Ensuring that courses and program activities include global perspectives is central to the development of an internationalized university. While only a small number of students can benefit from educational experiences abroad, internationalized curricula have the potential to affect all students. This tip sheet explains how instructors can design internationalized courses and offers examples of course internationalization strategies developed by Waterloo instructors from a variety of disciplines.
What is course internationalization?
Course internationalization is “a process by which international elements are infused into course content, international resources are used in course readings and assignments, and instructional methodologies appropriate to a culturally diverse student population are implemented" (Schuerholz-Lehr et al., 2007, p. 70).
How do I internationalize my course?
Depending on the extent and expected outcomes of course internationalization, instructors choose different approaches to internationalize their courses. These approaches range from simply adding international content to doing a fundamental course re-design for internationalization. However, three main approaches are used by faculty members to internationalize their courses (Bond, 2003, p. 5).
| Approach to course internationalization | Description |
|---|---|
| Add-on |
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| Curricular infusion |
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| Transformation |
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The following table presents strategies for comprehensive course internationalization that can permeate all aspects of the course design (adapted from Leask, 2005, pp. 119-129).
| Components of the internationalized course design | Internationalization strategies |
|---|---|
|
Internationalized student learning outcomes What international perspectives (knowledge, skills and attributes) should students develop in this course? |
Internationalized learning outcomes communicate to students the importance of international learning. Whenever possible, international learning outcomes should address cognitive, affective, and behavioural domains of student learning. Below are examples of internationalized learning outcomes. By the end of this course, students should be able to :
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Internationalized content What international content and/or contact will students need in order to develop international perspectives? |
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Internationalized teaching and learning activities What learning activities and tasks will assist learners to develop international perspectives and prepare for the |
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Internationalized assessment methods What assessment task(s) could students complete to demonstrate achievement of international perspectives? |
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Examples of course internationalization from Waterloo faculty members
Below are examples of course internationalization strategies designed by Waterloo faculty members who were awarded course internationalization grants.
| Discipline | Internationalization strategy | Professor |
|---|---|---|
| Biology | Creating digital videos of interviews with international researchers in the field of biogeochemistry | Dr. Josh Neufeld |
| Music | Creating multi-media presentations and collecting various artefacts to develop a South African source library available in digital format and in designated space at Conrad Grebel University College | Dr. Carol Ann Weaver |
| Fine arts | Acquiring visual resources in the areas of Latin American and Asian art for a course in Contemporary Art | Dr. Jane Buyers |
| Centre for society, technology and values | Hiring a graduate research assistant to develop an international course unit on small arms technology, transfer, and control | Dr. Scott Campbell & Karl Griffiths-Fulton |
| Geography | Developing an online tutorial on the use of South American geographic projections in the software ArcGIS and organizing video conference sessions between a German researcher and Waterloo geography students | Dr. Alexander Brenning |
| Statistics | Creating a data library with data sets from financial, economic, social and environmental applications for various countries to use in statistics courses | Dr. Yulia Gel |
Support
If you would like support applying these tips to your own teaching, CTE staff members are here to help. View the CTE Support page to find the most relevant staff member to contact.
Selected resources
- Bond, S. (2003). Engaging educators: Bringing the world into the classroom. Canadian Bureau of International Education (CBIE): Ottawa.
- Leask, B. (2005). Internationalization of the curriculum: Teaching and learning. In
J. Carroll and J. Ryan (Eds.), Teaching international students: Improving learning for all (pp. 119-129). London: Routledge. - Schuerholz-Lehr, S., Caws, C., Van Gyn, G. & Preece, A. (2007). Internationalizing the higher education curriculum: An emerging model for transforming faculty perspectives, Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 37 (1), 67-94.
This Creative Commons license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon our work non-commercially, as long as they credit us and indicate if changes were made. Use this citation format: Strategies for Course Internationalization. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo.