Transformative Learning

Last week our CET team presented findings on our programs at the Transformative Learning Conference and is now preparing for next week's Course Design Studio. We thought it would be fitting to share Designing and Evaluating Students' Transformative Learning a paper by Dr. Nina Namaste that explores the relationship between transformative intercultural learning and cognitive dissonance while examining intentional course design.

This study is based on ten years of research that confirms the notion that exposure to another culture is not sufficient to increase intercultural learning. Through the longitudinal analysis of student written assignments during study abroad experiences, Namaste presents the following major findings:

"(a) intercultural competency skills need to be intentionally imbedded, practiced, and integrated into study abroad coursework;

(b) growth in intercultural competency can, and should, be directly assessed via student works;

(c) universities need to explicitly state their own student learning objectives for semester-long study abroad programs so as to aim for consistency of desired outcomes; and

(d) faculty need support in how to cultivate intercultural competency in their students, particularly if intercultural competency is not a cornerstone of their discipline."

In conclusion, instructional design and assessment are critical facets to measuring student cultural competency and potential growth.

Namaste, N. (2017). Designing and Evaluating Students' Transformative Learning. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 8 (3). Retrieved from http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea/vol8/iss3/5