Micro-Course Content: Globalizing Your Course
General Introduction
What do we mean when we talk about globalizing or internationalizing a course?
One simple definition is: “The incorporation of international, intercultural, and/or global dimension into the content of the curriculum as well as the learning outcomes, assessment tasks, teaching methods, and support services of a program of study.” (Leask, 2015)
By incorporating information about other countries and cultures into your course, your students will gain a more holistic understanding of your subject matter. Learning about cultural differences will help students understand how they are shaped by their own culture. By implementing content created by people from across the globe, students will learn to view things from different points of view.
Why Globalize a Course?
96% of the people in the world do not live in the United States. If our students are only knowledgeable about 4% of the world, are they truly educated? Globalization and technology have made the world smaller. We can chat with someone across the globe as easily as we can someone in the next office. Today's students will be competing for jobs in a globalized world and the competition will be fierce. Gaining international knowledge and cultural competence will prepare students to live and thrive in our increasingly interdependent world.An internationalized curriculum provides students with the soft skills employers are seeking.
Activity: How to Globalize Your Course
- State the Global Learning Outcomes for your course
- Review the Pick 3 Internationalization Checklist and choose one activity from each category
- Submit Application to Globalize Course
Category 1
- Require attendance at two passport events
- Require a minimum of three international resources for a paper or project
- One international guest speaker (or speaker from international company)
- One international scavenger hunt (assign a list of people, equipment, companies/brands, food, cars, etc. and have students identify the country of origin)
- One geography activity of your choice using a world map and/or Google Earth
- One discussion board discussing a global topic
- Other
Category 2
- International News Journal – Have students find a news article from another country related to your field (weekly)
- Giants in the Field – Have students research a prominent figure in your field from another country (eg, Freud, Mozart, Florence Nightingale, Darwin, Curie, Menedeleev, etc.)
- Watch the Danger of a Single Story or other relevant TED talk and have students reflect
- One lecture/presentation/activity on a cultural competence focusing on how to live and work with people from different cultures
- One lecture/presentation on an international topic with student reflection or test questions
- One virtual exchange with another country during a class with student reflection
Category 3
- Major research project or paper with international theme and/or global comparisons
- Career comparison project – research your field in another country. Do they require the same level of education? Are the salaries comparable? Is it viewed the same way?
- International Virtual Exchange involving at least 3 meetings and a binational student project
- Incorporate from the 360 VLE virtual study abroad into course, with assignment and assessment
- Three or more lectures/presentations/readings/activities about cultural competence, focusing on how to live and work with people from different cultures
- Three or more lectures/presentations on an international topic with student reflection or test
