Learning in a new culture and in an intercultural environment Xiangyun Du & Lars Peter Jensen

2 Overview Confronting culture Confronting culture Intercultural issues in teaching and learning Intercultural issues in teaching and learning Intercultural group discussion Intercultural group discussion Presentation Presentation

3 What are the things confronting when entering a new country?

4 Things that have been taken for granted in one culture might be unknown in another Parents

Meeting cultures – Cultural shock Please write 3 words For foreign students: What were your most impressive observations on arrival of AAU/DK? For Danish students: What were your most impressive observations on arrival of another country?

6 A Danish kindergarten teacher worked at a kindergarten in Greenland. A real story she experienced: One day a boy’s mother was picking up him from kindergarten. He did not want to go home with her and behaved very badly. The mother pretended to leave kindergarten without him. She might expected the boy to go after her, however, he picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at his mother and hit her on the back of her head. Surprisingly, the mother turned round and cried ‘oh, how clever you are that you can throw stone so far and so precisely. Come on, we must hurry home to tell Dad. He will be very proud of you.’ Intercultural communication - values and meanings Rasmussen & Bank-Mikkelsen 2000: 8)

7 Please work in pairs, talking to different people using the script which follows… The script: A: ‘Hello’. B: ‘Hello’. A: ‘You are late’. B: ‘I know’. Try to do it completely differently each time. Intercultural communication - Power of language

8 Symbolism Manners and body language – eye contact, distance, etc. Intercultural communication - non-verbal language Rasmussen & Bank-Mikkelsen 2000: 8)

9 Intercultural communication - cultural understanding How would you read this ad of pills? (Herlitz 1989:38)

10 Solution (Herlitz 1989:60) ‘The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said.’ (Peter F. Drucker American Educator, b.1909) Intercultural communication - cultural understanding

11 Intercultural communication in teaching and learning Why is culture an issue? Development of intercultural competencies for future engineers Establishment of international program

12 Globalized context Diverse capabilities Lifelong learning Project management Social, environmental, and ethical concerns Effective communication Designing and conducting experiments - National Academy of Engineering, The Engineer of 2020, EUR-ACE (Accreditation of European Engineering Programmes and Graduates, ABET: Identity and solve applied science problems Team work Application of mathematics and science knowledge Analytical skills Interdisciplinary knowledge Intercultural competencies Developing intercultural competencies for future engineers

13 Intercultural environment in PBL

14 Challenges and identified problems 1 Miscommunication arises due to –Use of second language (English) as a means of communication –Learning and working styles –Personality

15 Challenges and identified problems 2 Different beliefs on/ways of learning – different expectations Opinions? Educational background

16 Challenges and identified problems 2 Different beliefs on/ ways of learning  Nobody knows the exact answers until the project is finished  Students are responsible for managing their own learning  Learners are creating new knowledge Studying in a PBL environment, Denmark

17 Challenges and identified problems 3 Can group work be an efficient way of learning? YES, we can meet at 8 tomorrow morning NO, I can’t get up anyway Will they believe me because I am a girl?? Listen to me, I am very experienced If we don’t follow the supervisor’s suggestion, will he allow us to pass? They don’t understand even such easy things!! It is my turn to talk? He complains of my garlic, but he has coffee and carrots all the time!!!

18 Challenges and identified problems 4 Different expectations between students and teachers Foreign students’ perceptions The lecturers’ role: Transferor Is responsible for course contents and organization The students role: Receivers Reproduction of knowledge at examination Danish lecturers’ perceptions The lecturers’ role: Enter into a dialogue refrains from giving answers moves activity onto students The students role: Participation in formulation of course content commitment and self- management (Reimann & Ulsig 2005)

19 New Life Shopping? Cooking? Transportation? Housing? in Denmark Challenges and identified problems 5 New student life

20 Doing project in groups Group meeting Brainstorm Subgroup work Discussion Disagreement Presentation Compromise Exam Report writing Life

21 I was a new student like you 7 years ago… I don’t understand the lecturer What on earth the supervisor wanted me to do? So difficult to do a project in group work! I am Depressed!

22 ’There is still one more seat in the wall’ Study environment in some countries… Big class, little room for individual ideas

23 Same materials year after year… (Karl Smith, UMN)

24 Memory is more important than application skills for high scores…

25 Transferred knowledge will be returned after exams

26 Room for creativity?

27 6:30 Get up in dorm 6:30-7:00 Morning Exercise My story: being a student in China

28 7:00 Breakfast in Canteen 7:30 – 8:00 Morning Reading

29 8:00 – 9:50 Morning Lectures 10:10 – 12:00 Morning Lectures

30 14:00-16:00 Afternoon Activities Lectures Supervision Laboratory Library

31 16:00-18:00 Leisure time

32 Evening Activities – study individually

33 Exams Written form Hard tasks Textbook knowledge based Scores matter

34 Good Good Study, Day Day Up! Study hard - high marks - diploma - good student

35 ` I have never worked in a group in my educational life… In group work, I preferred to listen when some students discussed intensely, because I could not understand why it was a question to discuss. Sometimes I could not follow their ideas or thinking. I need to change and actively work in the group.´ (Chinese female master student) Student’s reflection

36 Is ethnicity the only reason that makes us different? Muslim Philosopher Animal doctor Young girl butcher artist wolf farmer

37 Is culture something we are born with? (Jensen 2005:18) ’I got culture from mom’s breast breeding’

38 (Jensen 2005:72) You are so big. You can not stay here! Come back when you become smaller! Learning from each other vs. cultural integration Self vs. others Acceptance vs. adaptation

39 PBL in International programs, AAU, Denmark Different backgrounds in educational culture Cultural reflections Doing PBL in ‘the right’ way! A new culture to be established Root of PBL in DK - Tradition of group work in Denmark - Critical thinking - Emphasis on - Collaboration and participation - Lower power gap - Close link between industry and university

40 What can we benefit from international programs? Group exercise Discussion in intercultural groups Products presented in posters Poster presentation around walls