scholarly journals The Impact of Short-Term Cross-Cultural Experience on the Intercultural Competence of Participating Students: A Case Study of Australian High School Students

Author(s):  
Wendy Nelson ◽  
Johannes M. Luetz

Over recent years globalisation has occasioned a dramatic rise in cross-cultural interactions – until this was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic (OECD 2018, Nelson & Luetz 2021). The ability to competently engage in a multicultural world is often considered the “literacy of the future” (UNESCO 2013, OECD 2018). Global interconnectedness has brought studies into intercultural competence to centre stage (UNDP 2004, Bissessar 2018, Nelson et al. 2019). This has increased the demand for cross-cultural education experiences that facilitate such learning. However, there is a dearth of empirical research into the issues and effects surrounding short-term cross-cultural educational experiences for adolescents. This mixed methods study extends previous research by looking specifically into what impact short-term cross-cultural experiences may have on the formation of intercultural competence and emotional intelligence of Australian high school students. This study used two instruments for measuring intercultural competence and emotional intelligence in a pre- and posttest quasi-experimental design (n=14), the GENE Scale and TEQ. Moreover, it conducted in-depth post experience qualitative interviews (n=7) that broadly followed a phenomenological paradigm of inquiry. The findings suggest that fully embodied cross-cultural immersive experiences offer benefits in areas of intercultural competence and emotional intelligence and can offer meaningful application in areas of current affairs. A greater understanding of the linkages between immersive cross-cultural experiences and intercultural competence offers prospects for policy makers, educators, pastoral carers, and other relevant stakeholders who might employ such experiential learning to foster more interculturally and interracially harmonious human relations.

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 313
Author(s):  
Wendy Nelson ◽  
Johannes M. Luetz

Over recent years, globalisation occasioned a dramatic rise in cross-cultural interactions until this was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ability to competently engage in a multicultural world is often considered the “literacy of the future”. Global interconnectedness has brought studies into intercultural competence to centre stage. This has increased the demand for cross-cultural education experiences that facilitate such learning. However, there is a dearth of empirical research into the issues and effects surrounding short-term cross-cultural educational experiences for adolescents. This mixed-methods study extends previous research by looking specifically into what impact short-term cross-cultural experiences may have on the formation of intercultural competence (IC) and emotional intelligence (EI) of Australian high school students. This study used two instruments for measuring IC and EI in a pre- and post-test quasi-experimental design (n = 14), the General Ethnocentrism (GENE) Scale and Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ). Moreover, it conducted in-depth post-experience qualitative interviews (n = 7) that broadly followed a phenomenological paradigm of inquiry. The findings suggest that fully embodied cross-cultural immersive experiences can effectively support the formation of IC and EI in high school students and may thereby play a contributing role in redressing ignorance, xenophobia, prejudice, and discrimination. A greater understanding of the linkages between immersive cross-cultural experiences and intercultural competence offers prospects for policymakers, educators, pastoral carers, and other relevant stakeholders who might employ such experiential learning to foster more interculturally and interracially harmonious human relations.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly N Downing ◽  
Katherine E Rooney ◽  
Abigail Norris Turner ◽  
Nicole Kwiek

As our nation and the global economy place an increased demand for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) jobs, science educators must implement innovative approaches to pique precollege student’s interests in these careers. Pharmacology remains a relevant and engaging platform to teach biology and chemistry concepts, and this strategy applied over several months in the formal classroom increases science literacy in high school students. In order to improve the affordability and accessibility of this educational approach, we developed and assessed the impact of a short-term pharmacology day camp, ‘Pills, Potions, and Poisons’ (PPP), on high school students’ science knowledge and attitudes toward science careers. The PPP program was offered annually from 2009 through 2012, and participants spent 6 days learning about pharmacology and careers in the biomedical sciences. All PPP student participants (n=134) completed surveys assessing their basic science knowledge and science attitudes before and after the program. Students achieved significant gains in their science knowledge by the end (Day 6) of the PPP program (from 41% mean test score to 65%; p<0.001). In addition, the majority of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the PPP program positively impacted their attitudes toward science (p<0.001). This study provides evidence that a short-term pharmacology-centered science enrichment program can achieve significant gains in participant’s science knowledge as well as motivation and confidence towards science careers. Moreover, we report benefits experienced by the undergraduate, graduate, and professional pharmacy student teaching assistants (TAs, n=10) who reported improved communication skills and an increased interest in future educational work.   Type: Original Research


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 27-44
Author(s):  
Senad Bećirović ◽  
◽  
Belma Delić ◽  
Amna Brdarević-Čeljo

A period of globalisation and the interconnectedness of people across the world has increased the demand for greater intercultural competences among young people in particular. Being interculturally competent entails modifying behaviour in culturally appropriate ways when establishing contact with diverse cultures. The development of this competence is a long and never-ending process that which is influenced by a variety of factors, some of the most important being school policies, surroundings, individual work, personal needs and curiosity. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the impact of grade level, grade point average (GPA) and gender on intercultural competences by distributing the questionnaire developed by Portalla and Chen (2010) to 211 Bosnian high school students. The results showed that the students’ grade levels and GPAs did not have a statistically significant influence on their intercultural competences, whereas gender only had a significant impact on their intercultural competences on the Interactant Respect subscale. Due to the fact that the students should be taught intercultural competence at school, their competence is expected to improve in each study grade; thus, based on the students’ GPAs, this study may help teachers to identify a gap in their instruction and to modify their teaching content so that it contributes to the development of the students’ intercultural competence, as well as to the promotion of the importance thereof.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. e0190895 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domingo Palacios-Ceña ◽  
Emilio Andrés Martín-Tejedor ◽  
Ana Elías-Elispuru ◽  
Amaia Garate-Samaniego ◽  
Jorge Pérez-Corrales ◽  
...  

PSYCHE 165 ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 8-16
Author(s):  
Riska Muliati

This assertive behavior becomes an important thing to pay attention to generally for each individual and especially for individuals who are studying, namely students to be more able to optimize their potential. This study want to inform the impact of : (1) self-concept and assertive behavior in high school students in class X, (2) emotional intelligence and assertive behavior in high school students in class X, (3) self-concept and emotional intelligence in students' assertive behavior in high school class X. This study uses a correlational quantitative method. Researchers used as many as 100 high school students in class X as the study sample selected using random sampling techniques. The data analysis technique used in this research is multiple linear regression analysis test. The results of this study indicate that: (1) self-concept has a significant effect on assertive behavior with a positive relationship direction that can be seen from the significance value of 0.005 and the regression coefficient of 0.315. (2) emotional intelligence has a significant effect on assertive behavior with a positive relationship direction that can be seen from the significance value of 0,000 and a regression coefficient of 0.414. RSquare value of 0.464; that is, 46.4% of the variation in assertive behavior is influenced by self-concept variables and emotional intelligence and the remaining 53.6% is caused by other variables not measured by researchers. The relationship between self-concept and emotional intelligence with assertive behavior is known to have a significant relationship with a significance value of 0,000.


Author(s):  
Franciani Cassia Sentanin ◽  
Ariane Carolina da Rocha ◽  
Kenia Naara Parra ◽  
Marcos R. V. Lanza ◽  
Ana Claudia Kasseboehmer

2021 ◽  
pp. 002205742110259
Author(s):  
Tarak Dridi

Digital media literacy has become an intrinsic component in shaping high school students’ knowledge acquisition and critical thoughts. Over the last two decades, internet and computers have been the implemented tools to reach such goals and promote the students’ learning. This article looks for the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on Tunisian secondary school students by detecting their technical skills as well as their critical understanding. This quantitative study relies on a self-reporting approach and targets 150 Tunisian secondary students. It proves the necessary consideration of technological and social variables in helping sort out major digital handicaps related to secondary students and displays the interconnectedness between the different dimensions of digital media literacy. It also displays that Tunisian high school students cannot be referred to as digital-media literate people. The study contributes to the field of digital media literacy as it offers a solid empirical background to build on and indicates the necessity of integrating digital media literacy into the school-based initiatives.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-64
Author(s):  
Gian Paolo Barbetta ◽  
Paolo Canino ◽  
Stefano Cima

Abstract The availability of cheap Wi-Fi internet connections has encouraged schools to adopt Web 2.0 platforms for teaching, with the intention of stimulating students’ academic achievement and participation in school. Moreover, during the recent explosion of the SARS-CoV-2 crisis that forced many countries to close schools (as well as offices and factories), the widespread diffusion of these applications kept school systems going. Despite their widespread use as teaching tools, the effect of adopting Web 2.0 platforms on students’ performance has never been rigorously tested. We fill this gap in the literature by analyzing the impact of using Twitter as a teaching tool on high school students’ literature skills. Based on a large-scale, randomized controlled trial that involved 70 schools and about 1,500 students, we find that using Twitter to teach literature has an overall negative effect on students’ average achievement, reducing standardized test scores by about 25 percent of a standard deviation. The negative effect is stronger on students who usually perform better.


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