Heather Singmaster, director of CTE at Digital Promise, recently checked in with three of these faculty members: Marie Lapidus, Associate Professor/Coordinator, Business Administration and Entrepreneurship Programs, Harper College; Jim Trepka, Professor, Electronic Engineering Technology, Kirkwood Community College; and Anne E. Oestreicher, Legal Studies/Paralegal Program Co-Director/Instructor and Faculty Lead — Internationalization of Curriculum, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College of Business. They discussed how they’re continuing to see the impact of teaching globally in their classrooms, and to gather advice for other educators looking to do the same.
Lapidus: Our “Global Business” class was approved as part of the “World Cultures and Diversity” requirement for all students. Our class satisfied that requirement, even prior to the Digital Promise pilot. As I participated in the review of the global competence modules for students, I realized that they are the perfect way to show how we are meeting this requirement for students. In addition, they are a great resource for students to learn about and evaluate their global competence and enhance their skills. Plus, the modules are easy to integrate and require little effort from faculty.
Trepka: I was motivated partially by a concern I have about some of the opinions and views I see during class. In addition, many students will never consider leaving the state of Iowa unless they receive this exposure. I encourage students to study abroad, but most do not. These modules provide opportunities for students to get some exposure to the world.
Oestreicher: I’ve been incorporating global themes into my classes for years and am the faculty lead for internationalization at our campus. It is something that I’m really passionate about.
Lapidus: Having the career profile videos and the links to the modules has made it incredibly easy to use the resources with students.
Trepka: The Digital Promise student modules have been useful. I have been integrating those into my courses for the last three years. I also used some of the sample projects, including the one on solar energy. My college also has a global learning department and the whole department, including the dean, is really helpful in getting virtual exchange projects started.
Oestreicher: We use the Law Library of Congress a lot as it has links to every country’s laws. We also use the Digital Promise student modules. There’s a final class called career experience, which is included in all college of business programs. I added a requirement for my Legal Studies students to complete the modules, so all of my legal studies associate degree students will get the certificate attached to those modules.
Trepka: I do a lot of virtual exchange projects, including one focused on circuits with a group of students in France. The students all worked on the coding and troubleshooting together. They met once a week on Zoom and also messaged each other outside of those sessions. It worked really well.
Oestreicher: I also really like to do virtual exchanges. I’ve had several opportunities to do a virtual exchange in classes and as a co-curricular activity that students can elect. Beyond the virtual exchanges, all of my classes have something global in them. I teach law and every country has laws. I have students pick a different country; they may compare laws or pick a crime and figure out what’s similar and different about that crime in different countries.
Lapidus: I have the students complete each student module as an assignment through my Blackboard shell, and they receive credit after submitting a screenshot demonstrating their completion of the module. I also make them complete the global competence plan for themselves after they complete the modules. I added the global career profile videos as a resource to the Blackboard shell as well.
Lapidus: I have refocused some of the other assignments in class and my presentation of class materials to incorporate culture more. The modules made me think about what global competence is for students and what they need to understand beyond trade and economics.
Trepka: After the French virtual exchange project, I noticed that the students were better at group work. Because it took place over a couple months and was more extensive, it caused them to have to work on their communication and other practical skills desired by employers.
Oestreicher: I know the students are really excited about it. When I get my reviews back, students say how much they enjoy that aspect of the course. I think because I’m so excited about it, it makes them excited about it. That’s probably the biggest impact: they ask for this content. And they often pick the same country in each class, so they’re really learning a lot about one country.
Lapidus: I have not had any negative feedback. The students have done well on the global competence plan. They also talk with a competence focus about concepts in class as well as in their assignments.
Oestreicher: We have a lot of students who are second generation, and so they will often pick the country that they came from, and they really enjoy that. It also depends on the student. Some students really love it and others ask, “Why do I have to do this? I’m here to learn about American law.” It’s varied, but I think for the most part they do really enjoy it. I’ve had students who have chosen to study abroad because they have spent time with global content in our class and they want to go more in depth with it.
Lapidus: There are no negatives to incorporating these assignments. The students get great exposure in a fun way. It’s not a boring textbook; it’s an interactive module. They view videos about international jobs that they may have never considered, which is a huge plus. Also, the modules are easy to implement. You practically do not need to take content out of class to accommodate these modules, because they are a great addition. If your college has a “World Cultures and Diversity” requirement like ours does, you can add the modules to your class and increase your enrollment.
Trepka: I would say it takes some effort, but overall, it’s worth it. You may get a little pushback from a few students, but you’ll also get some positive feedback from others. Just try it.
Oestreicher: The biggest obstacle I hear people say is, “I’ve never traveled, and I don’t know what it’s like in the rest of the world.” My advice is to internationalize yourself. For example, if you are an accounting instructor, look into accounting in other countries. I think that’s a good place to start. You don’t have to know about every place on earth; you’ll learn together with your students. If you know someone from another country, bring them in as a guest speaker, or if you have students in your class from other countries, have them talk about what their country is like (if they’re comfortable with it). You don’t need to know everything. Find the people who do, and bring them in.
Interested in taking the next step to incorporate global competence into your classes? Check out this step-by-step guide from Digital Promise to get started.
