Internationalizing the Curriculum: The Midwest Institute

1
Internationalizing the Curriculum The Midwest
Institute

• Theo Koupelis, Edison College
• Brown Bag Lunch
• February 27, 2008

2
Internationalizing? Why?

• Recent drive for INing the curriculum started at
  the end of WWII
• Motivation promote peace, bolster US interests,
  but also a desire that
• our citizens must know other lands and
  appreciate their people, cultures, and
  institutions
• 1943 report, Committee on World Regions,
• Social Science Research Council

3
Internationalizing? Why?

• Efforts of INing HE are occurring throughout the
  world
• Although the need is widely agreed upon, what
  that means is not
• Basic elements language study, study abroad,
  foreign students, changes in the curriculum,
  INing the culture of the institution
• Commonly understood as the integration of IN
  content, perspective and activity into
  disciplines, curriculum, and programs of study
• But tensions between different motivations may
  exist

4
Internationalizing? Why?

• Valuable capacities for students in the future
• Understanding diverse cultures and cultures as
  diverse
• Developing intercultural skills
• Understanding global processes
• Preparing for citizenship (local and global)
• Providing these skills will be a major challenge
  for the academy, requiring faculty flexibility
  and ongoing development for going beyond ones
  specialization

5
Disciplines (e.g., Sciences) and INing

• Most disciplines (e.g., the sciences) are
  inherently international scientists work on the
  same problems in similar ways and IN
  collaborations are second nature
• But is this character of science anational?
• Is there a need for a second language? Is culture
  relevant in science? Do scientists engage in
  contemporary issues?

6
Science and INing Questions

• Are the traditional disciplinary boundaries
  challenged by INing?
• Is there a need for more cross-disciplinary/cultur
  al knowledge in science?
• Is there a need to train students to work in IN
  diverse environments?
• Is there a need for new approaches to research,
  curriculum, and opportunities to widen and
  integrate an IN and cross-cultural approach
  within science?

7

Science and INing

• Effort has traditionally been IN in scope. Except
  in times of war, science has served as a neutral
  meeting ground between nations
• Recognition is important ? need to be able to
  communicate internationally
• The effect of WWII on INing science (especially
  physics) was enormous refugees physicists were
  crucial to the war effort ? realization of the
  importance of science for defense and prosperity
  of a nation

8
Science and INing

• Most nations cannot afford strictly national
  programs of research in science ? depend on IN
  collaborations ? development of IN research
  centers
• IN in science depends on what a country can
  afford (e.g., SSC vs. magnetic fusion)
• IN science includes national contributions, but
  a certain muting of competitiveness is
  necessary to make it work

9
The Midwest Institute (MIIIE)

• A self-funded consortium of two-year colleges.
• Primary objective to support curriculum and
  professional development by organizing workshops,
  conferences, and overseas projects for faculty
  and students to assist with grant development
  and to provide faculty with mentoring and
  professional networking.
• http//orgs.kvcc.edu/midwest/

10
The Midwest Institute (cont.)

• Established in 1992 with funding from the U.S.
  Department of Education, Title VI program
• Self-funded since 1995, but continues to receive
  funding from federal, state, and nonprofit
  organizations for various projects.
• The administration of the consortium is located
  at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, in
  Kalamazoo, Michigan.
• Members of the consortium come from two-year
  colleges in the Midwest region.
• There are currently 122 Colleges in the
  Consortium.

11
The Midwest Institute Modules

• The MIIIE facilitates the sharing of curriculum
  resources and professional expertise among the
  faculty and staff of the consortium. Toward that
  effort there is an extensive database of
  curriculum modules representing about 30
  disciplines.

12
MIIIE Summer Workshops

• Human Rights and Cultural Diversity (August 4-8,
  2008)
• Global Healthcare and Education (August 11-15,
  2008)
• China (August 18-22, 2008)
• Global Poverty and Inequality (August 3-7, 2009)
• World Food, Water and Energy (August 10-14, 2009)
• South East Asia (August 17-21, 2009)
• Languages, Global Communication Exchanges
  (August 2-6, 2010)
• Globalization and the Environment (August 9-13,
  2010)
• Central and South America (August 16-20, 2010)

13
MIIIE Fulbright Projects

• For Summer 2008 for about 15 faculty to go
  overseas for 4-5 weeks to develop curriculum and
  work on other projects
• Faculty in Art, Communication-English, Foreign
  Languages, Humanities, Social Sciences
• Armenia-Georgia June 4 July 3
• China June 2 July 3
• India July 7 August 3
• Japan-S. Korea May 29 July 2
• Malaysia June 21 July 17

14
MIIIE 15th Annual Conference

• Friday-Saturday, April 18-19, 2008
• Lorain County CC, Elyria, OH
• Concurrent Sessions
• Curriculum Modules on International Conflict
  Cooperation
• Infusing Curriculum Regarding China into Social
  Science Courses
• Focus on Arabic-Speaking Students Collaboration
  for Cultural Awareness
• Religious Pluralism in Syria and Lessons Learned
• Infusing Global Dimensions in Natural Science
  Course
• Incorporating Russian Arts and Culture into the
  Curriculum
• Curriculum Modules on languages and Global
  Communication

15
MIIIE 15th Annual Conference

• Concurrent Sessions (cont.)
• Learning from Travel The Syria-Turkey Fulbright
  Experience
• Women Perspectives from Around the World
• Infusing China Mirror Case-Studies in the
  Curriculum
• Globalizing English Courses
• Overseas Faculty Teaching Opportunities and
  Experiences
• Africa Infusing Socio-Cultural Dimensions in the
  Curriculum
• South Asia Infusing Socio-Cultural Dimensions in
  the Curriculum
• Organizing and Developing Consortia Grants
• Roundtable on International Student Recruiting
  and Servicing at CCs
• Intercultural Communication Issues

16
INing Courses Examples

• Category Ideas
• Example of Module Looking Back at the Roots The
  Historical Development of Ideas in Physics
• Description
• ? Each component of module will concentrate
  on the ORIGINAL contributions
• ? Collect / Analyze / Present contributions
  from ORIGINAL publications (when possible)
• ? Compare to current accepted versions
• ? Develop questions for projects and tests

17
INing Courses Examples - Ideas

• Objectives
• ? Associate contributions with appropriate
  scholars and their country of origin
• ? Follow development of ideas through time by
  associating all major players with their
  contributions
• ? Describe the influence that an individuals
  work had on others
• ? Describe the background through which new
  ideas emerged
• ? Describe the influence (if any) of
  social/political/economical factors on the
  emergence and evolution of ideas

18
INing Courses Examples - Ideas

• Evaluation
• ? Homework assignments
• ? Class participation
• ? Exams
• ? Mandatory project
• ? Specific assessment tools will be developed
  along with the development of the questions based
  on the readings.
• ? Standard assessment devices exist
  (pre-test/post-test, maps, annotated portfolios,
  etc.)

19
INing Courses Examples

• Category People
• An amazing collection of characters
• For each individual background, contribution,
  genesis of idea and its development through
  interactions with colleagues, influences
  (cultural, economic, etc.)
• Re-examination of work of certain scholars still
  fascinates and in light of new developments in
  the discipline still provides inspiration
• New discoveries of work of ancient scholars
  provides new insights to their world

20
INing Courses Examples

• Category Issues
• International issues such as global warming,
  energy generation (nuclear, solar, fusion, etc.),
  energy conservation (a need for a clear
  understanding of the ideas involved), defense
  (from terrorism to asteroids), etc. are of
  interest to all
• Students can personalize their learning, they
  can see applications of it, they can see they can
  make a difference
• Projects (in class, term projects, community
  engagement, etc.)
• In depth understanding of the discipline, but
  how it is done is very important

21
The Reason

• The goal of higher education is not only to
  prepare students for productive careers, but also
  to enable them to live lives of dignity and
  purpose not only to generate new knowledge, but
  to help shape a citizenry that can promote the
  public good.
• 
  Boyer, 1987