Issotl2010 conference presentation.scoping internationalisation in learning, teaching and assessment

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Scoping Internationalisation in learning, teaching and

assessment: a review of practice - what does it

mean for staff?Rajesh Dhimar ([email protected])

Sheffield Hallam UniversityIssotl October 2010

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Current context Higher Education Academy framework for

internationalisation Faculty perspective and core objectives Faculty approach to internationalisation - 3 strands

(International Business Development, mobility and Learning, Teaching and Assessment)

Developments in internationalisation and LTA in the Faculty of Development and Society at Sheffield Hallam

Scoping project - summary, findings and recommendations

Today's session

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Europe Unit The Prime Minister's Initiative 2 for International Education

(PMI 2)

Bologna Process -Towards the European Higher Education Area

Northern Consortium - United Kingdom

Leadership Foundation for Higher Education

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - OECD

Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)

Higher Education Academy HEFCE - International Strategy

DIUS - 9 perspectives on HE development (1 of which is about internationalisation - a ten year view (Bone,D.

2008)

UKCISA (UK Council for International Student Affairs)

Current context - what's internationalisation all about?

No single consensus on international development

in HE

International development - adds to the diversity of the student

experience

Survival of courses - reliance upon international recruitment and

investment

Significance of financial contribution

from international students and

their implications

Internationalisation in HE - a contested

enterprise

What can be surmised?

Curriculum Issues for Internationalisation

Learner mobility challenges

Accommodating international students in and out of LTA practice - should we rearticulate our LTA to be more flexible for a diverse body of students?

Inclusivity-contributing to an evolving society vs. traditional HE delivery (private sector/class/hierarchy)

Need a realistic, thought through approach across HE institutions - Employer engagement/Widening Participation/lifelong learning/graduate attributes

Focus on partnership and collaboration between HE institutions

Higher Education Academy - Framework for

Internationalisation (2009-11)The HEA identifies five core components of an Internationalisation process and the Faculty is clustering its own activities around these components:

Institutional; (values, policies, partnerships) Staff; (supporting, developing and rewarding) Students; (diversity, communication) Curriculum; formal and informal (internationalised

curriculum, exchanges, integration) Support; (services & facilities, pastoral, linguistic/

cultural/academic)

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Faculty perspective - Internationalisation Project at Sheffield Hallam (2007-2010)

University's Corporate Plan (2008-13)

Sheffield Hallam International Strategy (2005-2010) (New strategy is being

developed during 2010/11)

All Faculty international strategies/plans

Heads of International Development in each of the 4 Faculties

Approx - 14% of Sheffield Hallam students are international (rising year on year)

Existing rationale - one way of trying to address current reputational and income needs

The Internationalisation project is set in the context of other institutional related activities delivered by:

- International Office- International Student Support- International Marketing- Partnership Support Unit

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3 paradigms for internationalisation

Student and Staff Mobility

Learning Teaching

and Assessment

International Business

Development

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Research on student perceptions of mobility

New partnerships with overseas HEI's

Student information sessions to promote mobility opportunities

Work on Undergraduate course structures to enable mobility

Project to scope current practice and future direction in internationalisation and LTA

Development of 3 international focused optional modules in ASS

Internationalisation of the student experience conference to share and promote good practice

Attendance and representation at European/International recruitment fairs

International visits to HE institutions in China, India, Africa and the Middle east

New curriculum partnership link with St Francis College

Internationalisation Special Interest Group

Ongoing Internationalisation Project developments to support LTA strand in 2008/09

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Internationalisation of the student experience

special interest group

evidence base of current practice

establish new partner link

disseminate practice -

conference

development of new international

modules

Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA)

"to ensure that all students can benefit from an "internationalised" experience even if they are not physically mobile, for example by studying modules with an international focus and by working with students from other countries and cultures".

Faculty Internalisation Strategy (2007-2010)

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" Internationalising the curriculum is an important and strategic initiative of universities worldwide. An internationalised curriculum has the potential to enrich the educational experience of both local and international students by providing a range of opportunities for study and cultural exchange. This includes student mobility programs as well as incorporation of international content"

Martin, J. and How, Kee.L (2008)

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Enquiry- scoping internationalisation and Learning, Teaching and Assessment (staff

perspectives)

Purpose and aims

The objectives of the scoping exercise were to:

Enquire about the opportunities that courses offer to integrate international and cross-cultural perspectives through learning, teaching and assessment

Consider the international relevance of subject material through learning, teaching and assessment

Explore understandings of different pedagogical cultures to ensure that teaching and learning remains sensitive to student’s educational contexts

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semi-structured qualitative

interviews with staff in key roles

Including - Heads of

Internationalisation- Heads of Learning,

Teaching and Assessment (LTA;

- LTA leads- Module/Course

leaders

Topic focus - covered:- staff roles and responsibilities;- International structures and

processes- issues and benefits- overview of practice

and impacts- future needs/plans

14/17 Faculty's subject areas had been

represented

The approach to enquiry

Stage 1. Course profile information

Opportunities for:

• mobility• cultural diversity• curriculum content• student and staff profilesStage 2. Conversational dialogue

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Cultural diversity and integration

International practices

Student and staff mobility

Statutory requirements

and Professional Bodies

Curriculum Development

Programme/course

structures

International research for staff

and students

Language and Linguistics

International recruitment strategies

Plagiarism Transnational education

Institutional Partnerships

EmployabilityInternational student profiles

What did we find? Emerging themes

Within discipline context

Diversity of staff practice There was a general awareness of cross-cultural,

global, citizenship issues

The notion of HE being internationalised generally, was not necessarily something which was a core feature of subject curriculas.

Interestingly, there was a common perception that 'Internationalisation' was perceived to be about the process of recruitment and teaching of international students and opportunities for work based learning/student placements abroad.

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Statutory requirements/professional bodies

"it is one of the standards, which students have a requirement to meet, they know what the standards are and what they need to do to get there…one of the things for example around working with multicultural perspectives and an awareness of cultural diversity of people, especially in the jobs which they (students) may end up being employed in. Meeting competencies against national/international standards makes the course more meaningful for our students and so it is much more than just an academic qualification, it becomes part of what students believe in".

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Curriculum Change

"Our distance learning courses really do embrace internationalisation because the interest in the subject and the way it is delivered means they (students) can develop their own interests. Most of them live abroad, the idea of this module is how you connect with the locality and issues in globalisation , so you might study how a society is operating in Sheffield, but how does the world affect it? People who are interested in political movements, their interest in the wider world, people who are interested in manufacturing - they are dependent on overseas markets…how do they conceive and relate to the world…it's the concept between the relationship between a community and a society and its interactions with the wider world".

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Programme/Course Structures

"…it seems like there's been a recent push in internationalisation, particularly over the last year, it's generated loads of interest and activity which is demanding on staff time and we've been asking what the resource for this is (referring to staff buy out time) and where the time on the work plan to set up partnerships with other Universities comes from. I raised this with other SGL's - eventually we were told that it would come out of our own subject resource. That's the current model. This presents a problem - the actually issue then is that it needs to be built into current core work planning and there's been no preparation for that. So my question is how is your international strategy is aligned with your work planning strategy? But it seems like nobody has thought to link them to together and how you would advise subject leaders about how to do this work in practice."

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Student and staff mobility

"we include as much experience of travelling abroad as much as we can… we think the learning in terms of the experience from other cultures, even if they are just European cultures is fundamental for them (students). We've always enjoyed having international students on our courses, especially on our undergraduate courses and they bring a great deal to the rest of the cohort. Within this we've established a fantastic partnership with the host institution and they've given us a phenomenal service".

"…it's taken a long time for us to get the partnership with (reference to an institution) exchange set up, but its been brilliant for students on our module who've been away and have come back completely transformed and enthused about their experience and their own learning. This has had a massive positive knock on effect on them and how they see themselves as professionals after they finish their degree, which is really encouraging to see".

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Interpretation of subject/discipline as one which is international

Statutory/professional body requirements aligned to

national/international standards

Subject accreditation to national/international professional

bodies

Opportunities for students to study a foreign language (in order to take

up a future mobility opportunity, usually taken as an elective module

at level 5 for undergraduates)

International learning opportunities e.g. International group work

presentations, discussion forums, case studies and guest lecture

speakers

International teaching opportunities for staff/students (e.g. sabbaticals

and work based learning opportunities

International research opportunities for staff/students

Modules and courses framed within an international context - i.e.

transforming subject material that is of international relevance

Work based learning opportunities. e.g. ERASMUS scheme (ranging from year/semester/month/week long placements. weekend visits, day trips, field work, residentials

Assessment which uses comparative analysis approach to learning (e.g. assessment tasks

which compare and contrast different theories and/or

international practices within subject/discipline contexts

Examples of practice

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Lack of staff development

Access to facilities and resources to support international related activity in courses was limited

No explicit alignment with other institutional processes e.g. academic work planning, appraisal, CPD, SMT, course design and evaluation, validation

Inflexible assessment and feedback practices e.g. one year MA courses

Some "monocultures" in courses hinder experiences with and/or integration with other cultures

Are the students ready for international change? (assessment the student profile)

Some issues

Implications for LTA and the curriculum: developing internationalisation

How can we provide effective staff development processes to support the integration of international perspectives/relevance within the curriculum?

How can we develop the facility, capacity and resource for supporting international related activity , which is aligned with University Central Support Services, IT Support, International Office, that includes aspects of international business development and student and staff mobility?

How can we modernise assessment and feedback practices to facilitate international LTA activity?

How can we provide students with opportunities for international related experiences both within and outside the curriculum?

How can we effectively use student feedback to develop international activity which is relevant to their subject?

How can we promote the development of international collaboration at individual, team, departmental, faculty, and institutional level?

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Recommendations The findings of this scoping exercise should be used and disseminated across the

Faculty in helping to provide input to the future support for internationalisation

The need for a clear institutional lead and direction for Internationalisation

Celebrate good international practice (reward and recognition)

Promote greater awareness of the Internationalisation

Develop Faculty wide and cross-institutional links on the strategic development for internationalisation

Provide appropriate interventions for International learning, teaching and assessment support for staff

Promote professional development and staff engagement in support of internationalisation

Undertake further investigatory work, focusing on the needs and practices of relevant international stakeholders

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Key texts and references Burnapp, D. et al, (2008), Supporting international students in UK Higher Education: a staff development

course, The Higher Education Academy, Subject Centre for Language, Linguistics and Area Studies (LLAS) Carroll, J. and Ryan, J.(2005), Teaching International Students, Improving Learning for All, The Staff and

Educational Development Association Series Hudson, B. and Todd, J. M. (2000), Internationalising the Curriculum in Higher Education - Reflecting on

Practice, Sheffield Hallam University Press Hyland, F. etc al, (2008), A Changing World: the internationalisation experiences of staff and students

(home and international) in the UK Higher Education, The HEA, Subject Centre for Education (ESCalate) and Subject Centre for Language, Linguistics and Area Studies (LLAS)

Internationalising students' unions in higher education (March 2008) - a strategic framework and audit toolkit for students' unions, National Union of Students, supported by PMI2 funding

Jones, E. and Brown, S. (2007), Internationalising Higher Education, Routledge publications, British Library Catalogue

Ryan, J. (2000), A guide to teaching international students, Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, Oxford Brookes University

The Prime Minister's Initiative for International Education in Higher Education - http://www.britishcouncil.org/eumd-pmi.htm

The Higher Education Academy - Internationalisation supporthttp://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/international

Global Opportunities for UK Higher Educationhttp://www.international.ac.uk/our_research_and_publications/index.cfm

Oxford Brookes - Internationalising the Curriculum Resource Kithttp://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsld/ioc/resourcekit.html

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