University of Applied Sciences, Fulda

The Interview Questions

In standardised open-ended interviews one can ask six different types of questions: experience/behaviour, opinion/values, feeling, knowledge, sensory, and background/demographic. In this study the questions focussed on the opinion and knowledge (factual information) of the interviewees. It must be noted that although there is no rule for the arrangement of the questions, the writer decided to divide them into two parts.
The writer chose the standardised open-ended interview because the focus of the study was on the educational background of the participants and the effect of this familiar culture on the manner as well as the areas and intensity of education culture shock. The aim of the interview, thus, was to find out first some general points about the previous education system and then the students’ attitudes towards the program, its strong points as well as its shortcomings.
The first part of the interview consisted of 5 questions about the students' previous experiences, which were worded as follows:

1. 
   How far did the students' freedom extend, how much responsibility did they have?
   
2. 
   Did your relationship with the teachers influence your future career choices?
   
3. 
   What types of support or services did the university offer the students?
   
4. 
   To what extent did you feel ‘politics’ played a role in your previous studies?
   
5. 
   Did you have any contact or experience with international students?
   

The second part also consisted of 5 questions, which focussed on the ICEUS program. The questions were:

1. 
   What in ICEUS was totally different and foreign to you?
   
2. 
   Did you have problems in establishing contacts with the students and professors?
   
3. 
   What is very important in ICEUS and what annoys you?
   
4. 
   What do you think about Fulda?
   
5. 
   Do you have job-experience in Fulda? How is it?
   

Some explanations should be given about the questions.