scholarly journals The Impact of Short-Term Cross-Cultural Experience on the Intercultural Competence of Participating Students: A Case Study of Australian High School Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 313
Author(s):  
Wendy Nelson ◽  
Johannes M. Luetz

Over recent years, globalisation occasioned a dramatic rise in cross-cultural interactions until this was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ability to competently engage in a multicultural world is often considered the “literacy of the future”. Global interconnectedness has brought studies into intercultural competence to centre stage. This has increased the demand for cross-cultural education experiences that facilitate such learning. However, there is a dearth of empirical research into the issues and effects surrounding short-term cross-cultural educational experiences for adolescents. This mixed-methods study extends previous research by looking specifically into what impact short-term cross-cultural experiences may have on the formation of intercultural competence (IC) and emotional intelligence (EI) of Australian high school students. This study used two instruments for measuring IC and EI in a pre- and post-test quasi-experimental design (n = 14), the General Ethnocentrism (GENE) Scale and Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ). Moreover, it conducted in-depth post-experience qualitative interviews (n = 7) that broadly followed a phenomenological paradigm of inquiry. The findings suggest that fully embodied cross-cultural immersive experiences can effectively support the formation of IC and EI in high school students and may thereby play a contributing role in redressing ignorance, xenophobia, prejudice, and discrimination. A greater understanding of the linkages between immersive cross-cultural experiences and intercultural competence offers prospects for policymakers, educators, pastoral carers, and other relevant stakeholders who might employ such experiential learning to foster more interculturally and interracially harmonious human relations.

Author(s):  
Wendy Nelson ◽  
Johannes M. Luetz

Over recent years globalisation has occasioned a dramatic rise in cross-cultural interactions – until this was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic (OECD 2018, Nelson & Luetz 2021). The ability to competently engage in a multicultural world is often considered the “literacy of the future” (UNESCO 2013, OECD 2018). Global interconnectedness has brought studies into intercultural competence to centre stage (UNDP 2004, Bissessar 2018, Nelson et al. 2019). This has increased the demand for cross-cultural education experiences that facilitate such learning. However, there is a dearth of empirical research into the issues and effects surrounding short-term cross-cultural educational experiences for adolescents. This mixed methods study extends previous research by looking specifically into what impact short-term cross-cultural experiences may have on the formation of intercultural competence and emotional intelligence of Australian high school students. This study used two instruments for measuring intercultural competence and emotional intelligence in a pre- and posttest quasi-experimental design (n=14), the GENE Scale and TEQ. Moreover, it conducted in-depth post experience qualitative interviews (n=7) that broadly followed a phenomenological paradigm of inquiry. The findings suggest that fully embodied cross-cultural immersive experiences offer benefits in areas of intercultural competence and emotional intelligence and can offer meaningful application in areas of current affairs. A greater understanding of the linkages between immersive cross-cultural experiences and intercultural competence offers prospects for policy makers, educators, pastoral carers, and other relevant stakeholders who might employ such experiential learning to foster more interculturally and interracially harmonious human relations.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly N Downing ◽  
Katherine E Rooney ◽  
Abigail Norris Turner ◽  
Nicole Kwiek

As our nation and the global economy place an increased demand for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) jobs, science educators must implement innovative approaches to pique precollege student’s interests in these careers. Pharmacology remains a relevant and engaging platform to teach biology and chemistry concepts, and this strategy applied over several months in the formal classroom increases science literacy in high school students. In order to improve the affordability and accessibility of this educational approach, we developed and assessed the impact of a short-term pharmacology day camp, ‘Pills, Potions, and Poisons’ (PPP), on high school students’ science knowledge and attitudes toward science careers. The PPP program was offered annually from 2009 through 2012, and participants spent 6 days learning about pharmacology and careers in the biomedical sciences. All PPP student participants (n=134) completed surveys assessing their basic science knowledge and science attitudes before and after the program. Students achieved significant gains in their science knowledge by the end (Day 6) of the PPP program (from 41% mean test score to 65%; p<0.001). In addition, the majority of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the PPP program positively impacted their attitudes toward science (p<0.001). This study provides evidence that a short-term pharmacology-centered science enrichment program can achieve significant gains in participant’s science knowledge as well as motivation and confidence towards science careers. Moreover, we report benefits experienced by the undergraduate, graduate, and professional pharmacy student teaching assistants (TAs, n=10) who reported improved communication skills and an increased interest in future educational work.   Type: Original Research


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 27-44
Author(s):  
Senad Bećirović ◽  
◽  
Belma Delić ◽  
Amna Brdarević-Čeljo

A period of globalisation and the interconnectedness of people across the world has increased the demand for greater intercultural competences among young people in particular. Being interculturally competent entails modifying behaviour in culturally appropriate ways when establishing contact with diverse cultures. The development of this competence is a long and never-ending process that which is influenced by a variety of factors, some of the most important being school policies, surroundings, individual work, personal needs and curiosity. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the impact of grade level, grade point average (GPA) and gender on intercultural competences by distributing the questionnaire developed by Portalla and Chen (2010) to 211 Bosnian high school students. The results showed that the students’ grade levels and GPAs did not have a statistically significant influence on their intercultural competences, whereas gender only had a significant impact on their intercultural competences on the Interactant Respect subscale. Due to the fact that the students should be taught intercultural competence at school, their competence is expected to improve in each study grade; thus, based on the students’ GPAs, this study may help teachers to identify a gap in their instruction and to modify their teaching content so that it contributes to the development of the students’ intercultural competence, as well as to the promotion of the importance thereof.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fazli Rabi ◽  
Ma Fengqi ◽  
Muhammad Aziz ◽  
Muhammad Ihsan Ullah ◽  
Nuritdinova Hilola Abduraxmanovna

<p>Mathematics is important and applies to science, technology, society or the natural sciences. It is applied directly or indirectly. Most students find this to be a very stimulating, complex, and well-understood subject. Maths in high school is extremely important. The study was designed to investigate the impact of students' mathematical representation skills and their attitudes towards GeoGebra. This study was quasi-experimental and carried out on high school students. We have two groups belonging to the same standard class. The control group consisted of 22 students, while the experimental group consisted of 28 participants. The conventional approach was used to teach certain concepts of plane geometry to the students in the control group. On the other hand, the experimental group taught similar teachings using GeoGebra. The results show that students have more skills in mathematical representation using GeoGebra. The semi-empirical test also showed a significant change in students' attitudes between the pre-test and the post-test. Students are more active in mathematical representation skills in GeoGebra.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0967/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>


PLoS ONE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. e0190895 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domingo Palacios-Ceña ◽  
Emilio Andrés Martín-Tejedor ◽  
Ana Elías-Elispuru ◽  
Amaia Garate-Samaniego ◽  
Jorge Pérez-Corrales ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Antonio-José Moreno-Guerrero ◽  
Santiago Alonso García ◽  
Magdalena Ramos Navas-Parejo ◽  
María Natalia Campos-Soto ◽  
Gerardo Gómez García

Recently, there has been a proliferation of technopedagogical practices, based on the application of active teaching and learning processes through the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). The main objective of this work is to analyse the impact of training action through the use of augmented reality in physical education for the development and acquisition of spatial orientation, as opposed to more traditional training based on the exhibition method. The methodology developed is quantitative, through a quasi-experimental design post-test in 140 high school students in the field of physical education. The results indicate that all of the dimensions show a very high, significant relationship. The greatest difference in average is observed in motivation. In contrast, the smallest difference, although significant, is observed in the grades given by the teachers themselves. It can be concluded that the method of teaching through augmented reality is effective in teaching high school students in the subject of physical education, especially for the acquisition of spatially oriented content.


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