THE IMPACT OF TEACHERS' OVERSEAS STUDY EXPERIENCES ON EDUCATIONAL QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
Keywords:
Overseas study experience, Teacher quality, Educational quality, Higher education, Comparative study, Teaching reformAbstract
The impact of teachers' overseas study experiences on educational quality in higher education institutions was comparatively investigated in this study. Two teachers at Guizhou Institute of Technology, one with 3.5 years of overseas study experience and a doctoral degree, the other without any overseas experience and a doctoral degree, taught the same course (i.e., Mine Engineering Rock Mechanics) to two parallel classes (i.e., Class 231 and Class 232) from September 2024 to June 2025. The teacher with overseas experience implemented three specific teaching strategies: 1) Introduction of overseas frontier knowledge, 2) sharing of personal overseas experiences, and 3) introduction of renowned international scholars. Results from final examinations show that Class 231 with overseas-experienced teacher achieved a pass rate of 88.57% and an excellence rate of 22.86%, compared to Class 232's pass rate of 87.18% and excellence rate of only 2.56%. While pass rates were comparable, the excellence rate demonstrated a dramatic tenfold difference. These findings provide empirical evidence that teachers' overseas study experiences significantly enhance student learning outcomes, particularly in fostering high-level academic achievement. The paper concludes with recommendations for educational reform and institutional policies to promote faculty overseas study opportunities.References
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