Abstract:

Internationalization of curriculum (IoC) is crucial to help students develop a global mindset. With ever-increasing technological innovation enabling dispersed teams and global teams, the ability to work effectively with a global workforce has become a necessity. This is especially true in STEM where students are expected to showcase the ability to work in multicultural teams and also demonstrate cross-cultural communication skills alongside their technical skills. Unfortunately, STEM students do not get enough opportunities to develop their intercultural competence where intercultural competence is defined as the ability to adapt and behave appropriately when working or interacting with a diverse population. Studying abroad is one of the most popular ways through which students can develop intercultural competence by immersing themselves in a different country and culture. However, research has shown that studying abroad is not economically viable for many students. As such, IoC is an important step toward helping students develop intercultural competence. In this study, we aim to understand the impact of IoC in a first-year cyber security course. 118 first-year cybersecurity students were provided training by the instructor about intercultural concepts. Upon completion of the training session, students were required to complete an online self-paced module known as Portable Intercultural Module (PIM). The PIM was focused on the various aspects of oral, written, and non-verbal communication and in what ways they differ across cultures, and how it can be misinterpreted if one is not aware of the cultural norm. Students were required to complete the module and participate in a final reflection assignment where they were given a scenario detailing conflict arising from cultural differences, and students were required to reflect based on the learnings from the PIM. We used a qualitative grounded theory approach to analyze the reflection responses of the students. Based on our analysis, the themes that emerged were: Empathy, understanding of verbal and non-verbal communication, recognition of microaggression, open-mindedness, inclusive attitude, and understanding of other’s perspectives. Overall, the findings of the study suggest that the students were capable of understanding and reflecting on aspects of intercultural learning. The results also indicate that effective mentoring and structured training can help students take small steps towards developing an intercultural mindset.

Keywords:

Internationalization of Curriculum, Intercultural Competence, Global mindset, Portable Intercultural Module.