1. Internationalization of the business curriculum – My research project – Dr. Bronwyn Betts
Offered to overseas partners.

2. Why the need?
“To develop and implement an inclusive modern curriculum and courses which considers, with students, how knowledge/content might be alternatively constructed in different cultures”
ARU Learning Teaching and Assessment Strategy
Or more simply .... “Offering a curriculum which prepares our graduates for the global business world of tomorrow”
It is not just about appropriate contextualisation to country specific agenda, but to reflect the global nature of business and its practices within the curriculum itself.
Also my own experience of teaching international students
I was awarded a Teaching and Learning Fellowship to reiew the current provision in terms of the modules which we currently offer to our overseas partners and UK franchise.

3. What do we mean by Internationalization?

4. For the purpose of my research... Broad definition
“the incorporation of an international and intercultural dimension into the content of the curriculum as well as the teaching and learning arrangement and support services of a programme of study”
Leask (2009:209)

5. A “burning” question in the early stages of the project....
Are we aspiring to graduates who have a global outlook to business in all disciplines or is it just about them being able to relate their own country?
Preferred option
“The incorporation of an international and intercultural dimension into the context of the curriculum which requires the incorporation of specific international and intercultural learning outcomes (in different disciplines/modules and different levels which will facilitate the development of skills, knowledge etc to live and work in a global society”

6. My goal....
“To develop a “fit for purpose” suite of modules and learning approaches that better address international issue, country specific priorities and cross partnership delivery in order to inform a new curriculum for our “Associate Colleges”
Previous research in several disciplines – see for example Jones and Killick (2013) and Leask (2013)
Recent studies which look specifically at the business curriculum are less documented
Mention earlier studies re. Business curriculum were talking about

7. Constructive Alignment
Prescribes the student journey from intended learning outcomes through learning experiences through to the final assessment
Course teams to “internationalize” existing learning outcomes rather than create alternatives. These to address inclusivity and be relevant to employment in a global business world
The role of module leader in designing assessment and content and the role of the tutor in delivery
My original thoughts – were that there would be a big think re the learning outcomes

8. Generic learning outcomes
Example of LO -
Evaluate how organizational and HR strategies are shaped by, and developed in response to internal and external environmental factors including the market and competitive environments of organizations, and how leaders and the HR function respond to them.
I now believe that quite small changes can be made to the learning outcomes in the majority of the modules and in many ways these are not the main problem as can be see the learning outcomes are relatively generic. The main issue appears to be that the learning outcomes are being interpreted mostly with a UK content and the design, delivery and assessment does not always take into account pedagogies which promote country specific priorities, issues and cross-partnership delivery for our Associate College Partners
This is dependent on the module – eg HR in international context is good,
Generally the findings suggest the partners would like more input in decisions regarding the curriculum

9. 2 phases of the research
Phase 1 – Review and reflect - questionnaire to course teams – via Survey Monkey –
Module Leader
Module Tutor
Programme Leader
Phase 2 – Focus groups – “How might we do it differently?” conceptual framework guided discussion
Leask and Bridge (2013) Ongoing
Report mostly on the findings from the questionnaire - focus group are ongoing but to date they have been conducted in
Botswana
Sri Lanka
Malaysia

11. Some examples of findings....... Module tutors

15. Summary of some key findings to date
All consider internationalization of the curriculum important
50% consider that all teaching staff should be required to continually develop international skills with regard to their profession
Curriculum needs to include local and internationalized content both ends of the spectrum are missing. The curriculum is struck in the middle with a UK focus
50% feel that no intercultural goals defined for their modules
Most considered teaching strategies do encourage working in cross cultural groups
More international content required in the modules
I have a huge amount of data

16. Cont’d
43% find that students are sometimes given the chance to discuss international issues as part of an assessment task –
The biggest constraint to a meaningful internationalised curriculum is the missing communication with the ARU tutors
Tutors would like to have more flexibility in terms of case studies that they would like to bring into the curriculum
They welcome the research being undertaken
Staff development was mentioned numerous times to remedy the inexperience of some staff and the capacity and knowledge to deliver a truly international module

17. These and later findings will continue to inform the development of modules, assessments and support materials over the coming year and beyond.

18. Some ideas offered by tutors:
A real concern seems to be “the missing communication between the partner colleges and the home university. The development of the course materials without national input from the respective partner colleges is an issue”
Better access to ARU libraries and databases
Continuous workshops and staff development also in collaboration with ARU
A yearly seminar of ARU international teaching staff

19. What is already happening..
All modules are expected to be fully overhauled by the end of Semester Two 2016/17
Currently, there is a team of core and fractional staff working to redevelop the curriculum module by module - my work is feeding into this
Modules where assessment is unfit for purpose will be removed (with consultation with Link Tutors and Associate College tutors) and replaced with robust and appropriate assessments that fit context and delivery mode.