Emiko Yoshida, Social Development Studies
Keely Cook, BASE, English Language Centre
Elizabeth Stankiewicz, Department of Psychology
(Project timeline: May 2015 - April 2016)
Description
The purposes of this project were 1) to facilitate the cultural integration of international students in the Bridge to Academic Success in English (BASE) program and Canadian students from a cross-cultural psychology course (PSYCH 349R) through collaborative learning strategies and 2) to encourage Canadian students to engage in deep learning. To build a sense of connection, the Canadian students and the international students were paired up based on their shared interests. Then, through their interactions, each pair worked together to apply what they learned in class to real life situations. In the spring 2015 term, in order to examine the impact of intercultural interaction on students’ attitudes and learning, we examined Canadian students from the same course (spring 2015) as a comparison group. These students did not collaborate with international students, but they completed the same ePortfolio assignments.
(Photo credit: George A. Spiva Center for the Arts under Creative Commons "Attribution Generic" license)
Question Investigated
- To investigate the impacts of intercultural collaborative assignments on Canadian students and BASE students.
Findings/Insights
Students were asked to complete pre- and post-project surveys at the beginning and towards the end of the term. We also analyzed the quality of Canadian students’ ePortfolio assignments and BASE students’ audio assignments.
Cultural integration: After working with their BASE student partners, Canadian students showed a significant increase in interest in Chinese culture. In addition, development of intercultural friendship and intercultural interactions outside of the classroom context emerged (e.g., having dinner together, Canadian students helping their partners with job applications etc…). Follow up interviews revealed that some students were still in touch with their partner through social media (e.g., Facebook) after the term was over.
Cross-cultural competence and communication: Analysis of ePortfolio assignments for Canadian students revealed that some Canadian students were able to take international students’ perspectives (e.g., development of sympathy). They also expressed that perceived language barriers may hinder interaction with international students even if there were no language barriers. For example, if Canadian students overestimate language barriers, they may hesitate to communicate with international students. Although some Canadian students anticipated language barriers, many of them expressed that they did not have any problems with communicating with their BASE student partner. Therefore, we think that it is important to provide them with opportunities to interact with international students in order to reduce psychological barriers that may hinder intercultural interaction.
After the completion of the project, Canadian students showed a significant reduction of reliance of stereotypes. In addition, there was a negative correlation between reliance of cultural stereotypes and ePortfolio assignment performance among Canadian students. In other words, those who did not rely on cultural stereotypes demonstrated a better performance on their ePortfolio assignments. These findings suggest that deep learning may be an important factor in reducing stereotype application. Finally, the analysis of their ePortfolio assignments revealed that Canadian students became aware of not only cultural differences but also cultural similarities. Because cross-cultural psychology courses tend to emphasize cultural differences, this finding suggests that through interaction with people from a different culture, Canadian students were able to obtain more information about the culture that was not covered in the course materials.
BASE students expressed that their partner was supportive of the development of their language skills such as checking understanding, expressing complex ideas in less lexically dense terms, and encouraging conversation. They also mentioned that sharing cultural practices with their partner was a good way to practice advanced English skills because these cultural practices and norms often involve abstract ideas. Through working with Canadian students, BASE students seemed to gain confidence in their academic endeavours. At the beginning of the term, BASE students’ level of academic confidence was lower than that of Canadian students; however, at the end of the term their confidence level was increased to the same level as Canadian students. Although many factors can contribute to this increase in their confidence, we speculated that one of the contributing factors may be due to the nature of interactions. We designed students’ assignments so that both groups of students can learn from each other – not just one-way communication (e.g., Canadian students helping BASE students) but we intended to send a message that BASE students also contribute to Canadian students’ learning experiences.
Dissemination and Impact
- At the individual level: We shared our findings with colleagues at Renison College University.
- At the Department/School and/or Faculty/Unit levels: We presented our findings at Renison Board of Governors, Renison University College.
- At the institutional (uWaterloo) level: We presented our findings at the OND conference.
- At the provincial, national and/or international levels: We delivered our presentation at the annual conference of Teachers of English as a Second Language Association of Ontario (TESL) in Toronto. Our project has been shortlisted for the 2015 QS-Wharton Stars Reimagine Education Awards.
Impact of the Project
- Teaching: We have implemented the intercultural collaborative assignments for PSYCH students and BASE students in subsequent terms and will likely to continue intercultural collaboration for these courses in the future.
- Connections with people from different departments, faculties, and/or disciplines about teaching and learning: Faculty from different departments has expressed their interests in implementing intercultural collaborative assignments in their courses. We shared the descriptions of our assignments and will continue to do so if an opportunity arises in the future.
References
Project reference list (PDF)