Evaluation Of Intercultural Learning In An Education Abroad Program For Stem Undergraduates

Abstract

Abstract NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Evaluation of Intercultural Learning in an Education Abroad Program for STEM Undergraduates Abstract This mixed methods study characterizes the intercultural learning that occurred among participants in a project-based education abroad program in Thailand. In addition to their interdisciplinary project work, these STEM students (N=17) engaged in cultural learning activities during a semester-long preparation period and two-month sojourn. In addition, about half of the students completed their projects in mixed teams of Thai and US students. Pre- and post-administration of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) was used as a quantitative indicator of intercultural development, while semi-structured interviews provided some depth and context to the quantitative data. The change in students’ developmental IDI scores was marginally statistically significant, with those in the mixed teams showing greater positive change on average. Most students remained in ethnocentric stages of development, however. Still, all students regardless of their IDI results were able to describe meaningful cultural differences. Overall, this study reinforces both the challenges and opportunities of significant intercultural learning in engineering education abroad programs. Introduction Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduates and faculty are responding to broader national trends of increasing participation in education abroad programs.1-4 These programs have particular potential to develop students’ intercultural communication skills and understanding of difference, which have been identified as increasingly important attributes of STEM graduates for professional practice and citizenship in the 21st century.5-10 However, intercultural learning does not occur de facto when students travel abroad. The primary intended learning outcomes may be in other domains, and STEM faculty typically have little or no experience fostering intercultural development. This situation is problematic in that education abroad experts have long known that without guided processing of cross-cultural encounters and cultural differences, people can return from these experiences with stereotypes reinforced and more ethnocentric worldviews, or develop technical solutions that have unintended negative consequences on local culture.10-11 This paper describes an evaluation of intercultural learning within an experiential education abroad program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). As part of WPI’s project-based undergraduate curriculum, all students complete an interdisciplinary research project involving both social and technical dimensions. This Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP), conducted in small teams of students under faculty guidance, is intended to help students learn how the social and cultural contexts of a problem impact its solution. Other learning outcomes are related to information literacy, teamwork and professionalism, and written and oral communication.12 Most IQPs involve addressing open-ended problems posed by community-based agencies and organizations. Through WPI’s Global Perspective Program, over half of WPI students complete their IQP at one of 15 Project Centers in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe.13-18