Intercultural Competence Development Through Co-Curricular and Extracurricular At-Home Programs in Japan

2021 ◽  
pp. 102831532110701
Author(s):  
Dr. Ana Sofia Hofmeyr

The rapid development of international education has occurred alongside a growing demand for higher education institutions to educate globally competent graduates. Yet, mobility remains a distant opportunity for most students, and Japanese undergraduate students often cite financial, safety, and job-hunting concerns as obstacles to studying abroad. Internationalisation-at-home has emerged as a viable alternative to mobility in Japan through government-funded internationalisation programs. This article will discuss the impact of co-curricular and extracurricular programs on the development of intercultural competence among 164 first-year Japanese students at two Top Global universities in Japan. Results from a one-year longitudinal, mixed methods study reveal that while formal programs positively affect intercultural competence development, informal intercultural contact on campus negatively affects students’ intercultural attitudes. Findings also indicate that student perceptions of intercultural competence at the pre-intervention stage affect engagement with intercultural opportunities on campus, suggesting the importance of introducing interventions prior to higher education.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (Winter) ◽  
pp. 114-117
Author(s):  
Ana Sofia Hofmeyr

The internationalization of higher education institutions has grown parallel to an increasing need to foster an interculturally competent workforce. In Japan, efforts to internationalize have focused primarily on mobility programmes, often neglecting the impact of internationalization-at-home initiatives. Yet, while numbers of incoming international students continue to increase, the number of Japanese students going abroad in mid- to long-term programs is decreasing. This article describes a PhD project aiming to address gaps in the literature by investigating the impact of at-home strategies on domestic students’ intercultural competence, ultimately contributing to the optimization of programs that promote meaningful interaction between domestic and international students.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessamine Gail S. Acla ◽  
Mauro Allan Padua Amparado

Objectives: This qualitative study explored the role strain of women as nurse educators of selected higher education institutions in Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines. The findings served as basis for recommendations. Specifically, the study answered the following questions:1.What are the responsibilities of the informants at home, workplace, and civic and religious organizations?2.What are the sources of their role strain in terms of role conflict and role overload?3.What is the impact of the role strain to their family and work?4.How do the informants balance their roles?5.What support system help in addressing the role strain?Methods:This feminist study was conducted in three higher education institutions of Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines. There were five women working as nurse educators and were selected purposively with the following inclusion criteria: currently employed as a nurse educator for five years or more; married; has two to three children and a member of a civic and religious organization. The study employed a one-on-one structured interview.Findings and Conclusion:The informants revealed that their primary responsibility at home is to take care of the needs of their husband and children. At work, they prepare and deliver lectures and examinations to undergraduate students. They also attend seminars, trainings, and bible studies. These responsibilities have caused role strains. They claimed that they lack time and energy to accomplish multiple tasks. The impact of role strain is work-family conflict. The role strain experience can be handled through time management which helps them in balancing all their roles. The family also helps them in addressing role strain that they experience. From the data collected, it revealed that work interfering with family is the role strain of the nurse educators. Therefore, the role strain they experience adversely affected their role as a mother and as a nurse educator.Recommended citation:Acla, J. G. & Amparado, M. A. P. (2010, March). Role Strain of Women as Nurse Educators. 2010 Southwestern University Research Congress, 2(1), 20-21.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary K. Swanson ◽  
Brian A. Swanson

Purpose This paper aims to focus on enhancing the learning experience for both expatriate academics and students in international higher education institutions (HEIs) through understanding students’ cultural perspectives, analyzing student feedback and evaluating faculty placement strategies. The analysis can be used to aid international educational programs in understanding student values and increasing the quality of instructor–student interaction. Design/methodology/approach This research surveyed over 1,300 undergraduate students enrolled in a US and Chinese dual-degree program located in China. A voluntary survey with open and closed questions assessed the cultural values of students, and the cultural values and behavior they believe are important for their instructors to observe in the classroom. Findings The results of this case study suggest that students’ perceived importance of Western cultural values demonstrated only one significant change during their time of enrollment in a US degree program. However, the research indicates that the importance of Chinese cultural values decreased from the students’ first year to their fourth year. Some notable propositions include the importance of culturally competent and experienced faculty in the students’ early US courses and data-driven recommendations for placement, training and development of new foreign faculty to increase the likelihood of a satisfactory experience for both the faculty and students in the cross-border classroom. Originality/value Ultimately, this research can aid international HEI’s by enabling enhanced student and instructor experiences and superior HR practices in the less observed area of faculty placement. These improved practices can contribute to the quality and sustainability of such international programs. In addition, this research provides perspective on the impact of international education on student cultural values and presents student feedback to increase understanding of student expectations and desires in the international classroom.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marita Jacob ◽  
Michael Kühhirt ◽  
Margarida Rodrigues

AbstractThe potential benefits of increased international experience abound, ranging from enriching cultural understanding to an improvement of language skills and intercultural competence. At the same time, empirical evidence is mixed, particularly with regards to how well international experience translates into individual returns on the labour market. This article examines the association between studying abroad and early labour market outcomes in a comparative perspective aiming to shed light on why labour market returns differ across countries. We expect labour market returns to vary with specific country characteristics such as demand for international experience and competition among graduates at labour market entry. In our empirical analyses, we use data from 13 European countries that provide information on graduates’ early labour market outcomes. We find a large variation in the impact of studying abroad on both wages and attaining a higher service class position. Generally, the labour market returns to international experience are larger in countries in Eastern and Southern Europe with poorer university quality, higher graduate unemployment, and fewer students abroad.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Elphick

Digital capabilities are recognized as key skills that students must possess to learn and work in our increasingly digital world and have been the subject of a growing focus over recent years. Similarly, smartphones and, to a lesser degree, tablets are now ubiquitous within the student body, and many academics are beginning to leverage these devices for the purposes of learning and teaching in higher education. To further explore the possibilities of mobile technology, the iPilot project was created to explore the effects that embedded iPad use had on undergraduate students’ creativity, ability to collaborate with their peers and their perception of their digital capabilities. Focusing on the digital capabilities aspect of the project, this paper explores the results gathered. While the results are mixed, when combined with data taken from the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) Digital Experience Tracker, it does appear that using iPads in the university classroom can have a positive impact on certain digital behaviors and students’ perceptions of their digital skills.


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingjie Liu ◽  
Thomas Shirley

While all higher education was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, study abroad programs were uniquely challenged by the associated restrictions and limitations. This case study integrates a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) pedagogy approach and virtual reality (VR) technologies into the curriculum redesign process to transform a business study abroad course into an online format. Using VR technology, U.S. students and their international partners in Germany, Brazil, and India created and shared cultural exchange virtual tours. The redesigned online study abroad course engaged students in active learning activities and cultivated students’ intercultural competence development.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuo Chen

Nowadays, Vietnamese students choose to study abroad in Asian countries, with Taiwan being one of the most appealing locations so far. The purpose of this research is to explain the planning process used by Vietnamese students to study abroad (the host country is Taiwan), as well as to suggest an appropriate model for students' decision-making once the desire to study abroad is established, in which the impact of career path on school selection is clarified and the importance of motivation to study abroad is emphasized.This research used a mixed-methods approach. In-depth interviews with 30 Vietnamese students studying in Taiwan are conducted using a qualitative methodology. The data gathered during those interviews is utilized to build questionnaires that will be sent to over 300 samples for quantitative study.The research findings demonstrate the primary elements influencing students' desire to study abroad, career planning, and decision-making in Taiwan, as well as the model of students' decision-making process. It is obvious that students' desire to study abroad has a direct effect on their career-planning factor, while this factor acts as a mediator between the aforementioned motivation and the students' decision-making factor.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joris Boonen ◽  
Ankie Hoefnagels ◽  
Mark Pluymaekers ◽  
Armand Odekerken

PurposeThe authors examine the role of internationalisation at-home activities and an international classroom at a home institution to promote intercultural competence development during a study abroad.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use large scale longitudinal data from the global mind monitor (GMM) (2018–2020) to examine change over time in both multicultural personality (MPQ) and cultural knowledge (CQ) among students in Dutch higher education institutions. The authors analyse the moderating effect of the preparation in the home institution by looking at the added value of both intercultural communication courses and international classroom setting for intercultural competence development during a study abroad.FindingsThe results show that particularly courses on intercultural communication significantly promote intercultural competence development during a stay abroad. Frequent interactions with international staff also seem to be beneficial for this development.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was conducted in the Netherlands, in one of the most internationalised educational systems in the world. Therefore, it is difficult to generalise these findings to other contexts before any further empirical research is conducted.Practical implicationsBased on the findings, the authors formulate practical advice for higher education institutions that aim to get the most out of the international learning outcomes of a study abroad.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to assess the moderating effect of preparatory internationalisation at home initiatives on the intercultural learning effects of international experiences later on in a study program. Other studies have proposed that these effects will exist but have not tested them empirically with longitudinal data.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Fuchs

The pandemic has shaken up the higher education landscape around the world, with responses from institutions falling into three categories: retaining in-class teaching with social distancing, adopting hybrid models (blended learning, limiting the number of students on campus), or transitioning to fully online teaching. However, there is a significant difference between emergency remote teaching and a genuine shift to online/hybrid learning, with the key distinguishing term being “emergency.” In response to the global pandemic, the higher education community is now working on the continuous development of action plans in a quest to identify means to manage the crisis more efficiently. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the perceived performance of ERT from the perspective of undergraduate students. For that purpose, samples (n=332) were taken in two different geographical settings, i.e., Thailand and Sweden. Moreover, it is the objective to compare both samples and identify similarities and inadequacies which help stakeholders to manage ERT more efficiently in the future.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-54
Author(s):  
Джавад Агмаді Фаталакі ◽  
Рунган Жанґ

The major aim of the present study is to find connections between global-mindedness and some important factors such as gender  and level of proficiency. To this end, 182 language learners, 92 females and 90 males, participated in the study. These students were selected and categorized based on one-stage cluster sampling from 16 branches of different language centers, namely Safiran, Shoukoh, and Kish. The main phase of the study was conducted through the use of Google Docs platform that provides the researchers with the well-organized data. Language learners were asked to answer all the demographic information by considering their anonymity during the process of data collection. The result of the study, through t-test, showed that there was a significant difference between male and female language learners regarding their level of global-mindedness. The result also showed that the level of proficiency of the female language learners does not influence their level of global-mindedness. References Byram, M., Zarate, G., & Neuner, G. (1997). Sociocultural competence in languagelearning and teaching: Studies towards a common European framework of reference forlanguage learning and teaching. Strasbourg, France: Council of Europe. Deardorff, D. K. (2011). Assessing intercultural competence. New Directions forInstitutional Research, 149, 65–79. DeMello, M. A. (2011). The impact of study tours in developing global-mindedness amongPK-12 educators in Southeastern Massachusetts (Doctoral dissertation, NortheasternUniversity, Boston) Duckworth, R. L., Levy, L. W., & Levy, J. (2005). Present and future teachers of theworld’s children How internationally-minded are they?. Journal of Research inInternational Education, 4(3), 279–311. Earley, P. C. and Ang, S. (2003). Cultural Intelligence: An Analysis of IndividualInteractions Across Cultures. Palo Alto (CA): Stanford University Press. Fantini, A. E. (2009), Assessing Intercultural Competence: Issues and Tools. In Deardorff,D. K. (ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence. Thousand Oaks (CA):Sage, 456–476. FitzGerald, H. (2003). How Different Are We? Spoken Discourse in InterculturalCommunication. Clevedon – Buffalo – Toronto – Sydney: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Gaudelli, W. (2003). World class: Teaching and learning in global times. Mahwah, NJ:Erlbaum. Giddens, A. (1991) Modernity and Self-Identity. Cambridge: Polity. Gillian, K. J. (1995). A measure of global-mindedness at the University of NorthernColorado: An assessment of students, faculty, and administrators (Doctoral dissertation,University of Northern Colorado, 1995). Dissertation Abstracts International, 5,08. Hett, E. J. (1993). The development of an instrument to measure global-mindedness(Doctoral dissertation, University of San Diego). Hill, I. (2007). International education as developed by the International BaccalaureateOrganization. The SAGE handbook of research in international education, 25–37. Johnson, J. P., Lenartowicz, T., & Apud, S. (2006). Cross-cultural competence ininternational business: Toward a definition and a model. Journal of International BusinessStudies, 37(4), 525–543. Kehl, K., & Morris, J. (2007). Differences in global mindedness between short-term andsemester-long study abroad participants at selected private universities. Frontiers: TheInterdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 15(1), 67–79. Lakoff, R. (1973). Language and woman's place. Language in society, 2(01), 45–79. Muller, G. C. (2012). Exploring characteristics of international schools that promoteinternational-mindedness (Doctoral dissertation, Teachers College, Columbia University). Olsen, M.E., Lodwick, D.G., & Dunlap, R.E. (1992). Viewing the World Ecologically.Boulder: Westview. Sampson, D. L., & Smith, H. P. (1957). A scale to measure world-minded attitudes. TheJournal of Social Psychology, 45(1), 99–106. Sercu, L. e.a. (2005). Foreign Language Teachers and Intercultural Competence. AnInternational investigation. Clevedon–Buffalo–Toronto: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Smallman, S. C., & Brown, K. (2011). Introduction to international & global studies.Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Wardhaugh, R. (1992). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. USA: Blackwell PublishersLtd. Zhai, L., & Scheer, S. (2004). Global perspectives and attitudes toward cultural diversityamong summer agriculture students at the Ohio State University. Journal of AgriculturalEducation, 45(2), 39–51.


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