Considerations for improving higher education’s assessment of global, international, and intercultural competencies

Abstract

This special issue of Research in Comparative and International Education, which we have titled "Promoting Global and Intercultural Competencies through Internationalization," is intended to encourage dialogue between and among scholars from multiple disciplines, international education professionals, and academic program accreditors regarding how best to instill and assess global, international, and intercultural (GII) competencies. The articles included here build upon a conversation started as part of a small invitation-only conference funded by the Spencer Foundation which was held at the SUNY Global Center in April 2018 to examine how institutions consider the quality of internationalization efforts in the promotion of GII competency development. Because quality assurance and accreditation have shifted from their historical focus on input measures to place increasing emphasis on measuring learning outcomes, educational quality is no longer simply measured or limited to reductive output measures (e.g. graduation rates). Instead, accountability for educational quality is increasingly based on measuring whether students have the knowledge and skills promised to them by their educational institutions and programs, as well as measures of whether the education is contributing to broader societal goals (Billing, 2004; Martin and Stella, 2007). While great strides have been made in the assessment of learning outcomes as it relates to some aspects of the higher education experience, there are other areas where the practice and the scholarship is less advanced. Internationalization falls into the latter category particularly as it relates to the development of GII competencies (Soria and Troisi, 2014). Among specialized accreditors of professional degrees, assessing cultural competencies remains among the most challenging tasks, and programs continue to struggle to define, measure, and assess intercultural competencies (Rubaii and Calarusse, 2014). In an effort to prepare students with the global mindset and cultural competencies necessary for effectiveness as professionals and citizens in an increasingly globally interdependent world, universities are placing greater emphasis on providing students with international experiences as part of their education (ACE, 2011). The gold standard of international experiences for students is presumed to be study abroad (Ballestras and Roller, 2013; Deardorff, 2006). Conversely, there is growing recognition that direct-enrollment semester-or year-long study abroad programs are not financially or otherwise feasible for the majority of students (Parkinson, 2007). As such, universities are placing an increasing emphasis on short-term faculty-led programs, many of which involve international service learning (ISL). These short-term ISL programs have the potential to 901950R CI0010.

Assessing Global Competence Within Teacher Education Programs. How to Design and Create a Set of Rubrics With a Modified Delphi Method

“…These aspects include knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values and are argued for (Kahn & Agnew, 2017; Schleicher, 2018) in our modern world “in an effort to prepare students with the global mindset and cultural competencies necessary for effectiveness as professionals and citizens in an increasingly globally interdependent world” (Smith-Isabell & Rubaii, 2020, p. 3).…”

Internationalizing public administration education: Why and how?

“…10), and that the proportion of students in public affairs who study abroad is increasing suggest that there is growing demand for these opportunities and developing capacity in this area would be welcomed by students (Rubaii et al, 2015). Scholarship indicates that study abroad programs, the “gold standard” of international experiences for students (Smith-Isabell and Rubaii 2020), are among the most effective strategies for encouraging students to recognize their biases, appreciate diverse cultures, learn effective cross-cultural communication, and produce global citizens (Rubaii et al, 2015), which are competencies and skills that NASPAA expects emerging public servants to develop (NASPAA 2009). Although the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the difficulties of this approach to internationalization, the manifold benefits of immersive international study for emerging public servants means that “we need to get [public administration students’] off campus and out of the country!” (Ryan 2010: p .…”

“…Indeed, cultural competence is enhanced most when students venture to countries distinctly different from their homelands (Rubaii et al, 2015), providing another rationale for selecting non-traditional destinations. Nevertheless, despite best efforts to increase accessibility and feasibility, overseas opportunities may remain outside of students’ grasp, which reinforces the need for robust internationalization at home efforts that all students can benefit from (Soria and Troisi 2014; Smith-Isabell and Rubaii 2020). • Principle of Practice: develop an individual internationally-oriented course …”

Integrated approaches to the assessment of internationalization

“…Assessment of internationalization activities and outcomes thus is not a "one size fits all" paradigm; institutional planners first should be clear about the ends they are trying to achieve. While some works on the assessment of internationalization focus on specific activities, such as Bolen's, 2007 edited volume, A Guide to Outcomes Assessment in Education Abroad andSavicki &Brewer's, 2015 edited book, Assessing Study Abroad: Theory, Tools, and Practice, the focus here is on the assessment of comprehensive internationalization, and, more importantly, its results. Mace and Pearl (2019) express concern that a conceptualization such as Hudzik's (Hudzik, 2011) that emphasizes the distinctiveness of institutional missions and internationalization goals may be taken to mean that comparative assessment of comprehensive internationalization is not possible.…”