Internationalisation: Changing contexts and their implications for teaching, learning and assessment

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Research and Development in Higher Education Vol. 23: Flexible Learning for a Flexible Society

July, 2000, 755 pages
Published by
Lesley Richardson & John Lidstone
ISBN
0908557477
Abstract 

Changes in government policies and the social and economic context within which universities operate has resulted in increasing pressure for them to attract more international students and to internationalise their curricula. This, in turn, has put pressure on staff development units to develop strategies to assist staff to support student learning and achieve institutional goals.

This paper describes some of the professional development programs and resources developed at the University of South Australia to support the internationalisation of teaching and learning.

The first section describes resources that have been developed to assist staff to internationalise their courses. These include guidelines on structural options and pathways for course design and strategies for broadening the scope of the subject to include international content and contact. It also includes a description of a range of teaching and learning processes developed to assist all students to develop international perspectives; processes which value and include the contributions of international students.

The second section of the paper looks specifically at qualitative differences in the development of international perspectives in graduates. It describes a range of assessment strategies designed to assist students to focus their energies appropriately across a course and to develop international perspectives as professionals and citizens.

This approach is designed to maximise the reciprocal benefit and value of internationalisation in the short term and, ultimately, to embed internationalisation into the culture of the institution.