Engaging students globally without leaving the comforts of home

Abstract

To meet the needs of and preparing graduates to enter the 21st century business environment, higher education institutions have realized global learning is now an essential part of the knowledge and skill sets needed by business graduates. Global competency is no longer a luxury. This article describes how a regional higher education institution has implemented active learning projects and assessments which integrate global competency in the core and elective courses. Students can complete these projects and assessments without leaving the comforts of their homes, the campus, or the U.S. and still be exposed to a global experience. The purpose of the study was to examine the global competency students acquire through active learning projects and assessments in different classes. Specifically, the study sought to determine the students’ perceived satisfaction level with these global active learning experiences, and to determine if they perceived their global competency had increased. Data analysis suggests the students were gaining global competencies using active learning projects and assessments. Also, from seven of the specific courses, the students indicated they were satisfied or very satisfied with their acquired global competency in six courses. Additionally, the students’ perceived global competence increased after taking the courses which implemented these projects and assessments. Therefore, it appears students can gain global competency through active learning projects and assessments used in courses without leaving the comforts of home.