Opportunities Instead of Deficits: Teaching Innovations for 21st Century Internationalisation in Higher Education

Thursday 4 July: Conference day two, 2:15pm – 3:15pm symposium

Venue

Room 11 – 303-B11 Sem

Presenters

Dr Xia Cui
University of Melbourne, Australia
xia.cui@unimelb.edu.au

Dr Dongmei Li
University of Melbourne, Australia
mei.li@unimelb.edu.au

Dr Megan McIntosh
University of Melbourne, Australia
megan.mcintosh@unimelb.edu.au

Dr Nira Rahman
University of Melbourne, Australia

Background

The concept of internationalisation has now made its way firmly into the discourses and realities of higher education. It is arguable, however, that pedagogical and curricular responses to internationalisation have been resistant to change (Li, Remedios, & Clarke, 2014; McIntosh, 2016; Ryan, 2011). This symposium describes the innovative teaching and learning interventions initiated by four international education specialists with culturally and linguistically diverse students. It is part of the Arts Teaching Innovation at the University of Melbourne in response to its increasing student diversity. 

This symposium will provide an overview of a holistic approach to teaching innovations by describing four interventions, outlining their rationale, processes and challenges that emerged through implementation. These include:

1. An integrated academic success model wherein traditional orientation and academic skills content is scaffolded, aligned with the curriculum, timely and provided on an ongoing basis by course instructors and other experts throughout the term.

2. Moderated panels on academic culture wherein students share details of their previous learning experiences abroad and discuss how potential mismatches may lead to challenges as well as opportunities.

3. An international students’ podcast where they share experiences, discuss matters that concern them, make connections, and by doing so build a network to support students’ wellbeing.

4. The Global Leader Program: International students act as leaders, translators and context experts to support their peers considering study abroad in their home country. This program privileges the immense knowledge (cultural, linguistic and academic) that international students contribute to the broader goals of internationalisation at the University of Melbourne.

The symposium invites participation from all stakeholders in higher education, management, research and teaching. Interventions described contribute to both curricular and co-curricular activities and encourage broad collaboration across stakeholders in higher education.

The symposium will include four 10-minute interactive presentations followed by 20 mins of Q&A. Participants in this symposium will be invited to discuss works in progress including issues being addressed, student feedback to the interventions, and the challenges and possibilities for innovative pedagogical and curricular approaches. The symposium will create a potential platform for individual and institutional collaborations and generate innovative ideas to apply across contexts.

References

Knight, J. (2004). Internationalization Remodeled: Definitions, Rationales and Approaches. Journal for Studies in International Education, (8)1, 5-31.
Li, D., Remedios, L., & Clarke, D. (2014). Chinese students’ groupwork practices and experiences in China. Higher Education, 68(2), 227-241.
McIntosh, M. (2016). ‘Fixing’ the writer, the writing or the institution? Writing centres, multilingualism and ‘new’ literacies in Anglophone academies. (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation). University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Ryan, J. (2011). Teaching and learning for international students: Towards a transcultural approach. Teachers and Teaching, 17(6), 631-648.

Presentation topic

Symposium