(incl. Employment, migration)

6. Hypotheses
■ H1 Internationalisation at Home (IaH) students have higher academic adjustment scores
relative to InternationalisationAbroad (IA), and Internationalisation at Distance (IaD)
students.
■ H2 IaH students have higher social adjustment scores relative to IA, and IaD students.
■ H3 IaH students have higher personal-emotional adjustment scores relative to IA, and IaD
students.
■ H4 IaH students have higher attachment scores relative to IA, and IaD students.
■ H5 Access to technology at home is positively related to academic adjustment
■ H6 Access to technology at home is positively related to social adjustment
■ H7 Access to technology at home is positively related to personal-emotional adjustment
■ H8 Access to technology at home is positively related to attachment at UNISA
■ H9 Being from South Africa and having access to technology has a positive impact on
academic adjustment
■ H10 Academic adjustment is positively predicted by social adjustment, personal emotional
adjustment, attachment, access to technology, and being from South Africa.
Mittelmeier, J., Rienties, B., Rogaten, J., Gunter, A., Raghuram, P. (2019) Internationalisation at a Distance and at Home: Academic and Social Adjustment
in a South African Distance Learning Context. International Journal of Intercultural Relations

7. SACQ Questionnaire
■ Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire
• measures how well students manage the educational demands of the university experience.
Academic Adjustment
• measures how well students deal with interpersonal experiences at the university (e.g., making
friends, joining groups)
Social Adjustment
• measures how well students maintain emotional equilibrium (particularly in the face of adjustment
stressors), and indicates whether the student experiences general psychological distress or shows
somatic symptoms of distress
Personal Emotional Adjustment
• assesses the degree of identification with and commitment towards the university
Attachment

8. Data collection
■ First, in our initial study (Mittelmeier et al. 2019) we sampled 2634 students from a
first-year level course unit with undergraduate students studying for a Bachelor of
Science degree in Mathematics and Programming in the College of Science,
Engineering andTechnology: 320 (11.77%) students (IaH = 270, IaD = 36) responded.
■ In the second phase, we broadened our sampling approach to additional STEM
qualifications, whereby we specifically sampled IaD and IA students using MIS data.
5273 students in the selected programmes were invited to participate through an email
sent to their university email address, which included a link to the online survey.
Altogether, in the two phases 1295 students participated in this study, which is a large
sample of participants with a very reasonable response rate of 16.38% (Nulty, 2008)

9. Mittelmeier, J., Rienties, B., Rogaten, J., Gunter, A., Raghuram, P. (2019) Internationalisation at a Distance and at Home: Academic and Social Adjustment
in a South African Distance Learning Context. International Journal of Intercultural Relations
■ Substantial differences in demographics and socio-economic conditions between
three groups of students

10. Mittelmeier, J., Rienties, B., Rogaten, J., Gunter, A., Raghuram, P. (2019) Internationalisation at a Distance and at Home: Academic and Social Adjustment
in a South African Distance Learning Context. International Journal of Intercultural Relations
■ No significant differences between the three internationalisation categories in terms
of academic and social adjustment (H1 –H2).
■ Significant differences were found in terms of emotional adjustment, whereby South
Africans living in SouthAfrica (IaH) indicated significantly lower personal-emotional
adjustment scores relative to their peers. Similarly, significant differences were found
in terms of attachment (-H4)

11. Mittelmeier, J., Rienties, B., Rogaten, J., Gunter, A., Raghuram, P. (2019) Internationalisation at a Distance and at Home: Academic and Social Adjustment
in a South African Distance Learning Context. International Journal of Intercultural Relations
■ Substantial and significant differences were found between the three
internationalisation categories, whereby IaD students had significantly higher access
to technology, all medium to large in effect size

12. Mittelmeier, J., Rienties, B., Rogaten, J., Gunter, A., Raghuram, P. (2019) Internationalisation at a Distance and at Home: Academic and Social Adjustment
in a South African Distance Learning Context. International Journal of Intercultural Relations
■ The three categories of internationalisation had a significant impact on social adjustment, emotional adjustment, and attachment, but not
academic adjustment. SouthAfricans living in SouthAfrica (IaH) had higher social adjustment relative to IaD (H2), but lower emotional
adjustment and attachment relative to IaD (-H3, -H4).
■ Access to technology significantly predicted academic adjustment and emotional adjustment, indicating that students with better technology
access also had better academic adjustment (H5) and emotional adjustment (H7). Age positively predicted all four SACQ scores, indicating
that relatively older learners had better adjustment than younger learners. Gender and type of occupation (being a full time student, looking
after the family, and other occupation (i.e., retired from paid work, unable to work due to long-term sickness, unemployed) had no significant
impact on the SACQ scores. English as a first language also had no impact on SACQ scores, except for a negative impact on emotional
adjustment, while working part-time had a positive impact on emotional adjustment.
■ The majority of black UNISA students felt better adjusted to the distance learning setting than others. Finally, relative to first-year students
those who studied in second-year, third-year, and post-graduate level had significantly lower attachment towards UNISA. Furthermore, those
at third-year and post-graduate level had significantly lower (self-reported) academic adjustment and personal-emotional adjustment relative
to first-year students.

13. Discussion
■ Internationalisation at a Distance (IaD) could become a powerful driver for sustainable
development and growth in Global South
■ Technology mediates some of the geographical and social issues when studying “at a
distance”
■ Qualitative studies (Madge et al. (2019) indicate substantial variation in practice how
IaD students make use of learning materials and networks.

14. All papers free to download at:
http://ideaspartnership.org/
■ Gunter,A., & Raghuram, P. (2018). International study in the global south: linking institutional, staff, student
and knowledge mobilities. Globalisation,Societies and Education, 16(2), 192-207. doi:
10.1080/14767724.2017.1401453
■ Madge, C., Breines, M., Beatrice Dalu, M.T., Gunter,A., Mittelmeier, J., Prinsloo, P., & Raghuram, P. (2019).
WhatsApp use amongAfrican international distance education (IDE) students: transferring, translating and
transforming educational experiences. Learning, Media andTechnology.
■ Mittelmeier, J., Long, D., Melis Cin, F., Reedy, K., Gunter,A., Raghuram, P., & Rienties, B. (2018). Learning
design in diverse institutional and cultural contexts: Suggestions from a participatory workshop with higher
education leaders in Africa. Open Learning, 33(3), 250-266. doi: 10.1080/02680513.2018.1486185
■ Mittelmeier, J., Rienties, B., Rogaten, J., Gunter,A., & Raghuram, P. (2019). Internationalisation at a Distance
and at Home: Academic and Social Adjustment in a SouthAfrican Distance Learning Context. International
Journal of Intercultural Relations, 72(September 2019), 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2019.06.001
■ Mittelmeier, J., Rogaten, J., Long, D., Sachikonye, M., Gunter,A., Prinsloo, P., & Rienties, B. (2019).
Understanding the adjustment of first-year distance education students in SouthAfrica: Factors that impact
students’ experiences. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning.
■ Roos Breines, M., Raghuram, P., & Gunter,A. (2019). Infrastructures of immobility: enabling international
distance education students in Africa to not move. Mobilities, 1-16. doi: 10.1080/17450101.2019.1618565

15. Internationalisation at a Distance and
at Home: Academic and Social
Adjustment in a South African
Distance Learning Context
Prof Bart Rienties
Institute of Educational Technology
Open University UK
Bart.Rienties@open.ac.uk
Twitter: drBartRienties
16 July 2019
15