Betty Leask

Using formal and informal curricula to improve interactions between home and international students

This article argues that improved interactions between home and international students are dependant on the way we use both the formal and the informal curricula to encourage and reward intercultural engagement. It draws on the results of several research studies to present some strategies for facilitating meaningful interaction between students from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds in and out of the classroom. Principles and guidelines for structuring formal and informal curricular activities and services are proposed. This article concludes that the development of intercultural competencies in students is a key outcome of an internationalised curriculum, which requires a campus environment and culture that obviously motivates and rewards interaction between international and home students in and out of the classroom. This means that a range of people across institutions need to engage with the internationalisation agenda over time to improve interactions between home and international students.

Plagiarism, cultural diversity and metaphor—implications for academic staff development

Plagiarism is a complex, culturally loaded concept which causes much anxiety for both academics and students. Exactly what constitutes plagiarism is dependent on a number of contextual factors. Despite the difficulties associated with defining and detecting plagiarism, it is said to be on the increase, and students from ‘other cultures’ are frequently highlighted as being perpetrators of this crime against the academic community of enlightened Western scholars. Metaphors of war and battle are common in the discourse of plagiarism which also has clear links to the discourse of Orientalism as described by Edward Said. The paper argues that it is time to change the metaphor and to see teaching to avoid plagiarism as an intercultural encounter rather than a battle that needs to be won. It discusses the implications of viewing plagiarism as a culturally constructed concept and describes four Focus Areas for academic staff development designed to create an academic culture that deters plagiarism by encouraging recognition of and engagement with cultural diversity.

Bridging the Gap: Internationalizing University Curricula

This article is a case study of how one university is internationalizing all its courses so that all graduates will demonstrate an international perspective as professionals and citizens. This focus on courses and their teaching, learning, and assessment promotes international education, multiculturalism, and the recognition of intercultural issues relevant to professional practice. The first section deals with structural options and pathways for course design when internationalizing curricula and the defining characteristics of such options. The second and final section of the article outlines ways in which an internationalized curriculum broadens the scope of the subject to include international content and/or contact and sets up teaching and learning to assist in the development of cross-cultural communication skills. Internationalizing university curricula is a powerful and practical way of bridging the gap between rhetoric and practice to including and valuing the contribution of international students.

Comparing internationalisation of the curriculum in action across disciplines: theoretical and practical perspectives

Internationalisation and internationalisation of the curriculum in higher education are not new concepts, but they are much debated and diversely interpreted. Studies of the higher education curriculum have been scarce. Studies of internationalisation of the curriculum in higher education are even rarer and, with a few exceptions, are focused on a single institution and/or a single discipline. This paper presents a conceptual framework for internationalisation of the curriculum that explains the foundations of alternative constructions of an internationalised curriculum and presents three case studies of internationalisation of the curriculum in three disciplines and universities in Australia. The framework is based on research that engaged academic staff in the process of exploring and making explicit the meaning of internationalisation of the curriculum in their programmes. It highlights the full complexity of internationalisation of the curriculum in context, prompts consideration of alternative paradigms, accommodates and legitimates different perspectives and provides gateways into alternative futures.

Internationalisation Outcomes for All Students Using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)

Internationalisation in higher education institutions is often focused on the movement of students—attracting international students to study on campus and in country and encouraging domestic students to study abroad. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) bring a new dimension to the internationalisation of higher education. They are increasingly being used to enhance the quality of learning of all students. ICTs offer many opportunities to internationalise the curriculum and the learning experiences of students, but they also provide challenges because academics teach a more diverse range of students in a more complex and diverse teaching and learning environment. This article explores the intersections between internationalisation outcomes, ICTs and the planned curriculum, and the implications of these for professional development and student support.

Internationalizing the Curriculum in the Disciplines—Imagining New Possibilities

Internationalization of the curriculum provides challenges and opportunities for academic staff and institutions. This article reports on research undertaken in 2010-2011, which engaged academic staff in different disciplines and universities in the process of exploring and making explicit the meaning of internationalization of the curriculum in their disciplines. One of the outcomes of the research was a five-stage model of the process of internationalization of the curriculum. A critical part of the process involved small groups of staff discussing existing paradigms within their disciplines, questioning “what we believe” in relation to the curriculum and student learning and imagining and negotiating new possibilities. The article argues that internationalization of the curriculum should be a planned, developmental, and cyclical process and that employing the imagination is an essential part of the process of internationalization of the curriculum in any discipline.