Abstract:
This paper will report on a pilot study designed and undertaken by the researcher, utilising a questionnaire to sample 400 first and second year graphic design students from two metropolitan universities. The first stage of data collection was used to address issues such as the demographic background of the student population and the factors involved in university selection and course expectations. From here, the research will progress in the form of a naturalistic inquiry entailing individual and group interviews with a small sample of international students drawn from the population of the pilot study. At this stage, the researcher anticipates emergent issues to include those of identity and subjectivity. This paper draws upon the researcher _s background as a design lecturer in the UK and most recently Australia, and the experiences gained during a two and a half-year educational secondment to Malaysia.