Ghania Zgheib's Ph.D. Portfolio

Assessing a language-supported program for International students at George Mason University: A mixed-method, longitudinal research study of ACCESS students’ and faculty experiences.

George Mason University, Fairfax

Principal Investigator: Karyn Mallett, Ph.D.

Co-Investigator: Ghania Zgheib, M.A., M.S.

I have been working on this study with Dr. Mallett since August 2010. We have designed the studies, filled out the HSRB application forms, and above all designed the instruments for the study. Dr. Mallett has a high level of expertise in the field of research and I have been learning a lot from her about designing tools and data collection. So far, we have designed weekly surveys for the ACCESS students and teachers, interview questions for students and for teachers involved with the ACCESS program, activities for students’ focus groups, and have video-recorded the participants in the actual classroom.

This two-year research project aims to evaluate the experiences of 20+ academic faculty members and 80+ international students enrolled in a new language-supported internationalization program at George Mason University- The ACCESS Program- during the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 academic years. Data- student and faculty surveys; sample student work containing teacher feedback; classroom observation notes; activity-based student focus groups; recorder student audio-logs; and participant interviews- and analysis of findings focus on themes relevant to student and faculty perceptions of internationalization. Specifically, analysis focuses on participating international students’ and faculty experiences in the language supported program vis a vis current general models of international education. The results of this study will provide a foundation for making sound, research based foundations to the ACCESS program and general, university wide initiatives. Further results will draw on expert knowledge in the field of applied linguistics and will be grounded in the researchers’ on-the-ground, qualitative observations and analyses.

Although this research study is not directly related to instructional design, however, its benefits to me are of two fold. First, I am learning how to be better researcher by working with an expert in the field. Similarly to the other research project, we are collecting data using a triangulation and mixed-method of research. In addition to that, I am learning how to design sound research tools for a specific study. So far, Dr. Mallett and I have been analyzing the data that we have collected so far aiming to have a report with the findings by the end of January 2011. On the other hand, the research process that I have been going through is similar to what an Instructional Designer goes through in order to design a tool that matches the end users’ needs. The results of this study will assist us in revising the ACCESS program to fit the needs of the end users, the international students.