Benefits and drawbacks of the fly-in-faculty model in transnational education: a student-centric analysis of teaching pace, communication and faculty engagement

Fly-in faculty (FF) mode of teaching plays a crucial part of Transnational Education (TNE) and is widely prevalent as part of international higher education, offering cross-border delivery of curriculum. In this paper, we studied the student learning experience of the FF within a franchised transnational business programme in Qatar. A total of twenty-five recent graduates were interviewed to provide contextual data into their learning experiences with FF. The findings revealed five key themes: communication difficulties, subject matter expertise, authenticity, impersonal relationships, and inaccessibility. Despite communication and accessibility concerns, students reported high satisfaction levels with the FF model and would opt to continue with this policy. Generally, the findings suggest positive overall learning outcomes despite perceived difficulties, thus serving as a catalyst for change. This study offers TNE administrators, policy makers and practitioners’ valuable insights and a greater appreciation of the learning experiences of global TNE students to support improvements for TNE pedagogy and enhanced student learning outcomes. Theoretically, the study deepens our understanding of the FF mode of teaching and suggests that when faced with disorienting dilemmas, TNE students positively and realistically balance the pros and cons of this mode of teaching.