Starting with the End in Mind Designing Global Learning Experiences Rick Vaz Dean, Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Overview of the Session Introductions, your goals What do you want your students to be able to do? How will you know? What assignments, activities, and feedback will get them there? How will this fit in the curriculum? What support is needed? What barriers must be overcome? A few examples 2

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Brainstorming: Skills and Abilities What do you want your students to be able to do as a result of their global learning? Report out: Which 2-3 skills and abilities are most important to you? How many of your skills/abilities are content- based? How many are transferrable to other domains? 3

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How Will You Know if You’ve Succeeded? For your 2-3 skills and abilities: ─ What evidence of student learning will you look for? ─ What evaluation challenges might arise? 5

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Assignments, Activities, Feedback, Support Consider your most important skills and abilities, and the evidence you will seek. What assignments and activities can help your students develop them? 6

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Making it Work How easily can integrative learning fit into your curriculum? What will be the primary challenges and barriers? What support mechanisms/resources can help? What faculty development is needed? 7

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Discussion: Going Forward How easily does global learning fit into the existing curriculum? What are the primary challenges and barriers? What support mechanisms/resources can help? Report out: ─ Greatest challenge moving forward ─ Most important resource for success 8

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Global Learning Examples Wide range of international experiences – see URI Colloquium, ASEE International Division, etc. Engineers Without Borders, Engineering World Health EPICS (Purdue and others): Engineering projects in community service Global case studies in content courses (e.g., WPI) Engineering in a Global Context – Jesiek (Purdue) Engineering Cultures – Downey, Lucena (VT/CSM) 9

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Great Problems Seminars First year, 6 credit hours Focus is on one global problem ─ Energy, food, water, health care, climate change Co-Instructors from different disciplines ─ Technical/Humanistic pairings Learning outcomes stress skill development rather than content knowledge This structure allows multi-faceted look at the problem ─ Economic, policy, technical, cultural 10

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Course Structure First Half ─ Many perspectives ─ Many assignments – individual and group ─ Lots of presentations and writing Second Half ─ Students divide into teams (3-5) ─ Select project topic – a small piece of the big problem, situated in a specific global context ─ Research the problem, identify potential solutions, evaluate them, select one, develop an assessment plan ─ Written report, poster presentation 11

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Assessment 12 More than 50% of GPS alums said the GPS prepared them ‘much’ or ‘very much’ for the following activities: Functioning effectively on a team Solving complex real-world problems Assuming a leadership role on a team Interacting with faculty Developing a greater understanding of global issues Speaking clearly and effectively Using library research tools Thinking critically and analytically Drawing on information from multiple disciplines Understanding contemporary issues Being able to discuss and negotiate controversial issues Finding and critically evaluating information