Global Learning Experiences

Cross-cultural connections can deepen student engagement in the world around them and encourage their creativity about the course material.  Such connections can happen in a UT classroom if the student body is particularly diverse, or if students participate in study abroad programs. Global connections are also being created through the Global Classrooms Initiative that connect UT students with students at universities from other countries through classroom activities, conversations and projects intentionally designed to encourage collaboration. Yet for many faculty members, designing a global learning experience can be a daunting task. This PTF project attempts to address two challenges to expanding global learning experiences at UT. The first challenge focuses on the current Global Classrooms Initiative. The initiative is relatively new, so we know very little about the impact on student learning or best practices for making the global learning experience successful. What do students gain from the experience? What techniques improve the effectiveness of the experience? This is a crucial time to collect reliable information from faculty members and students about the impact of the program and lessons learned. The second challenge focuses on faculty members. While ten faculty members are supported through the Global Classrooms Initiative, many more faculty members may be interested in experimenting with global learning experiences. How do we identify and support interested faculty members who are not in the Global Classroom Initiative? Can we design resources that could outlive the Global Classroom Initiative to provide long-lasting resources for interested faculty members? Through my PTF project, I hope to work with the International Office and Center for Teaching and Learning to strengthen data collection from current Global Classrooms, identify key lessons learned about how to make global connections effective, and to support faculty interested in designing new global connections.