Finnish students' perceptions of a visiting professor

Although nurse educators enthusiastically endorse visiting professors, cross-school collaboration, cross-cultural teaching, and international faculty exchange programs, no previous studies have documented students' perceptions of visiting faculty. An open-ended questionnaire was used to identify Finnish students' perceptions of a visiting Fulbright professor and how faculty and students can better prepare for educational exchanges. Four themes emerged from the content analysis of responses to the questionnaire: course content, teaching methods, the role of the teacher, and expectations and developmental challenges. Generally, students were satisfied with the course content and teaching methods. They indicated that it was important that the teacher was encouraging and positive and challenged them to speak up in class. Students commented that the visiting professor should perhaps have been more knowledgeable about and therefore able to make applications to Finnish culture, education, and the health care system. Others noted that it was helpful to learn about the American health care system and then to make applications to Finnish culture themselves. Overall, the findings of this project support continuation of visiting professors and continued research on methods of increasing visiting faculty program effectiveness.