2007 – 2008 Faculty Dialogues with Dr. Carluccio about Best Practice
Faculty utilize a number of strategies to respond and utilize
the international students in their courses:
- Use class discussions and/or assignments that specifically engage
students in sharing aspects of their cultures (e.g. child rearing practices
in a child development course). Several faculty who are not native
born Americans cautioned against singling out international students
to speak to an issue on behalf of their home country, especially when
the political situation is unsettled.
- Create in and out of class assignments that encourage students to
work in small groups or with a partner and purposefully assign a mix
of American and international students to the groups. These projects
can be weighted to count more than quizzes or individual assignments
which may be difficult for international students whose language fluency
is not as strong – especially in those fields that have a lot
of specialized vocabulary.
- Include a unit or class which incorporates other cultures and ask
the international students to contribute to that class (e.g. on international
sport). Others have allowed international students to use their
home country to draw from in assignments or papers.
- Allow students to choose a book in their native language for an outside
reading assignment, though the paper has to be done in English.
Faculty also identified a number of challenges to having international
students and students whose first language is not English in their
courses:
- Some students may be “shy” in the classroom because of
self-consciousness around English fluency, cultural norms about not
speaking up in class, or just their personality. Faculty need
to be careful not to draw conclusions about students’ behaviors.
- Some faculty noted that there is not a great deal of interaction
between American and international students both in class and out of
class. The question is how to balance creating an integrated
community with respecting needs of students to socialize in their affinity
groups.
- In some cases, there can be an economic divide between those international
students who are very wealthy and some of our domestic students who
come from very modest means. This can exacerbate some of the
other cultural differences.
- The high school curriculum and experience of international students
is much different from American students. It would be helpful
for faculty to have an overview of the educational contexts and background
of students from other countries.
- Faculty need to be aware that students’ language skills do
not necessarily reflect their intelligence or grasp of material. This
can create challenges around grading. Some faculty find that
issuing a double grade: content/form can help ameliorate this.
- Fields or disciplines that require students to pass a licensing exam
can be especially challenging for non-native English speakers (e.g.
dental hygiene, MTEL teacher test).
Ways in which the College can Build Global Awareness and Internationalize
the Academic Experience and Exposure for Mount Ida Students
- Expand study abroad options and offerings to include more programs
and experiences including year abroad, semester abroad, spring breaks
and summer vacations.
- Examine funding and financial aid so that students from low-income
or less privileged backgrounds can have an experience abroad.
- Create opportunities for faculty exchanges.
- Invite speakers to campus who can address global issues – in
specific fields and more generally.
- Expand foreign language offerings for students
- Consider conversational language programs for students, faculty and
staff
- Identify ways to build global awareness and perspective of students. One
program worth looking at is the Global Proficiency Program, developed
at Boston College, which documents and certifies the accomplishments
of students who demonstrate global understanding for employers, graduate
schools and volunteer work. (see website: www.bc.edu/gp for
more information).
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