FACULTY INITIATIVE AND LEVEL OF EXPERIENCE IN A U.S. UNIVERSITY IN INTERNATIONALIZING THEIR CURRICULUM TO FOSTER STUDENT GLOCAL COMPETENCE

Abstract

This study contributes by informing on the strategies that faculty uses to internationalize and integrate their curriculum to foster student glocal competence. Phenomenological processes such as epoche, phenomenological reduction, imaginative variation, and synthesis were developed to recognize, appreciate, and derive meaning from the perceptions faculty hold while internationalizing their curriculum. We expound on classroom activities and diverse curriculum contents that are utilized to internationalize in classroom settings. Purposive sampling and snowballing were used, and the sample size is based on the largeness of the sample while the selection of participants included a purposeful selection of 16 faculty members. Also, the “open coding” technique was used to identify instances of interviewees’ perceptions of faculty internationalizing their curriculum at the glocal level. The study adopts a phenomenological qualitative single case study that used individual interviews using open-ended questionnaires and document analysis for data collection. The sample focused on tenured track and instructional faculty only in internationalizing their curriculum. Findings revealed that most of the faculty mentioned the importance of involving students in the internationalization of the curriculum. Participants also state that student involvement cannot be taken away because student background, and previous and current experience from their different locals around the globe, will enrich internationalization.